ipl-logo

What Is Tobias Wolff's Powder Short Story

895 Words4 Pages

Tobias Wolff once said, "A true piece of writing is a dangerous thing". Ironically his short story Powder genuinely is a true piece of writing. Wolff 's Powder is a short story from his collection titled The Night in Question published in 1996. The Night in Question was his third collection published and one of his most famous. The short story Powder tells of the adventure of a father and his son battling obstacles to get home in time for Christmas Eve dinner. After a long day of skiing which the father insisted on, the duo began their trek home during a snowstorm only to be stopped by a trooper. The father and son were informed the road was closed. Reluctantly they headed to a nearby diner for burgers fearing that they may not make it home in time for dinner. Wolff and his father waited for the police officer to leave before taking advantage of the moment by heading out in the white night through the barricaded street. They forged through the snow relentlessly heading for home and it was then that Wolff had learned how to live in the moment. This story strongly reflects Wolff 's sense of self both before and after this adventure. As young Wolff and his father were baring the treacherous weather to make it home in time for Christmas dinner he discovered a new side of himself. Wolff described himself …show more content…

I am the type of person who plans as far ahead as possible to ensure that each day goes as expected similarly to Wolff 's character the son. "I was the type of boy who kept his clothes on numbered hangers to ensure proper rotation. I bothered my teachers for homework assignments far ahead of their due dates, so I could draw up schedules." (Wolff 3). Both Wolff and I share similar habits in our day to day lives that can be hard to stray from. Which is why when their departure day was failing to go as planned I made a connection to the son and knew how he must have felt with events not going as

Show More
Related
274 Words | 2 Pages

Family reunions are often used to dwell upon the past and reflect upon one’s life. Richard Rodriguez, in is his passage, goes to extreme lengths to explain to the reader his carefully taken observation of his family’s life. Looking deeper into the words and feelings of the passage, Rodriguez portrays a sense of strong family values. It is apparent (by his selective use of diction and narrative structure found throughout the passage) that Rodriguez is writing to a more mature, experienced audience. As a mature writer, Rodriguez knows that the best way to connect with his audience is through the one day responsible for some of their greatest childhood memories -- Christmas.

Read More
676 Words | 3 Pages

Tobias Wolff’s “Bible” explores the nature of a woman whose life is in “danger” and the personality of her abductor. At the beginning of the story, Maureen is vulnerable. She leaves her friends at a bar to go home alone on a cold Friday night. She is powerless over her own body.

Read More
926 Words | 4 Pages

The Holocaust was a horrific event, allowing millions of Jews to die or suffer. The tragic event separated families, not being able to see them ever again. However, in the memoir Night, Elie Wiesel and his father relied on each other and as a result, develops a strong father-son relationship. Wiesel and his father develop a strong father-son relationship throughout Night, experiencing horrific events during the Holocaust. Wiesel's relationship with his father progresses from a codependent relationship to a relationship where Wiesel believes his father is decreasing Wiesel's rate of survival.

Read More
1363 Words | 6 Pages

He encounters the external issue of physically disparity with the people that he get along with, and the internal conflicts between being a man with the characteristic that his father modeled for him or being a unique

Read More
1062 Words | 5 Pages

His son marries, and the narrator and his wife age further, and the transition into old age is complete with the death of the narrator’s father-in-law. Between these events we can see large shifts in attitudes and ideas, as well as health and well-being. These factors provide clear character evolution within the

Read More
936 Words | 4 Pages

Wolff reveals the difference between these two mentalities Anders lives out by taking the reader back to Anders’

Read More
448 Words | 2 Pages

The narrator’s eyes are closed and he is being led by a blind man, yet he is able to see. Carver never explains what it is the narrator sees, but there is the sense that he has found a connection and is no longer detached or isolated. The narrator is faced with a stark realization and glimmer of hope. Hope for new views, new life and probably even new identity. Even the narrator’s wife is surprised by the fact that her husband and Robert really get along together.

Read More
953 Words | 4 Pages

Dieter goes through transformations during the short story, and his character unfolds a new attitude. In the beginning, he feels trapped and vulnerable. Considering he cannot fend for himself or

Read More
1008 Words | 5 Pages

The scene then changes to the narrator’s childhood, a lonely one at it. “I lay on the bed and lost myself in stories,” he says, “I liked that. Books were safer than other people anyway.” The main narrative starts as he recalls a

Read More
647 Words | 3 Pages

His mother warned him about his fate if he continued to drink, like his own late father, but he felt that a few drinks would not cause any issues. Little did he know that a few drinks would turn into endless nights of drinking, and the biggest tragedy of his life; the death of his daughter. His daughter, worried sick about him, went to look for him at the tavern so they

Read More
797 Words | 4 Pages

The anecdotal story is also used to provide the reader with what the author feels about his father. After explaining that his hammer’s handle is made out of hickory, the speaker

Read More
860 Words | 4 Pages

The narrator begins to change as Robert taught him to see beyond the surface of looking. The narrator feels enlightened and opens up to a new world of vision and imagination. This brief experience has a long lasting effect on the narrator. Being able to shut out everything around us allows an individual the ability to become focused on their relationships, intrapersonal well-being, and

Read More
811 Words | 4 Pages

In the short story “Powder” by Tobias Wolff the author writes a story about a father and a son with a troubled relationship as they try to go home on Christmas eve. During this time period it is about the 1920’s around the time of the Great Depression. When the stock market crashed it affected the father, the son and this story. The obvious conflict is between the mother and the father because the son has been brought home late by the father and has been given one last chance to take his son out and bring him home on time. This paper will discuss how the word usage throughout the story helps us to determine that the conflict is growing and beginning to reach its peak.

Read More
888 Words | 4 Pages

The son undergoes moral development during this moment, and Wolff demonstrates this by using foils, symbolism, and by changing the connotation of the word snow. It is due to these literary devices that Wolff demonstrates the son’s moral development during a memorable moment. Throughout the novel it is apparent that the father and mother of the son are complete opposites.

Read More
498 Words | 2 Pages

In Tobias Wolff’s short story “The Liar,” the protagonist, James, lies to help him construct a new identity outside of his family. James tells morbid lies about his mother in order to distance himself from her. Since, the loss of his father, James no longer associates with people who are like him. The lies started after his father’s death and his mother starts noticing how much differently he was acting. Since his mother is treating him like she is disappointed in him, James begins to devolve into a state of repressed bitterness.

Read More

More about What Is Tobias Wolff's Powder Short Story

Related Topics

Open Document