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Anders
Anders is visiting a bank just before closing time, when two masked men wearing blue business suits enter the premises. They begin to threaten both the bank staff and the customers with guns, using clichéd phrases from gangster movies to intimidate their victims. One robber, who carries a pistol, singles out Anders for rough treatment when Anders’ sarcastic commentary begins to sound disrespectful. As one of the story’s antagonists, the robber clashes with Anders in multiple ways: he physically threatens him with a gun, but he also introduces psychological tension into the story. At the beginning of “Bullet in the Brain,” Anders personality is overwhelmingly cynical, which prevents him from sensing the danger he is in. When Anders looks into the robber’s reddened eyes, however, Anders begins to realize his cynicism has put him in harm’s way. Unfortunately, this insight cannot change Anders’ behavior entirely, and Anders laughs at the robber’s clichéd speech, leading the robber to shoot him. While the robber’s actions force Anders to come to a gradual realization about the cost of cynicism, this realization does not happen soon enough to save Anders’ life.
Robber Quotes in Bullet in the Brain
The Bullet in the Brain quotes below are all either spoken by Robber or refer to Robber. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Bullet in the Brain Quotes
“Oh, bravo,” Anders said. “‘Dead meat.’” He turned to the woman in front of him. “Great script, eh? The stern, brass-knuckled poetry of the dangerous classes.”
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In this quote, Anders demonstrates how his cynicism not only supersedes any sense of solidarity with his peers, but also prevents him from accurately assessing the danger of a situation. When two masked robbers enter the bank and threaten the customers, Anders does not react with fear or caution like the rest of the customers; instead, he comments sarcastically on the robbers’ clichéd words. Revealingly, Anders addresses his quip to one of the women he ridiculed earlier, further demonstrating his unawareness of social graces and illustrating how isolated he is from the people around him. Anders is more interested in Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eli
The barrel tickled like a stiff finger and he had to fight back the titters. He did this by making himself stare into the man's eyes, which were clearly visible behind the holes in the mask: pale blue and rawly red-rimmed. The man's left eyelid kept twitching. He breathed out a piercing, ammoniac smell that shocked Anders more than anything that had happened, and he was beginning to develop a sense of unease.
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This passage brings Anders and his antagonist, the robber, into direct tension. The robber, feeling disrespected by Anders’s sarcasm, holds his pistol against Anders’s gut to threaten him, but Anders has to keep himself from laughing. Anders’s cynicism and dark sense of humor have led the robber to this point of escalation, yet Anders seems unable to understand the real danger he has put himself in. When Anders finally takes a moment to look beyond his contempt and mockery by “making himself stare” into the robber’s eyes, however, he begins to change his behavior. Anders seems to finally recognize the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste.
Anders burst out laughing. He covered his mouth with both hands and said, “I'm sorry, I'm sorry,” then snorted helplessly through his fingers and said, “Capiche-oh, God, capiche,” and at that the man with the pistol raised the pistol and shot Anders right in the head.
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Anders momentarily loses his cynicism when he realizes the robber’s capacity for violence, but it is not enough to change Anders’s behavior entirely. When the robber reverts to his clichéd, gangster speech, Anders breaks into laughter, unable to resist showing off his contempt. Revealingly, it is the robber’s language that prompts Anders’ scorn; even in a moment of intense danger, Anders’s disdain for cliché is what provokes his judgment. Although the robber’s behavior briefly forces Anders to see beyond his overwhelming sense of cynicism, he is still the jaded critic, and his bitterness skews his ability to behave appropriately. Although Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusan
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Robber Character Timeline in Bullet in the Brain
The timeline below shows where the character Robber appears in Bullet in the Brain. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Bullet in the Brain
One bank robber comments on the closed position and asks about the person who works in that spot....
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This comment gets one robber’s attention, and he calls Anders a “bright boy,” asking him if he told Anders to...
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The pistol tickles Anders, and he tries not to laugh. Instead, he looks the robber in the eyes, which are red and raw-looking. For the first time, Anders begins to...
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The robber, seeing this expression, asks Anders if he thinks the robber is “comical.” Anders answers, “No,”...
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Anders, upon hearing this clichéd gangster speech, cannot stop himself from laughing. In retaliation, the robber raises the gun and shoots Anders in the head.
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