Terrance McKinney April 06‚ 2011 The Irony of “Bullet in the Brain” Throughout the story of “Bullet in the Brain”‚ Tobias Wolff depicts a book critic “Anders”‚ as a pompous‚ intellectual whose intellect serves as his cause of death. The irony in “Bullet in the Brain” is that the self proclaimed genius too smart (or too dumb) to stay quiet which costs him his life. Throughout the story Anders seems to enjoy criticizing and disliking others‚ he doesn’t know when he should shut up‚ and finally when
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Bullet in the Brain" is deceptively obvious. Wolff makes choices that are immediately striking as unusual and key‚ that leap out from the page‚ so to speak‚ waving and shouting‚ "Look at me! Analyze me to gain insight into the story!" He shoots his character in the head halfway into the story‚ suspends the fatal bullet in the character’s brain in "brain time" so that he can recount various snapshots of his life‚ and introduces these snapshots not with the phrase "he remembered" but rather with "he
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English 102 Professor February 23‚ 2013 Bullet in the Brain The short story “Bullet in the Brain” is a story about a character with a very distinct persona. The main character‚ Anders‚ is one who is established as being an odd character from the very beginning. The setting takes place in a bank that is soon to be bombarded by robbers wearing ski masks. Being a book critic‚ Anders lets his profession override his critical thinking skills during the robbery. This puts the bank robber’s patience
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Instructor‚ Elizabeth Hair English 102 June 22‚ 2014 A Critique of the Critical Character A Bullet in the Brain‚ by Tobias Wolff‚ is a short story published in 1995. The story’s main protagonist Anders‚ is a book critic by profession but shows that he is also critic of the world around him. Anders happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in this story and finds himself in the middle of a robbery at his local bank. He is ultimately shot in the head by a robber‚ due to his smug attitude
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Bullet in the Brain is a short story about a sarcastic book critic‚ who allows his criticism to extend to his everyday life and soon learns why that is not a good idea. Anders is known for "the weary elegant savagery with which he dispatched almost everything he reviewed." He is portrayed as especially unsympathetic. He is standing in line at a bank and gets stuck behind two women whose loud stupid conversations put him in an angry mood. He engages in sarcastic‚ belittling repartee with the women
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Basically he was asking to be shot. Nothing makes me feel sorry for Anders when he does get shot. Although I do hate he gets shot in the head. The image the author conveys makes the readers feel almost sad for Anders‚ “The bullet smashed Ander’s skull and plunged through his brain and exited behind his ear‚ scattering shards of bone into the cerebral cortex… (pg. 369). Even in the last few moments of his life‚ he seems miserable. The only happiness readers see from Anders is him reminiscing on his
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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
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Bullet in the Brain – analysis The short story “Bullet in the Brain” is written by Tobias Wolff. The story takes place in a bank‚ where we meet the main character Anders. We see the incident from an omniscient narrator’s point of view. The short story is told in chronological order with flashback. We meet Anders in the beginning of the text as a rude and sarcastic man‚ who has the need to be sarcastic towards a strange woman. When Anders gets shot in the head‚ the first thing the narrator tells
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"Bullet in the Brain": Revealing the Real Anders A short narrative “Bullet in the Brain” by Tobias Wolff tells about Anders‚ a book critic‚ who gets killed by an armed bank robber while being stuck in an endless line. The storyline would seem very simple and uncomplicated to me if it ended here. However‚ as the bullet smashes through the Anders’ brain‚ the author brings flashbacks highlighting Anders’ last feelings‚ “It is worth noting what Anders did not remember‚ given what he did remember” (Wolff
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Bullet in the Brain by Tobias Wolff I once heard that if you get executed with a guillotine you feel‚ see and hear when your head hits the ground. I don’t know if it’s true. A friend of mine told me that he once killed a hen. He held it tightly to the woodblock‚ he was intended use‚ and when he brutally separated its head from its body he led go of the hen and it ran headless around for several seconds. I know that’s true. I read that when you get shot in the head and the bullet smash into your
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