Bullet In The Brain Sparknotes
Bullet in the Brain
The main character in Bullet in the Brain is a middle-aged book critic, who is especially “known for the weary elegant savagery with which he dispatched almost everything he reviewed” (1, L 5). You might even call him a grumpy old man, because basically that is what he is – but more about that subject later on.
The story takes off when Anders enters the bank just before it closes, and therefore the line is endlessly long, which puts him in a bad temper. “He was never in the best of tempers anyways, Anders”(1, L 4), but it certainly does not help when the two women in front of him start complaining about one the bank tellers leaving her position. Anders “conceive his towering hatred of the teller” (1, L 15), and instead …show more content…
The stern, brass-knuckled poetry of the dangerous classes” (2, L 36-37) to the whiny woman from before, as if he has been possessed by the evil demon of book criticism and that starts analyzing everything. At this point of the short story it is becomes frightening visible that Anders has totally lost his sense of reality, and either he has a strong death wish or does not understand the seriousness of the situation. Still the bank robbery continues unrestrained, and the teller mentioned earlier is having a hard time with the robbers. Once again, Anders simply cannot hold his mouth shut as he says “justice is done” (2, L 55), referring to the situation earlier in the text. It is indeed a bad decision to tempt fate twice, as this time he draws the attention of one of the thugs. “Hey! Bright boy! Did I hear you talk?” (2, L 56) the criminal yells at him, but a verbal warning simply is not enough since Anders recognises the use of “Bright Boy” from a Hemingway short story, and instead Anders digs his own grave a notch more by continuing speaking. Therefore the robber is forced to put himself in respect by poking his gun in Anders’ gut, which instead of scaring Anders gives him a tickling sensation. To stop himself from having a laughing-outburst Anders focuses on the eyes of the guy having a gun to his stomach. “The man’s left eyelid kept twitching” (3, 69), which does …show more content…
So Anders starts remembering, but as the narrator says “it is worth noting what Anders did not remember, given what he did remember”.
Most people imagine that when dying, all their happy moments with friends and family and lovers will flash by, because these things are normally what we associate with happiness - but no, not in Anders’ case. He has had lovers, a wife and even a daughter, who is now a “sullen professor of economics” (4, ?) - But, being a grumpy man and all, Anders has simply become irritated by all of the people that might have been close to him throughout
The main character in Bullet in the Brain is a middle-aged book critic, who is especially “known for the weary elegant savagery with which he dispatched almost everything he reviewed” (1, L 5). You might even call him a grumpy old man, because basically that is what he is – but more about that subject later on.
The story takes off when Anders enters the bank just before it closes, and therefore the line is endlessly long, which puts him in a bad temper. “He was never in the best of tempers anyways, Anders”(1, L 4), but it certainly does not help when the two women in front of him start complaining about one the bank tellers leaving her position. Anders “conceive his towering hatred of the teller” (1, L 15), and instead …show more content…
The stern, brass-knuckled poetry of the dangerous classes” (2, L 36-37) to the whiny woman from before, as if he has been possessed by the evil demon of book criticism and that starts analyzing everything. At this point of the short story it is becomes frightening visible that Anders has totally lost his sense of reality, and either he has a strong death wish or does not understand the seriousness of the situation. Still the bank robbery continues unrestrained, and the teller mentioned earlier is having a hard time with the robbers. Once again, Anders simply cannot hold his mouth shut as he says “justice is done” (2, L 55), referring to the situation earlier in the text. It is indeed a bad decision to tempt fate twice, as this time he draws the attention of one of the thugs. “Hey! Bright boy! Did I hear you talk?” (2, L 56) the criminal yells at him, but a verbal warning simply is not enough since Anders recognises the use of “Bright Boy” from a Hemingway short story, and instead Anders digs his own grave a notch more by continuing speaking. Therefore the robber is forced to put himself in respect by poking his gun in Anders’ gut, which instead of scaring Anders gives him a tickling sensation. To stop himself from having a laughing-outburst Anders focuses on the eyes of the guy having a gun to his stomach. “The man’s left eyelid kept twitching” (3, 69), which does …show more content…
So Anders starts remembering, but as the narrator says “it is worth noting what Anders did not remember, given what he did remember”.
Most people imagine that when dying, all their happy moments with friends and family and lovers will flash by, because these things are normally what we associate with happiness - but no, not in Anders’ case. He has had lovers, a wife and even a daughter, who is now a “sullen professor of economics” (4, ?) - But, being a grumpy man and all, Anders has simply become irritated by all of the people that might have been close to him throughout