2) Focus on foreshadowing and flashback, the tension of anticipation, expectation, release etc.
Tobias Wolff starts out “Bullet in the Brain” with a heavy dose of foreshadowing. The opening paragraph alone has three distinct mentions of words that sound harmful. The very first line the speaker’s reaction to the women in front of him in line puts him in the mood of “murderous temper”. The next line contains two examples, Anders is described as a “savage” writer, who “dispatches” almost everything he reviews.
An entire page of this short story is flashback. The flashbacks are densely packed, what the speaker is surprised about is what thoughts do not occur. What is thought to be the moments of he importance in his life is not what he thinks of in his last moment. Instead there is a brief moment of Ander’s childhood. The phrase “they is” is what he spends his last instant thinking about. The moment that gets the attention of his last moment is a simple recollection of his childhood days playing baseball.
Tension of anticipation is brought about by how Anders taunts the robbers. His cavalier attitude offends the adrenaline charged robbers and the tension builds while Anders has a gun pointed at him.
The release occurs with the release of the bullet from the chamber. The story had built to the point where it did not seem that Anders would just walk out of the bank. He’d challenged the robber who is asserting his position of dominance by holding a gun and then by using it.
My expectations when I began reading were right on. I expected Anders to be shot. The foreshadowing was strong. As Anders stares into the eyes of the robber he notices “the man’s left eyelid kept twitching.” It made me think of a twitching trigger finger.
Tobias Wolff starts out “Bullet in the Brain” with a heavy dose of foreshadowing. The opening paragraph alone has three distinct mentions of words that sound harmful. The very first line the speaker’s reaction to the women in front of him in line puts him in the mood of “murderous temper”. The next line contains two examples, Anders is described as a “savage” writer, who “dispatches” almost everything he reviews.
An entire page of this short story is flashback. The flashbacks are densely packed, what the speaker is surprised about is what thoughts do not occur. What is thought to be the moments of he importance in his life is not what he thinks of in his last moment. Instead there is a brief moment of Ander’s childhood. The phrase “they is” is what he spends his last instant thinking about. The moment that gets the attention of his last moment is a simple recollection of his childhood days playing baseball.
Tension of anticipation is brought about by how Anders taunts the robbers. His cavalier attitude offends the adrenaline charged robbers and the tension builds while Anders has a gun pointed at him.
The release occurs with the release of the bullet from the chamber. The story had built to the point where it did not seem that Anders would just walk out of the bank. He’d challenged the robber who is asserting his position of dominance by holding a gun and then by using it.
My expectations when I began reading were right on. I expected Anders to be shot. The foreshadowing was strong. As Anders stares into the eyes of the robber he notices “the man’s left eyelid kept twitching.” It made me think of a twitching trigger finger.
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