1C Lesson Plan for “Life of the Body” by Tobias Wolff

 

 

Part One. What are Wiley’s 12 Self-Delusions?

 

1. He confuses obnoxiousness with charm. 38
2. He believes people like him and will stand up for him. 39
3. He believes other people injure, unjustly, his dignity when in fact it is he who injures his own dignity. 40
4. He believes if Kathleen “knows the truth” about him, she’ll like him when in fact the contrary is true. 40
5. He believes he’s disciplined when he is a lazy BEE-ESSER. 41
6. He believes he has “bad luck” with women. 41
7. He believes he’s rational in an irrational world that unjustly persecutes him when in fact the reverse is true. 42
8. He believes telling lies can improve his image. 44, 45
9. He believes his book smarts gives him a wisdom and moral standing that makes him superior to others.
10. He believes the end justifies the means. 53
11. He believes that his blind persistence is a virtue. 55
12. He believes his own BS is his ticket to paradise when in fact it is his key to hell. 56

 

Part Two. Wiley Suffers From Solipsism

 

1. My mind is the only reality or I am the only reality
2. Self-centeredness to the point of insanity
3. Complete absence of empathy
4. Complete inability to imagine how others perceive you.
5. Form of emotional retardation

 Part Three. Faustian Bargain: Wiley suppresses his real self and becomes addicted to his own Inner BE-ESSER.

  

The story is about the dangers of being a B.S. Artist or a BE-ESSER

 

1. BE-ESSERS are often too intoxicated by their own BS and fail to see that others are not as impressed with it as they are. In other words, they suffer from an inflated self-esteem that has no correspondence to reality, what we call a narcissist. Wiley ends up getting his butt kicked because he is too clueless that he has created an escalated hostile situation.
2. BE-ESSERS often feel that they’re “superior BS” ability gives them license to do anything so that they have no boundaries.
3. BE-ESSERS can’t stop BSing even when the situation demands it.
4. BE-ESSERS tend to dig themselves into a deeper and deeper hole as they continue BSing.
5. BE-ESSERS are more concerned with image than substance. They cannot tolerate people having the “wrong impression” of them. That’s why Wiley goes out of his way to prove to Kathleen that he is a good person, which backfires.
6. BE-ESSERS create a fictional persona that is so addicting they don’t know how to be real anymore and live the rest of their lives as compulsive liars.
7. BE-ESSERS can’t achieve intimacy because their whole life is a performance act.
8. BE-ESSERS are good at drumming up feelings of self-righteousness even when they are grossly wrong. In other words, they end up believing their own BS. See page 46 bottom.
9. BE-ESSERS spend so much time puffing themselves up that they have too much pride to admit when they’re wrong.
10. BE-ESSERS rationalize their lies by justifying the means with the end. See page 47.

  

See the book On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt in which he says that bullshit is worse than lying, that bullshit is defined by pretentiousness, misrepresentation and all the insidious things we use to puff ourselves up such as false modesty, sycophantism, omission of certain facts, slight exaggeration, etc. Write these characteristics on the board.

In a 150-word paragraph, provide a penetrating psychological profile of Wiley.