
In the short story, Bullet in the Brain by Tobias Wolff, the author portrays the main character, Anders, as an unpleasant, judgmental book critic who comes face to face with almost everyone’s fear; death. Two robbers hold a bank’s occupants hostage at gunpoint in order to rob the bank. Anders was at the bank during the robbery and, instead of obliging with the bank robber’s requests, Anders chose to mock them, laugh, and then talk back to them. As a result, Anders was shot, which led to the loss of important memories from his life such as his wife, daughter, and several other personal events, but to the gain of a few other memories from his early life. Anders became a selfish and negative person towards life and the people in it, but did not have these actions and thoughts about life before becoming a book critic. After he was shot, readers are introduced to both the person that Anders was before he became a book critic; and the man he became after the one bullet hit his brain. Although Anders forgets about two memories that many would see as pivotal moments in his life, there are many flashbacks and events discussed throughout the essay the he seamlessly remembers a time of peace and tranquility in his childhood. This short story exemplifies to readers that it is important to remember the many things in life, which can become everlasting memories.  

One of the most significant parts of the short story is in the second paragraph on page 204. It gives insight into the characteristics of the people Anders once loved, but later went on to forget about. It has a significant part in the story because Anders mentions, “Anders did remember his wife, whom he had loved before she exhausted him with her predictability, or his daughter, now a sullen professor of economics at Dartmouth” (page 204).  He used to genuinely care and love those people in his life and the small qualities they possessed that made them special to him, until these qualities began to irritate him.  For example, his first lover, Sherry, had an “unembarrassed carnality (204)” that he once loved, but grew extremely sick of. Additionally, his first wife that he also loved at one time, but became “exhausted by her predictability (page 204)”. Both of these examples show how Anders began to analyze and criticize his loved ones to the point where he grew away from them. At this time in the short story, Anders is more focused on his work than the important things. Wolff indicates, “Anders- a book critic known for the weary, elegant savagery with which he dispatched almost everything he received” (page 200).  As a result to that, he let his job take a hold of his life, which made him lost and forget about the people he used to love. Even after being shot, these people described that were once so important to Anders, were not important enough for him to remember as Anders sees his life flash before his eyes. Anders also does not remember witnessing a woman take her own life or when he purposely crashed his dad’s car into a tree. Pivotal moments and people like these did not cross his mind as he was dying because his mind went straight to a time when there was little to worry about and when life was good. After living through all of those memorable events, they were not what Anders’ wanted to or chose to think about as he lived his last seconds on earth. However, after being shot, there were several memories that Anders does remember. In the third paragraph on page 205, Anders remembers a detailed scene of a baseball field right before the start of a friendly game. “This is what he remembered. Heat. A baseball field. Yellow grass, the whirr of insects, himself leaning against a tree as the boys of the neighborhood gather for a pickup game. He looks on as the others argue the relative genius of Mantle and Mays. They have been worrying this subject all summer, and it has become tedious to Anders: an oppression, like the heat (205)”. Anders remembers this scene in such great detail that he even recalls the weather, the setting, the people around him, and even the sounds made by the insects nearby. The setting and every detail of the memory are perfectly clear in his mind. The fact that Anders remembers the scene at the baseball field over all of the other memorable, dramatic events right before he dies is because it takes him back to a time when life was easy and he was able to live without judging other people. He thoroughly enjoyed and loved life before he became judgmental. A simple moment like the time at the baseball field is far more important to Anders’ as he is dying because it allows him to relive a carefree moment when his smallest worry in life was playing in a neighborhood baseball game. 

While only remembering a pickup game of baseball, makes the readers think, did Anders really care for his wife and daughter, who should be the big, most important things in a person’s life, or has he really been an ignorant man for all of his existence, even before he became a book critic? This being important because loved ones and family should mean a lot more to someone than just a memory, which Anders did not even remember. Some may believe that Anders did not love and care for his family and friends because they were something that Anders did not remember in the story. Wouldn’t he have thought about his loved ones while standing in the bank mocking the men that were holding him at gunpoint if he indeed truly loved them? Another opinion that could be discussed is whether or not Anders had constantly been that man who is selfish and has no care in the world except for him. The readers may think this is true because there are many things that he does not recall compared to the things that he indeed has a memory of. Also, in the short story it is discussed more about how terrible of a person Anders is instead of the “caring” individual he once was.

With Anders being the selfish and uncaring human being he proves that point by only remembering one thing in his lifetime, which is something small and unplanned, something as simple as a game of baseball when he was a young boy. Anders realistically never knew this tragic incident of being shot would actually ever happen to him. Since it did, it demonstrates that in life, individuals can and will take things as well as memories, for granted. Life is unpredictable and things will flash before ones eyes not realizing that it could happen to anyone. Do not take life, loved ones, or the small things for granted, because one day those small things that “were not important” may be the only details left to remember. You never know when something important to you could be taken away in an instant. 

The short story, Bullet in the Brain by Tobias Wolfe is a story written in order to remind readers of the important things in life. Unlike the main character, Anders’ who, being the selfish person that he was, never truly was able to enjoy life because he was never content. Throughout the story Anders’ faces many hardships that most people should not have to face throughout their life. The meaning of the short story, Bullet in the Brain, is that one should always live in the moment and strive to appreciate and enjoy everything in life, even the small things. The tragic life of Anders’ should inspire readers to live everyday with a good mindset because the future is unknown. 
