Symbolism In Tobias Wolf's That Room '

Ben Riggs

September 17, 2017

Introduction to Literary Types

Reader Response 3

In Tobias Wolf’s “That Room”, a short story is told of a young male working on a farm. One night, while noticing the horrid living conditions, he and the other workers relaxed and were drinking heavily. The narrator's thoughts and life suddenly flash before his eyes when one of his drunken co-workers Miguel, starts to yell about the conditions and puts a gun on the table. It is at this moment of the short story where Wolf shows symbolism to the reader. Miguel eventually ends up pointing the gun at the narrator. It is at this moment where the narrator realizes how helpless the situation has become. The title “The Room” is so significant because it is where he loses all control of the situation while quickly and harshly realizing the potential reality to come. He expresses how no one can ever know what could happen at any given time. When Miguel places the gun on the table, he clearly fears for his life and creates a limitless feeling of

The story is of a young african american teenager living in the time period of the post civil war. The author calls him an “invisible man” that had to deal with oppression throughout his life. Ellison describes in barbaric detail the events of the Battle Royal and the humiliation and violent oppression he had to experience. He is forced to fight his fellow black classmates by the other white students. Ellison explains the gruesome brutality of the event and describes in detail the injuries and helplessness he felt at the time. Ellison uses this as symbolism because it shows the gruesome violence and oppression black people had to enure at the time. Ellison shows that the white oppressors will never give any other race the chance to thrive. The violent story shows how little of a chance African Americans had during this time because of white oppressors never seeing them as