Tobias Wolff Essay
Like being written for a movie, Tobias Wolff’s life was written for the big screen. Having grown up with so many triumphs, we see a man that went from an unstable environment to a totally different world many years later in California. Wolff has had a past painted with ups and downs. As many of us have read his works we can see how self-determination and the will to overcome can lead to a successful pursuit of one’s dreams. Wolff’s upbringing was mediocre at best, instability plagued him. However, he continued to dream. In pursuit of a goal, Wolff would fight for those dreams head on. In This Boy’s Life and In Pharaoh’s Army, Wolff directly associates the memoirs with his life to create a sense of being, taking characters from the hopes
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and dreams, into the reality that he currently lives today. The dreams that Wolff has written about in both works allow us to see that his personal determination allow him to overcome a hand in which he was dealt to lose.
Tobias Wolff experienced a childhood upbringing that he often wrote about in his memoirs. However, the building blocks of who he became can be directly correlated with the fact that as a child Wolff faced enormous amounts of deception, abuse, and neglect. The behavior depicted by Wolff seems to directly correlate with the dysfunction of his personal experiences. Thus, allowing Wolff’s early childhood to help tell his story through the voice of his characters. Wolff experienced a life full of instability as a whole. He was led on a cross country journey that would leave him empty. Broken promises of exquisite gifts were often promised but not followed through with.
His mother and father divorced when Wolff was still very young. His father was described as a con-man and many of those very negative traits of his father’s, Wolff carried as his own. “He had crooked ways, the same kind I had, but after that summer I tried to change.” (Wolff IPA 45) Wolff’s older brother went to live with his father while Wolff took off with his mother. Wolff’s mother went through relationship after relationship. All of which were not stable and were not healthy relationships. Wolff eventually developed into a “parent-like” figure to his mother, because he was constantly having to console her through the many tumultuous relationships she endured. This created an unexplainable whole that had to be filled with lies, lies that Wolff lived by. Some could examine that Wolff was attempting to explain or relive his childhood experiences. “I imagined being adopted by different people I saw on the street. Sometimes, seeing a man in a suit come toward me from a distance that blurred his features, I would prepare myself to recognize my father and to be recognized by him.” (Wolff TBL 12)
Wolff longed to be an elitist. He sent in a falsified application to a prep school. Unbeknownst, he was accepted on a scholarship. Although, that scholarship was awarded to him with the understanding that he was some “A-student” and a good citizen. Little did the school know all the trouble he had caused back home. He didn’t last long at prep school, only to flunk out after a couple of years.
In a personal interview with Bonnie Lyons and Bill Oliver, asking Wolff,
“And while you don’t want to make a bridge between the boy and the adult, the reader naturally finds himself wondering, How did the confused teenager we’re left with at the end, this compulsive liar, become the adult fiction writer? You don’t give much help with that. Why Not?” Wolff answers, “Why didn’t I make a bridge? Gives too much solace to the reader. The boy doesn’t know there’s going to be any bridge. The boy lives this life ignorant of what is going to happen to him later—as we all do.” (Lyons and Oliver, 1990)
He had always dreamed of the next big thing, but it would not be until he found a career that held meaning, in which he would set out to be not one that dreamed, but one that found a true meaning in life.
Joining the Army, while not very successful, it would help pave the way to the future.
Finding solace, structure, and meaning in the Army, Wolff was now a part of something greater. Wolff had yearned to be a part of something that held meaning, to be looked up to, and to be a part of something that he had never had. The structure and service that was present during Wolff’s military career helped mold the many dreams that he longed for. In Pharaoh’s Army, we see that Wolff starts to take on a role in which he was doing more than the virtues that his father had left him. In a personal interview with Terrence Cheng, Wolff is asked,
“You mention the influence of writers like Hemingway, Mailer, and Irwin Shaw particularly In Pharoah's Army, when you say, "I'd always known I would wear the uniform ... The men I'd respected ... had all served ... Military service was not an incidental part of their histories; they were unimaginable apart from it." It sounds like, back then, you were trying to pattern yourself after your heroes.
At that age, sure.” (Cheng,
1997)
This made perfect sense, as his only substantial male figures had all served in the Armed Services. Wolff had yearned for this, but he knew he would not make a career of it. However, the Army service in Vietnam allowed him to create a groundwork for his drive. The Army was a stepping stone for his writing career. He found focus and structure from his time in.
Arriving in Oakland upon his discharge, the adjustment to civilian life was one of follies and satire, but Wolff would find the next step into the future of his writing career. Now set with a goal, Wolff would set off to find himself in San Francisco. “I didn’t have to stay in a seedy room in San Francisco, broodingly alone; I could have gone on to Washington.” (Wolff IPA 194) “But I stayed put.” (Wolff IPA 194) He would find that he had always dreamed of writing, a dreamer at heart, he would find his true calling. While attending Oxford University, Wolff earned his B.A. and M.A. “”When I was at Oxford…” sounds suspect even to me, like one of my father’s bullshit stories.” (Wolff IPA 215) While it was not bullshit, Wolff would end up undenounced to him, would go on to be one of the most respected authors in the world.
Through the trials and tribulations and numerous ups and downs, Wolff lied and deceived his way through his early years. Managing to push through all the dreams and finally get enough direction in his life to make something of it. After joining the Army as soon as he was able, he gained experience that left him seeking more. This more was not to be rich or famous, but to pursue a lifelong dream of what he had always used as a way to escape. In Wolff’s own words he stated, “These have been inwardly exciting time for me, probably the most meaningful of my life.” (Basbanes, 1994) He managed to make a career out of his passion for storytelling abilities. The man has now created a profession that he adores. Becoming Tobias Wolff, the renowned American author, scholar, and master of his craft.
and dreams, into the reality that he currently lives today. The dreams that Wolff has written about in both works allow us to see that his personal determination allow him to overcome a hand in which he was dealt to lose.
Tobias Wolff experienced a childhood upbringing that he often wrote about in his memoirs. However, the building blocks of who he became can be directly correlated with the fact that as a child Wolff faced enormous amounts of deception, abuse, and neglect. The behavior depicted by Wolff seems to directly correlate with the dysfunction of his personal experiences. Thus, allowing Wolff’s early childhood to help tell his story through the voice of his characters. Wolff experienced a life full of instability as a whole. He was led on a cross country journey that would leave him empty. Broken promises of exquisite gifts were often promised but not followed through with.
His mother and father divorced when Wolff was still very young. His father was described as a con-man and many of those very negative traits of his father’s, Wolff carried as his own. “He had crooked ways, the same kind I had, but after that summer I tried to change.” (Wolff IPA 45) Wolff’s older brother went to live with his father while Wolff took off with his mother. Wolff’s mother went through relationship after relationship. All of which were not stable and were not healthy relationships. Wolff eventually developed into a “parent-like” figure to his mother, because he was constantly having to console her through the many tumultuous relationships she endured. This created an unexplainable whole that had to be filled with lies, lies that Wolff lived by. Some could examine that Wolff was attempting to explain or relive his childhood experiences. “I imagined being adopted by different people I saw on the street. Sometimes, seeing a man in a suit come toward me from a distance that blurred his features, I would prepare myself to recognize my father and to be recognized by him.” (Wolff TBL 12)
Wolff longed to be an elitist. He sent in a falsified application to a prep school. Unbeknownst, he was accepted on a scholarship. Although, that scholarship was awarded to him with the understanding that he was some “A-student” and a good citizen. Little did the school know all the trouble he had caused back home. He didn’t last long at prep school, only to flunk out after a couple of years.
In a personal interview with Bonnie Lyons and Bill Oliver, asking Wolff,
“And while you don’t want to make a bridge between the boy and the adult, the reader naturally finds himself wondering, How did the confused teenager we’re left with at the end, this compulsive liar, become the adult fiction writer? You don’t give much help with that. Why Not?” Wolff answers, “Why didn’t I make a bridge? Gives too much solace to the reader. The boy doesn’t know there’s going to be any bridge. The boy lives this life ignorant of what is going to happen to him later—as we all do.” (Lyons and Oliver, 1990)
He had always dreamed of the next big thing, but it would not be until he found a career that held meaning, in which he would set out to be not one that dreamed, but one that found a true meaning in life.
Joining the Army, while not very successful, it would help pave the way to the future.
Finding solace, structure, and meaning in the Army, Wolff was now a part of something greater. Wolff had yearned to be a part of something that held meaning, to be looked up to, and to be a part of something that he had never had. The structure and service that was present during Wolff’s military career helped mold the many dreams that he longed for. In Pharaoh’s Army, we see that Wolff starts to take on a role in which he was doing more than the virtues that his father had left him. In a personal interview with Terrence Cheng, Wolff is asked,
“You mention the influence of writers like Hemingway, Mailer, and Irwin Shaw particularly In Pharoah's Army, when you say, "I'd always known I would wear the uniform ... The men I'd respected ... had all served ... Military service was not an incidental part of their histories; they were unimaginable apart from it." It sounds like, back then, you were trying to pattern yourself after your heroes.
At that age, sure.” (Cheng,
1997)
This made perfect sense, as his only substantial male figures had all served in the Armed Services. Wolff had yearned for this, but he knew he would not make a career of it. However, the Army service in Vietnam allowed him to create a groundwork for his drive. The Army was a stepping stone for his writing career. He found focus and structure from his time in.
Arriving in Oakland upon his discharge, the adjustment to civilian life was one of follies and satire, but Wolff would find the next step into the future of his writing career. Now set with a goal, Wolff would set off to find himself in San Francisco. “I didn’t have to stay in a seedy room in San Francisco, broodingly alone; I could have gone on to Washington.” (Wolff IPA 194) “But I stayed put.” (Wolff IPA 194) He would find that he had always dreamed of writing, a dreamer at heart, he would find his true calling. While attending Oxford University, Wolff earned his B.A. and M.A. “”When I was at Oxford…” sounds suspect even to me, like one of my father’s bullshit stories.” (Wolff IPA 215) While it was not bullshit, Wolff would end up undenounced to him, would go on to be one of the most respected authors in the world.
Through the trials and tribulations and numerous ups and downs, Wolff lied and deceived his way through his early years. Managing to push through all the dreams and finally get enough direction in his life to make something of it. After joining the Army as soon as he was able, he gained experience that left him seeking more. This more was not to be rich or famous, but to pursue a lifelong dream of what he had always used as a way to escape. In Wolff’s own words he stated, “These have been inwardly exciting time for me, probably the most meaningful of my life.” (Basbanes, 1994) He managed to make a career out of his passion for storytelling abilities. The man has now created a profession that he adores. Becoming Tobias Wolff, the renowned American author, scholar, and master of his craft.