I want to make some observations about Tobias Wolff’s “The Rich Brother” in terms of the approaches we’ve been using in English 303. Specifically I’ll talk about the story’s theme, conflict, characterization and point of view.
Wolff’s story includes several different themes. Perhaps the most obvious of these is family. Wolff portrays the brothers as drastically different from one another. They constantly disagree and disapprove of one another’s actions. Yet despite the dissonance between them they maintain a consistent relationship. It becomes evident that Peter cares about Donald in the very first conversation between them. While Peter disapproves of Donald’s choice to stay at the farm, he speaks compassionately. It would have been easy for Peter to simply say “I told you so” or to begin lecturing him. Instead Peter encourages him to make the right choice, and doesn’t hesitate to offer him a place to stay. Peter sees Donald as a burden, yet it is Peter’s choice to continue helping him. Truthfully, if Peter wanted to relieve himself of his burden it would not have been difficult or unjustified.
I would argue that the struggle between material wealth and religious morality is the most important theme in this story. The text that surrounds discussion of Pete is very often about his liberal using, or even wasting, of his wealth. Religion comes into this theme because these material values of Pete are in constant conflict with the spiritual values of Donald. More basically the themes exist because they are prevalent in the text. Pete’s use of money is focused on in mentions of things like his new car and his experiments with sky diving (including the insinuation of drug use).
The Essay on Theme And Its Importance
Theme is the principal phrase or idea behind a story. It plays an important role in the notable accomplishment of Shirley Jacksons The Lottery, The Open Boat written by Stephen Crane, and Battle Royal by Ralph Ellison. Each of these stories portray an important and powerful theme which is a valuable contribution to the success of each work. The Lottery is a story about human sacrifice and ...
These uses of money are extremely wasteful since they don’t seem to have any concrete products. While a new car did come out of the purchase it was to replace a perfectly good car. The theme of religion and morality exists in Donald’s emphasis through his “Try God” shirt, his stay on the farm, and the final phrase “Where is your brother?” which Wolff describes in his commentary as a reference to Cain and Abel.
This theme is also the most prevalent conflict that takes place in the story. The entire story is centered on the conflicts that occur between Pete and Donald. These conflicts are external, Man vs. Man conflicts. There are perhaps too many individual conflicts in the story to count since every event that is mentioned suggests a disagreement between the two brothers. Yet all of these conflicts are based on the drastic differences between them. Pete holds wealth and success above spirituality, while Donald holds spirituality above material success. Because of this, neither brother ever seems to approve of the other. At the same time I think it essential to recognize that they are unable to separate from one another. Donald needs Pete because he cannot continue with his religious endeavors without the financial support that Pete gives. Pete in turn feels unable to abandon Donald, though his reasoning for this is more ambiguous than Donald’s reason.
Internal struggle is suggested within Donald and Pete. In Pete it is seen at the very end where he struggles within himself between abandoning his brother and returning for him. If we read the last sentence “Where is your brother” (1419) with religious implications then one can view Pete’s conflict with his brother as a conflict between worldly success and spiritual success. Though Pete is very successful materially he cannot completely sever his commitment to his brother, and thus his commitment to religion. The same conflict can be seen within Donald’s character. When Pete suggests that Donald stay at his home Donald “put up a show of resistance” (1408) and later resisted Pete driving to get him. Donald doesn’t want to have to depend on Pete. He even tries to live without him by moving to the farm, yet he does not last there very long. Yet no matter how conflicted Donald is about taking things from Pete, he is in no way able to stop. Again viewing this relationship as symbolic, a man of spirituality cannot exist without some manner of worldly success.
The Essay on The Rich Brother Pete Donald Values
The Rich Brother Pete's and Donald's Values Comparison and Contrast In Tobias Wolf's 1985 short story "The Rich Brother," we are introduced two brothers. According to Wolf, you cannot even tell that they are brothers because their physical differences, but as the story goes into more detail we can tell that they are different in every aspect. One of the major differences is that one is wealthy and ...
Webster is an important character to the relationship of Donald and Pete. Essentially he had bridged the gap that exists in their personalities. While the rest of the text might suggest it is impossible that religious morality and wealth are in conflict with one another, Webster’s part of the text suggests that it is possible to have a balance between the two. Webster admits that he was greedy, and even that his wife’s death is due to his greed, but he is not greedy anymore. While he may not represent any specifically religious action, his giving nature is very similar to what Donald does. It seems very natural that Donald would have given him money for investment. In a sense, Donald was investing in a movement toward emphasizing morality while maintaining religious stability. Pete was naturally angry about this since he wants to keep his wealth a priority. To Pete financial stability is not enough, he wants excessive wealth.
Pete and Donald are characters I view as round. They have a great degree of detail surrounding them and have a strong history and because of this I feel I must call them round characters. However, I feel the characters stand for their particular beliefs. Pete is almost a living and breathing depiction of material success while Donald is a living representation of spirituality. This fact makes me think that if I have to consider them round I would place them very low on a scale from flat to round. They are also static characters. There is no point at which either characters change any. The only moment at which this fact could be challenged occurs at the end where Pete considers abandoning his brother. The thing to consider about this moment is that Pete has considered abandoning his brother many times before, and he only fantasizes about actually doing it since he knows he won’t. When he turns back around to get his brother after the story ends it is just as he knew it would happen from the beginning.
The Essay on The Rich Brother Donald Pete Life
Tobias Wolff's "The Rich Brother" is a story of two brothers, Donald and Pete. These brothers have very contrasting lifestyles; Pete is a successful businessman with a wife and kids. Donald, on the other hand, is an outcast. He's unemployed and irresponsible. He lives his life as a vagabond. Despite these facts, the successful brother, Pete, still lacks the self-esteem he desperately craves. ...
Webster’s character is also static and it is also flat. I say this because he is in the story for too short of a time to take on any strong degree of characterization. We know only a few details about the man and he serves mostly to escalate the conflict between the two brothers. The shortness of his presence also forces him to be static since there is no time in which he can change. While a change is suggested in his past, he was once greedy and he is no longer, he remains the same individual during the time period of this story.
The third-person narration used by Wolff is very effective in this story. I think it is a good choice because it is probably the common point of view of a reader. Most people seem to place wealth first, above spirituality. By aligning the reader with the man who has this same priority it allows people to feel a connection of sorts to both the main characters. If it had been told through Donald’s point of view it would have criminalized Pete’s character. Readers would have viewed him as greedy or obsessed with his own wealth, as Donald sees him. From this point of view Donald is the one who is made to look bad through the eyes of Pete. But since Donald is so moral and spiritual the reader is called to question a criminalizing of him. Other literary clues hint that we should take Donald more seriously than is suggested by Pete.
The techniques utilized by Wolff in “The Rich Brother” are calculated and well developed. The elements that are discussed here only serve to scratch the surface of this story. I hope that this essay suggests a deeper look into the way these techniques are actually placed into the text.
