The Fatal Truth of Irony

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Recommended: Use of irony in Shakespeare tragedy

Contemplating on characteristics of Post Modernism Irony is the most compelling alternative. In Tobias Wolff’s “Bullet in the Brain”, the rich amount of sarcasm and irony invites readers on a journey that’s exceptionally written. The dialect that is used in this short story does not have any moderation to what is being portrayed as a real life event. Just reading the title alone “Bullet in the Brain”, causes one to imagine a horrific event with the conclusion of someone being gunned down unfairly. To already know the ending of a story just by reading the title, one has to be very crafty in their presentation. As a result, the main characters actions have led to a consequence which sets up the theme of the story to be classified as: a tragic irony. Tobias Wolff’s “Bullet in the Brain” exemplifies irony and applies sarcasm in a literary form.

In the opening paragraph of “Bullet in the Brain” the character Anders is introduced in a crowed bank. The reason that the bank is crowed is because Anders has arrived just before closing time. This character is being established as a witty book critic with a temper. The very first signs of verbal irony are interjected very quickly after the bank teller closes her line with the bank being overcrowded with customers. Granted, no one wants to be put in this situation, and the result is that the customers become frustrated. Tobias Wolff first illustration of ironic dialect is the voice of disgruntled customers complaining about the customer service. One of the women in the bank turns to Anders and says, “One of those little human touches that keep us coming back for more”. (Wolff 1) Anders absolutely thinks that it’s very annoying to treat customers in this manner, but he conceals his origi...

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...g life in a habitual manner. In order to make life somewhat interesting for Anders, he begins to state the obvious on a recurring basis. Anders believes that by being sarcastic it will display to others that we are all copycats and we should strive to be more creative. The truth of the matter is that we are all different; each one of us brings something unique to this world. For some individuals it takes a considerable amount of time to find out that we are all one of a kind; for others they never come to this conclusion. Optimistically, after reading this story one will realize that the need to stand out and not be a part of the masses is certainly the key to serenity.

Works Cited

Wolff, Tobias. “Bullet in the Brain.” The Night in Question: Stories. New York: Vintage, 1997. https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ro/www/LiteratureandMedicineInitiative/20080304/bullet.pdf

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