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. This is classic narcissistic behavior: There is a huge gap between inflated phony, self-esteem and the real self. Upon further analysis, we can say that the narcissist like Wiley uses grandiosity to hide his self-loathing. Thus the narcissist tends to fluctuate between self-aggrandizement and self-hatred. 38
2. Wiley   believes people like him (because he's so smart and charming) and will stand up for him. He has allies, a team of supporters, or so he believes. In reality, he stands on his own. In fact, he lives in a prison of self and living in this prison creates anxiety and when we're anxious about being alone we create a fantasy world in which we're grand, popular, and loved; otherwise, life would be unbearable. The truth hurts too much. 39
3. He believes other people injure, unjustly, his dignity when in fact it is he who injures his own dignity. As with most of us, he is his greatest enemy. Most of us sabotage our plans. We have some demon inside us that stops us from being happy. Identifying this demon and learning how to live with it and therefore minimize its impact is one of the greatest accomplishments we can ever do. I doubt we can ever kill the demon. We can only keep it in check. This is why people seek religion, philosophy, and therapy: To find ways to stave off the Anti-Self. 40
4. He believes if Kathleen “knows the truth” about him, she’ll like him when in fact the contrary is true. The truth about Wiley is that he is an emotionally stunted adolescent, a narcissist, a prisoner of his own self, a fantasist, a lonely sad sack who feeds off his ludicrous dreams, lies, and fantasies. 40
5. He believes he’s disciplined when he is a lazy BEE-ESSER. Rather than have a lesson plan for his students, for example, he likes to tell stories in which he is the hero. 41
6. He believes he has “bad luck” with women. In truth, "bad luck" is a fantasy. Most bad things happen because of our character: Lazy, pathological liars usually don't have "good luck." 41
7. Wiley   believes he’s rational in an irrational world that unjustly persecutes him when in fact the reverse is true. He is, in other words, a genius surrounded by a confederacy of dunces, as he sees it. Therefore, he is the lonely genius, a victim of a world that cannot appreciate him.  42
8. Wiley 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. But book smarts, without a blossoming soul, is worthless. 
10. He believes the end justifies the means. If telling lies furthers a "truth," then lies are justifable. 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. People who believe in their own BS fail to listen to others; as a result these people are slaves to solipsism, a life trapped inside their own mind. 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. In addition to being a pathological liar, he is addicted to his own BS.

 

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.

Sample A Introduction, Transition, and Thesis

Show how a narcissist must be punished to be awakened from his narcissistic ways. Then transition this narcissist's punishment to Wiley's, followed by your thesis.

Recently, my gardner Francisco told me that one of his customers, John, espied his neighbor walking his dog to dump crap on his lawn. For six months this victim of having his front lawn being used as a dog dumping ground saved the dog crap in a huge plastic garden bag. When the bag was stuffed, John walked to the culprit's front lawn and dumped 3 months' of accrued crap on the lawn.

Since then, the guilty party does not even walk his dog in front of his neighbor's house. Not only does he live in fear of his neighbor, he suffers the ignominy of knowing his disgusting, insidious violation of neighborly etiquette has been exposed. 

After Francisco shared this story with me, I felt bathed in warmth. My wife noticed a glow in my demeanor and said I looked "different," before asking me why I was so happy.

"Because," I answered, "a filthy narcissist has been put in his place and perhaps now he'll think again before leaving dog crap on someone's lawn."

Another man who leaves his crap everywhere he goes is that pathetic narcissist Wiley from Tobias Wolff's masterful short story collection The Night in Question. Wiley and other characters from the story collection are quintessential narcissists evidenced by _____________________, _____________________, ______________________, _______________, and __________________________.

Inflated self-esteem altnernated with self-loathing

Pathological Lying

BS-ing

Solipsism

Self-pity

Spite

Class Activity

Write about a narcisssit who "spreads his crap" around, metaphorically speaking, and transition this example to Wiley.

Who said revenge--even the mere story of revenge and its vicarious effects--is not a holy gift from the gods? Francisco's story is indeed delicious, a morsel sweeter than any pumpkin pie I will eat tomorrow.