Quiz Question: How does the story take Mark “back in the world”? His mirage of making it big in California to spite his parents dissolves and he’s left as a corpse in the desert of his broken dreams as he’s revealed for what he is, a spoiled child incapable of raising a family. Or: Give 7 pieces of concrete evidence that Mark is a thoroughly disgusting human being.
Mark’s Malignant Personality
1. He is a selfish liar 119 and 122 top
2. He has a perverted definition of freedom 120 and 144 in which we see his pathetic, immature view of marriage.
3. He suffers from an inflated self-esteem or delusions of grandeur 120 bottom and 121 top
4. In fact, Mark is not, as he sees himself, a talented man. He is a cipher or a nobody. In this sense he is a “missing person.” See page 130 where Krystal must ask the question: “What does he do?” She finally says he’s a singer.
5. He has the audacity to feel cheated by Krystal’s condition of pregnancy 124
6. Mark has a victim mentality that inclines him toward self-pity and defeat. 132
7. His main motivation in life is to fulfill his Revenge Fantasy against his parents. 132, 133 top. See page 149 where he wants to stage a death to spite his parents.
8. He scapegoats his parents for all his problems. 133 “They didn’t do squat for me.”
9. His parents are only guilty of having realistic goals for their son. 133 Stay in Phoenix and get a real job.
10. Mark has chosen death over life as evidenced by him getting inside a hearse full of the devil’s minions. 137
11. Mark believes the world owes him. “The world owes me.” He has a sense of entitlement. 137 “The whole country turned its back on him.”
12. Mark is gullible thinking he’s going to work on a movie set when in fact he’s with a bunch of Charles Manson cult killers. 142; They’re obviously on drugs evidenced on their speeding on page 146.
13. He will betray his wife and children for this asinine plan of working on a film set. 143
14. Ironically, his self-serving lie, his family doesn’t need him and is better off without him, is true. 143
15. Like Donald and Peter, Mark depends on his parents to bail him out. 149, 150
16. Krystal’s tantrum was really meant for Mark. 152
17. Hope the character represents the fact that Krystal has gone “back into the world” and will leave Mark.
Thesis: The “back in the world” moments in Tobias Wolff’s short story collection can be characterized by people who must endure arduous suffering as they confront the hideous consequences of their inflated self-esteem (Leo, Mark, Peter); as they take accountability for their past misdeeds (Peter, Krystal); as they recognize the woeful deficiencies of people they thought they could rely upon (Leo with the church and Krystal with Mark); and as they find themselves only because their deluded schemes backfire and force them to confront their true nature (Leo turning into Slim)
Comments