Analysis of Wolff's "This Boy's Life: A Memoir"

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Introduction
“This boy’s life” explains Jack’s life as he moves from one town to another with his mother; Rosemary. There are many concepts in this memoir, ranging from abusive relationship, Jack’s adolescent struggles, and his addiction to guns. However, this paper seeks to give a response to Jack’s potential psychopath behavior, his young self as inauthentic, and mentioning of Gary Gilmore in the memoir.
Jack spent plenty of time with his father learning how to shoot in the desert. As a result, he developed great interest into guns and shooting. He even aimed at people just to fulfill his desire of playing with guns and shooting. “For an hour or so, I aimed at people passing by” (Wolff, 2007, p 27). Furthermore, before they travel to Seattle, he pleads with his mother to allow him to carry the gun. Consequently he “unscrewed the bolt and pulled the rifle apart” (Wolff, 2007, p 32) as a gun specialist. His mother was even surprised and just crossed her arms in shock after seeing her son unscrew the gun. Therefore, considering Jack’s addiction to the rifle and the violence related to guns, it is clear he was a psychopath.
Indeed, when he was young, Jack was inauthentic. During his conversation through letters with his pal in Arizona; Alice, he forged his personality and reputation. He represented his personality as a German shepherd and a player who played for several athletic teams. However, he did this as an effort ...