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1. Describe the setting in the opening of the story "Bullet in the Brain."

The story opens in a bank, where Anders has just arrived in time to join a seemingly "endless" (1) line. The bank is about to close, which is why the line is so long. The bank is described as a "pompous" (7) old building with a ceiling mural and scrollwork above the tellers' windows.

2. What sort of narration does the story "Bullet in the Brain" employ?

The story employs a third-person omniscient narrator throughout the story. This narrator is intimately acquainted with all aspects of Anders's current life and worldview. Even more importantly, the narrator is able to share with the reader a plethora of details concerning Anders's life up to the moment of the bank robbery.

3. In what way is Anders shown to be hypocritical within the opening scene of the story?

Wolff uses the event of the bank teller abandoning her customers as a way to expose Anders's hypocrisy. The chain reaction happens like this: The bank teller leaves her post to shoot the breeze with another employee, Anders becomes privately incensed, the woman in front of Anders in line complains to him about the teller's actions, Anders pretends not to have felt any ire toward the teller at all, and proceeds to berate the woman in front of him for being overly dramatic.

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