Bullett in the Brain

Respond in writing: Bullet in the Brain

In the short story: Bullet in the Brain, by Tobias Wolff, the author does not begin to give his character its "roundness" until after the major, life changing event in the story had taken place. Until he is shot, Andres comes off as standoffish, condescending and rude, for no particular reason. After he is shot, however, the author does an excellent job of telling us what Andres does not remember, and in doing so gives his character its roundness, by showing events that shaped him, and his current attitude toward life. The single event that he did not remember, that really gave the character life, in my eyes, was the part about being beaten at an anti-war rally. This event seemed so completely out of character, for this particular character. Everything else that had been forgotten by him, his first love, his wife and daughter, had all been described with a voice full of pretentious snobbery, while this memory was just there, blunt and unforgiving, not described in large words, but simply stated. I think that this statement gave the character his "consistent inconsistencies" that made him open to the possibility of change, as mentioned in Tom Bailey's, The Voice of Desire. Through his method of developing Andres, Wolff makes us see how a seemingly one dimensional character can gain it's roundness in only a few words, and more importantly it doesn't matter when a primary character gains it's roundness, but how they do so.