Tobias Wolff

Tobias Wolff

In the Garden of the North American Martyrs

Contents

Next Door : B+

Hunters in the Snow : B+

An Episode in the Life of Professor Brooke : B

Smokers : A

Face to Face : C  

Passengers : C

Maiden Voyage : C

Worldly Goods : C -

Wingfield : B +

In the Garden of the North American Martyrs : A

Poaching : B

The Liar : C

First, let me begin by saying Tobias Wolff has this amazing ability of describing things in such a way that they encompass you. Sometimes, it’s very subtle and then other times it slaps you in the face. It’s great.

Tobias Wolff was born on June 19th in 1945 in Birmingham, Alabama. His father abandoned him and his mother to live in the eastern part of the U.S. with Wolff’s older brother. Wolff and his mother, Rosemary, fled to Florida when his mother remarried to a man named Roy. After a few years, the family moved to Utah in hopes of getting rich mining uranium. Roy had become mentally and physically abusive to both Tobias and his mother, so the two fled to Washington, where Rosemary met Dwight. They then moved to Concrete, Washington where Dwight lived. Soon, Dwight became abusive, just as Roy and Tobias’ father had been. Tobias, who desperately wanted to get away from the abuse began lying and telling tale-tale stories. When he was a teen, Wolff changed his name and applied to private schools on the east cost in hopes to get away from his stepfather. He forged transcripts and claimed to be an A-student and star athlete. Once accepted, Tobias’ lies soon floated to the surface. His grades didn’t exactly reflect those of his transcript and he was expelled. Wolff then joined the U.S. Army and was shipped to Vietnam.

In the Garden of the Great American Martyrs, Wolff bases many of his stories in the North Western part of the United States, mainly northern Washington and the cost of Oregon. Although these stories are fictional, I believe some are loosely based on events that happened in Wolff’s life.

Smokers

The main character, whose name we don’t know is from Oregon and he is on his way to Choate, a private school in Wallingford, Connecticut. The story begins as the boy is on the train and sees this boy who is dressed oddly with an evergreen hat with feathers. He hopes that the boy will not sit down beside him, which he does and doesn’t stop talking all the way to the school. The main character hopes they won't be roommates, which they aren’t. Eugene, the oddly dressed boy is roomed with Talbot, a boy that everyone wants to be friends with, including our protagonist. In what seems rude and desperate, the main character starts hanging out with Eugene so he can befriend Talbot. The main character and Eugene are both “scholarship kids” and the protagonist wishes he were more like Talbot. Throughout the story, the three boys sneak off to go smoke and steel liquid codeine from the infirmary to mix in there Coke. Eugene goes with Talbot to his family's home to hunt during the Christmas break, leaving our protagonist feeling pretty low. Once the boys return to school, Eugene asks the main character if he has someone to room with next semester, the boy lies to Eugene because he is on his way to ask Talbot, who has already asked Eugene to room with him. The boy is devastated and heartbroken. Later the same day, Talbot has been smoking in his and Eugene’s room, but leaves shortly after. Eugene, who is alone in the room, is “caught” by Big John, the headmaster of the school. Although Eugene wasn’t actually smoking, Big John claims he was because of the smell and Talbot wasn’t in the room. At the end, Eugene gets kicked out of Choate and the protagonist considers telling the truth, but then decides not to because Talbot comes to him, asking if they can be roommates.

In the Garden of the North American Martyrs

This short story is about a woman, named Mary who teaches at a college that goes bankrupt, leaving her with one option: to work at a college in Oregon - a place she hates because it is damp and rainy. Mary hates her life and job. She researches other professor’s works in order to give her own lectures because she doesn't’ want to seem ignorant. She copies the works word for word. Out of the blue, she is contacted by her old co-worker, Louise who is now working at a “wonderful” college in upstate New York. Mary is surprised when Louse tells her the reason she has contacted her - a teaching job has opened at the college Louise is teaching at and her first thought was that Mary would be the perfect candidate. Louise and the college has paid for Mary to come stay on the grounds in a little cabin on the campus until her interview the next day. The only thing Louise wants to talk about is her affair and how she thinks she is going to leave her husband for the other man. The day of Mary’s interview, she is hit with the fact that they only interviewed her because of a rule the college has. A rule that states the college must interview one woman when a position opens, as to seem fair and not sexist, (which, spoiler alert*, fails miserably). Louise then informs Mary that she has to give a lecture of some sort only hours after her interview. Mary panics and Louise tells her she can give a lecture on one of her works that she hasn’t had published yet. Mary does not like this idea because she claims it is going to be “‘her first act of plagiarism’”. Which, is very hypocritical of her considering all of her lectures she gives are basically stolen from other people. Once the lecture begins, Mary decides she isn’t going to give the lecture on Louise’s article and wings it. She begins, very vividly, talking about the Iroquois Indians in this part of the state and how they were fierce and powerful and participated in cannibalism - going into great detail about a story of two men who were captured by the Iroquois, who ate their hearts and drink their blood as a punishment. Mary’s story horrifies Louise and she is stopped by the head professor who interviewed her. She ends her speech quoting the Bible and telling the audience to "'turn form power to love. Be kind. Do justice. Walk humbly.’”

Wolff is known for his memoir, This Boy’s Life which documents his adolescent years with his mother and abusive father figures. Wolff’s mother moved to Washington D.C, (where in her first months there, Dwight stalked her and attempted to kill her) and became the president of the League of Women Voters. Wolff moved to California and lives with his wife and two children. He is the Ward W. & Priscilla B. Woods professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford. He is 72 years old.

Check out Wolff’s page on Stanford’s website (videos included): https://english.stanford.edu/people/tobias-wolff

If you’re feeling froggy and wish to email him questions: http://creativewriting.stanford.edu/uncategorized/tobias-wolff

If you want to buy Wolff’s memoir, (which has been turned into a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro ): https://www.amazon.com/This-Boys-Life-Tobias-Wolff/dp/0802136680