Anh T Hoang

Sabatino Mangini
Eng 112
2/19/15

BULLET IN THE BRAIN

1/Context
. Author Biography: Tobias Wolf was born in 1945 in Birmingham, Alabama. He attended
universities to earn B.A and M.A in English language and literature. Then he was both a teacher
and a writer. His family was not happy, which affected partly in his writings through his
rebellious characteristics. He succeeded in a lot of genres such as long fiction, non- fiction, and
short stories.
. Date of publication: 1996
. Setting: At the bank.
2/Text:
.Genre: Short stories.
. Genre within genre:
. Plot of summary:
At the nearly close time of the bank, the teller line at the bank was endless, and Anders was
caught behind two loud women. Anders was a book critic known for the weary, elegant savagery

with which he dispatched almost everything he reviewed. He was engaged in quarreling with one
of the woman in front of him when they noticed that the bank was being used up by the two men
wearing black ski masks and blue business suits. They pressed the pistol to the neck of the bank
guard and threatened to shoot them all if the alarm went off. Oh, bravo, Anders said,
commenting on their choice of phrasing. As the robbers proceeded, Anders made more and more
comments out loud on their cliqued and ridiculous language, until one of the robbers approached
to him with a gun. One robber made Anders look up. The awfulness of the painting caused him
to laugh, which didnt stop until one of the robbers shot him in the head. The bullet smashed
Anderss skull and plowed through his brain and excited behind his right ear. But before all of
this occurred, he remembered one particular scene from his life. Instead of remembering his
beloved family or unforgettable stories, he did remember heat, a baseball field, and the sound of
insects in the baseball field. One of the boys brought his cousin from Mississippi, who used the
phrase they is as in Shorts the best position they is. Anders remembers being strangely
roused, elated, by those final two words, their unexpectededness and their music. Now just
before death, Anderss mind chanted, They is, they is, they is.
. Point of view: the third person.
. Tones: Subjective, humorous and intimate.
Conflicts:
There is a conflict between the bank tellers and the customers. While the customers were still
waiting to be served, they stopped their service. This made the customers annoyed.

Also, there is a persistent opposition between the good and the bad. Although Anders was
ordered not to talk, he still talked softly and swore the robbers. This made the robber become
angry and his life was threatened.