Bullet in the Brain Reading Respone
Georgi Genchev
ENG 205a
Prof. Cohen
RR Bullet in the Brain
26.03.2015
Tobias Wolff’s “Bullet in the Brain” can be divided into two parts. The first one is until the moment when Anders gets shot. Up to his death, the character is not developed and somehow flat. There is an awkward feeling, because the hassle with the bank robber and the shot afterwards sound like the climax of the story, but this is not satisfying end since there is no clue what will follow. What I really liked about the character building is that we understand many of Andres’ traits only from three of his actions. The way he act in the bank, builds him an image of sarcastic, impudent, self-determined, criticizing, even illogical person in a way.
In the second part, Wolff introduces us very strong flashbacks, which show a different side of Anders’ character and further develop it. By listing all the things he does not remember, not only the author gives us more information about Anders’ past, but also provokes a feeling of sympathy. Wolff emphasizes that Anders is normal person with the typical everyday problems until he mentions what the main character actually remembered. This is the real climax of the story, which in a way surprised and puzzled me because of the contradiction with Anders’ character. So far, Anders is described as the serious criticizing person and “a baseball field” is the last thing that one with his traits will recall. I believe that this serves for the humanizing Anders’ character.
ENG 205a
Prof. Cohen
RR Bullet in the Brain
26.03.2015
Tobias Wolff’s “Bullet in the Brain” can be divided into two parts. The first one is until the moment when Anders gets shot. Up to his death, the character is not developed and somehow flat. There is an awkward feeling, because the hassle with the bank robber and the shot afterwards sound like the climax of the story, but this is not satisfying end since there is no clue what will follow. What I really liked about the character building is that we understand many of Andres’ traits only from three of his actions. The way he act in the bank, builds him an image of sarcastic, impudent, self-determined, criticizing, even illogical person in a way.
In the second part, Wolff introduces us very strong flashbacks, which show a different side of Anders’ character and further develop it. By listing all the things he does not remember, not only the author gives us more information about Anders’ past, but also provokes a feeling of sympathy. Wolff emphasizes that Anders is normal person with the typical everyday problems until he mentions what the main character actually remembered. This is the real climax of the story, which in a way surprised and puzzled me because of the contradiction with Anders’ character. So far, Anders is described as the serious criticizing person and “a baseball field” is the last thing that one with his traits will recall. I believe that this serves for the humanizing Anders’ character.