Wideman Essay

Wideman is faced with many problems as he tries to write the story of his brother. He expresses issues in both reading and writing this story. It is difficult for him to both write this piece and to “read” into the text of his brother’s life. His issue is very obvious when he states, “The hardest habit to break, since it was the habit of a lifetime, would be listening to myself listen to him. That habit would destroy any chance of seeing my brother on his terms; and seeing him in his terms, learning his terms, seemed the whole point of learning his story… The world had seized on the difference, allowed me room to thrive, while he’d been forced into a cage“ (Ways 672). Here, Wideman is speaking directly to his readers. He expresses hardship when listening to his brother’s story because he cannot help but listen to himself. Wideman realizes that the whole point of listening to his brother is to try and understand him, so rather than judging Robby on the things he confesses, he must put himself in his brother’s shoes to try to understand why Robby did the things that he did. Wideman starts to understand that both him and his brother were faced with different obstacles; therefore forcing them to decide which path they would follow. By doing this, Wideman hopes to discover why his brother is so different. I believe that Wideman raises this issue because he does not want to portray his brother’s story based on his biased opinion. Wideman is challenged to “neutralize” the story and not weight his brother’s guilt based on his opinion. Wideman solves this problem by telling the story through multiple voices. By using this important tool, the reader has the chance to hear from their mother, Garth, society, and Robby himself, giving the story a more nonpartisan view of Robby’s true experience. Wideman uses an interesting choice of vocabulary when distinguishing between voices, giving a unique style to each perception.
“His confessions make me uncomfortable. Instead