Summary Of This Boy's Life By Tobias Wolff

“This Boy’s Life” is a memoir written by Tobias Wolff where he describes his childhood, which was full of difficulties and disappointment. From the first page, it is clear that Rosemary, his mother, is not a conventional parent. Although, she harbors only good intentions and love for Toby, her poor judgment causes her well-meaning decisions to have a detrimental effect on him. This is evident when Toby writes profanity on school property. Even though the vice principal and two witnesses state it was Toby who committed the vandalism, Rosemary refuses to believe that Toby did it. She argues and even threatens the principal until he revokes Tobias’ sentence. Marian knows that Toby was the perpetrator and argues with Rosemary about it. Toby prepares an explanation for Marian’s accusations, but Rosemary doesn’t ask about it. That same weekend, Dwight asks Rosemary to marry him, and she accepts because she believes that it will be good for Toby (78-84). This episode illustrates important character traits about Rosemary which includes her denial about Toby’s true nature, her adamant refusal to discipline him, and her inability to make proper decisions regardless of her intentions.

Rosemary chooses to believe that Toby is a perfect child, even when the evidence indicates otherwise. Through multiple witnesses and the vice principal’s firmness on the subject, it is obvious that Toby was the one who defaced school property, but Rosemary refuses to believe it. Along with

Yet as much as she tries to provide for Toby, she is incapable of giving him a proper life. She also unintentionally stops him from achieving greatness. Such as how he decides not to go to Paris, which would have been a great opportunity for him, but he doesn’t go because he can’t leave his mother all alone. Although Rosemary deeply cares for Toby, she ends up being more of a hindrance to his development as a person than a