This Boy's Life

“This Boy’s life shows us that fantasy is no match for the harsh realities of life. Discuss.”

In life we can create false expectations of ourselves when we become disappointed. During these struggles we rely on our imagination to shape who we desire to be that help us have a greater understanding of ourselves. In the coming of age memoir, This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff, the author juxtaposes the notion of the power of imagination and true circumstances. The two key protagonists Jack and Rosemary have a clear dream of transformation to improve their turmoil. However in doing so, both characters encounter multiple obstacles such as the misuse of power and abuse from men in the text. Based in the 1950’s, Wolff reminds us that it is normal to have dreams of a life greater than we actually have. Whilst Jack and Rosemary have longed for “fortune” and “unencumbered, solitary freedom”, their reality is much more complex and challenging.

As a young child of only 10 years old with dreams, hopes, and desires, Jack is thrown into a cruel world with unjust realities. At the beginning of the memoir, Jack and Rosemary witness the “big truck” swerving uncontrollably off the road and are blind to realising the ominousness message behind the vehicle “falling hundreds of feet” off a cliff. The author incorporates this metaphor as a way to foreshadow the wreck of relationships and lack of power over their circumstances that they both would undertake. Wolff furthermore uses their Nash Rambler that “boiled over every couple of hours” to symbolise their ability to move forward in small bursts only to burn out in the end. And not long after, gave the car away to someone off the street because their naïve mentality thinks everything will be solved if they were to escape from the problem – similarly like what they do with everything else that doesn’t fit in their ideal world. Jack’s sense of self is influenced by this string of volatile father figures he is confronted with. The men in the text make him feel inferior and unworthy in life to the extent at one time he “wandered around in a trance of that habitual solitude induces” and expects to “recognise” random men off the street as his “father”. Wolff deeply explores the notion of loneliness in the text where the only things that got to know him were “dogs”. In the memoir, dogs symbolise loyalty and we see this on multiple occasions with Arthur’s loyalty being represented through his dog, Pepper.

Jack admits to having dreams of transformation, just like his mother, as a result of these challenging circumstances. While searching for his meaning to life, he is constantly cautious about how he can best conform to society and how others perceive him. This leads Jack into creating false versions of himself to the extent he fears Sister Jane’s “disapproval and incomprehension” when she visits