Analyse af 'Bullet in the Brain' af Tobias Wolff

The short story, Bullet in the Brain, by Tobias Wolff, which was published in 1995, is about a book critic, whose name is Anders. Anders is a real Scrooge, he hates everything. One day, he is going to the Bank, but turns up just before closing time, so he ends up in the back of the queue.

Even when a pair of bank robbers steps forth, waving their guns, Anders can't hide his contempt. Anders is so annoying that one starts wishing that the bank robbers would kill him just to shut him up. And eventually, one of them does. However, the story doesn’t end here, as one might think, considering the main character is dead.

Instead, Wolff uses a clichéd idea – that when you die, your life will pass before your eyes – to continue the short story. As the bullet, shot by the robber, passes through Anders' brain, we are told, first, what he doesn’t see (:remember), which is scenes from his life that show that he wasn't always so much of an ass. He was once likeable and kind. The short story ends with a description of the single scene that Anders does relive in his dying moments, which is an incident at a baseball field.