Bullet in the Brain shows us the last few minutes of Anders life in great detail. The author paints Anders as a cynical and almost unreal book critic that somehow feels the urge to rebel against armed robbers. His critical view of others’ speech and life in general is what causes Anders to get a “bullet in the brain.” The author uses the mystery of the brain and death to draw the reader in. By using “brain time” the bullet is slowed to allow author to describe vivid snip-its of Anders life. I like how the author included “what Anders did not remember given what he did remember.” The small forgotten memories show us a different side of Anders. Lighter, more human elements of family, love, and literature remind us of Anders past and just how real he was. What was remembered is a common enough childhood seen of baseball. In this memory Anders is reminded of his passion for words and love of language as he dies. It is fitting that his last memory is of analyzing dialects and speech, something that ultimately gets him killed.
I feel the author’s main intent for the story is to show how being over critical of life can cause trouble. Each of us has our own way of talking, writing, and going about life. I also feel that this may be the author’s way of making fun of editors and critics. A writer’s work is constantly critiqued and changed; this could be Wolff’s way of saying, “Back off, wrote it the way I want it.” This story made me look back over my life searching for small forgotten joys. I hope that my final thoughts will allow me to relive a wonderful time in my life.
Really good stuff here Blake, I can tell you've grasped the material.
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