Author Question: Why did Wolff decide to tell us what Anders did not remember? What will be an ideal ... (Read 603 times)

vicky · **on:** Jul 20, 2018

Why did Wolff decide to tell us what Anders did not remember?

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Considering Anderss occupation as a book critic and the bank robbersreliance on clich, what might the robber symbolize for Anders?

What will be an ideal response?

shewald78 · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 20, 2018

Answer to Question 1

The memories that do not pass before his eyes in the last seconds of his life are thematically significant because they fill in many of the gaps between the boy on the ballfield and the man that we observe in the bank. Many of those incidents and experiences are moments of genuine, uncomplicated openness of spirit: his love of poetry, admiration for a professor, respect for a classmates literary achievement, delight in eavesdropping on his little daughter. Others, such as his participation in an anti-war rally, show a youthful idealism and a belief in the possibility of improving the state of the world. His relationships with women display his capacity to love, but also reveal his tendency to grow alienated from and critical of the women in his life. Finally, there are the spirit-killing effects of his career as a book critic. These unrecalled details from his past give us a much fuller picture of the man and help to explain how he became the joyless creature who foolishly threw away his life.

Answer to Question 2

We are later told about Anders that he did not remember when everything began to remind him of something else. Out of longstanding habit, he seems unable to stop himself from assessing real life the way he would a novel; the robbers actions and statements are so reminiscent of bad novels and B movies that he finds them ridiculous, and shows it.