Back in the world by tobias wolff essay sample

Personal narrative

On one sunny day in the city, I decided to relax in the park under a shade as I watched the city’s beautiful architecture as well as the people in it. My eyes rolled from corner to corner as I admired building and people and got amazed at the origin of such technology. It was amazing that man could think of erecting a structure that was much taller than they were and make it look so beautiful. As I thought about this, I was reminded of the different gifts and talents that people were endowed with. Thinking that for such a tall building to come up to, it took the ideas and imaginations of several people. There was one to come up with a drawing, another one to think about the materials that will best be used for they structures, other different people who came up with the technology of erecting it. There still others who cane up with the designing ideas and how to design it. It made me learn one thing that we needed each other for survival (Matuz, 43). As I thought about the same, I looked at people around the city and discovered that as beautiful as the city was, it was composed of different categories of people.

Even though it was easier to tell the economic status of the people looking at how they dressed and the kind of cars they were driving, it was not easy to differentiate them especially if the cars and clothes were left behind. When walking in the city you learn to appreciate everyone, as you never know whom you are walking close. Among the well and smartly dressed people were also beggars at strategic corners. All they needed were few coins to get then their day’s meal. It seemed to me that this people cared less about investments and only wanted food and probably shelter. You would rarely see them being given notes, the coins were dropped to them especially for people who thought they had excessive coins. This reminded me of a story about a known beggar who won a bid of a very expensive building. The bidding hall was filled with many people who all came to try their lack in buying the coveted building strategically located in one of the cities. As usual, the hall had different categories of people, some who were serious buyers and others who were simply observers.

After everybody had bided what he or she could give for the building, a man gave the final bid and allowed to own the building. Surprisingly, it was not a person that people expected. The amount being given for the building only implied that a familiar face, probably that of a business tycoon or long serving Member of Parliament would take up the building. The man was however, a face that people could not recognize. This stirred a curiosity within them and sought to know who the man was. To the surprise of everyone, the man was a beggar in the streets. He confessed that he has been begging for quite sometime and since the business was booming, he enrolled his children in the same. The money collected was being saved and had reached to such an amount. What surprised many is the fact that a person would pursue begging as a career and manage to save such an amount. As ironic as it was, I saw the sense in it, I imagined how much coins the person gathered from sympathizers. The monthly collection must have been more than what an average working class earns.
As we can see in my personal narrative, irony is a real story portrayed in a simple unimaginable form. This is evidenced by the fact that a beggar could be wise enough to obtain sympathy from people and save the money wisely for a future case. He waited for the right opportunity to reveal to people that begging is a career to most people who enjoy the benefits thereof.

In the story, Back in the World by Tobias Wolff, we observe three instances of irony in different story.

In the first story, The Poor Are Always With Us, a whiz kid from Silicon Valley wins two cars by playing a game of coins from an older whiz kid. The irony of the story is revealed when a person used coins to win a car. When it comes to a game of wining such big prices, then the players have to invest a lot, such a game is also not played among young kids but adults who understand the value of the car. Another irony in the story is observed when the whiz kid who gives out the car requires to obtain help from the one who took the cars from him. It is expected that for a kid to give away such cars almost at throw away, then they must be well of economically (Wolff, 54). The third irony is displayed when the whiz kid who won the cars is reluctant to extend help to the kid who gave him the cars with the fear that he will spend everything for charity. He does not even consider the kind of support rendered to him and extend back the favor but sets up tougher conditions.

In the second story, leviathan, we encounter a woman who is celebrating her thirtieth birthday. Three of her friends who bring her unexpected gifts visit her. Instead of coming with gifts that are common for birthdays such as clothes, shoes, chocolates and the likes, each of them comes with 1 gram of cocaine. As if this was not enough, the women remain behind just to make sure that the woman takes up the cocaine. The party, which was meant to be a happy and joyous one, turns up to be a boring one. The women think that the birthday friend was responsible for their cheerfulness and forces her to cheer them up. Apart from the strange birthday gift, they brought to her and forcing her to consume it, we were expecting that they cheer up the birthday woman and make her happy. They make her birthday worse than it would have been had she not celebrated it.

In the third story, The Missing Person, we are encountered with two brothers. One, the younger, is back from a religious commune and meets his older brother. Despite the session of separation, none seems to be exited about the other as they dwell on events that happened twenty-five years ago. It seems like the attitude they have towards each other are memories of mistreatment that makes them overlook the fact that they have been separated for such a long time. It would have be expected of the older brother to get concerned of where his younger brother had been and his experiences. This would have bee stories that would have characterized their reunion. However, they talk as if they had been together all along. On the other hand, the way the younger brother brings back memories of twenty-five years ago, seems like the incidence happened a few days back. Another irony is the fact that the older brother would punch his younger brother on the stitches instead of offering him the support he needed (Werlock, 85). Even after being reminded of the incidence, the older brother does not apologize as a form of consoling him but rebukes him for bringing back the memories. The two brothers display an attitude of having less concern towards each other.

The rich brother is a story that highlights the plight of two brothers with complementary lifestyles. One is rich, yet very arrogant while the other is a poor wonder. Instead of them embracing their lifestyles and accepting their weaknesses, they blame each other for their misfortunes. They both realize that despite their lifestyles, they are still in need of each others support. They do not however approach this wisely and help each other out but throw blames. The irony of the story is derived from the fact that as blood brothers, they seem not to understand each other and behave like strangers. It is expected that they cover each other’s weaknesses and unconditionally extend the support required without having to blame each other.

Irony, as displayed in the above stories is a fact that has been displayed in a less serious format that it births doubts in the mind of the audience. The facts displayed are real yet the characters being used are not serious about what they adopt. The stories reveal the different characters in society and their less concern about what they do as long as they satisfy their needs. In all incidences, we are encountered with an innocent and less concerned character. The self-centeredness that people have makes them less concerned about the pain they cause to others as they pursue their ambitions. These are good examples that help define what irony is and how it can affect the characters positively and negatively involved.

Works cited

Matuz, Roger. Contemporary Literary Criticism. London: Gale Research Company, 1991.
Werlock, James. The Facts on File Companion to the American Short Story. New York: Infobase
Publishing, 2010.
Wolff, Tobias. Back in the World: Stories. New York: Vintage Books, 1996.