Reading Response: This Boy's Life (1993) - Book Report/Review Example

Tobias Wolff’s gratitude to the mother is outstanding since he spent much of his life with her. Rosemary, Tobias Wolff’s mother, practiced utmost responsibility by taking Tobias with her wherever she went. Tobias Wolff dedicates his success to the mother for the care she accorded to him. I concur with Rosemary Wolff as a caring mother that gave Tobias Wolff her best despite the challenges they experienced in life. Tobias acknowledges his desperate state that life subjected him (27) by saying “Because I did not know who I was, any image of myself, no matter how grotesque, had power over me”.

Obviously, one sympathizes with the narrator in his plight to yearn for justice from life only to encounter a series of frustrations. His parents separate and the mother moves with him from state to state in search of comfort. He never abandoned his dreams despite the challenges that life subjected him. It would be unjustified to blame Rosemary Wolff for the ragged life of Tobias Wolff. Her love for the son is conspicuous because she moves with him everywhere she goes. She leaves his father and marries Dwight, her second lover, probably aiming at raising him in a stable home life.

It is notable that Rosemary does not intend to inflict harm on him when making such critical decision but was Wolff feels disappointed with her in the end. Shortly after separating with the husband, Toby’s mother settled in Utah where she hoped to earn a living by mining uranium. The struggle revealed yet another hardworking attribute of Rosemary. She exhausted her efforts to ensure that she and Toby sustained a living. The mother tried her best to exercise the role of providing for her son.

In as much as the author did not have a fatherly figure, the mother could manage to be responsible for him. Criticizing her decision to quit his first relationship is baseless as she prioritizes a peaceful living to a complete family. In real sense,