Moral Ambiguity in Old School Jessica Trombacco 12th Grade

The narrator of Old School, by Tobias Wolff, is a character that can be characterized as morally ambiguous by the reader. This moral ambiguity is accentuated by the complexity of the character, and the fact that the story takes place from his point of view. This element gives the reader a look at his inner reasoning and debate, the difference between what he thinks and what he does, and the positive reasons for his negative actions. The not-so-clear line of his morals are a central tool to expressing the meaning of the story, which is focused on the confusion of being young and trying to find oneself, and that growing up is a messy and not strictly positive or negative process.

Because we see the narrator and his actions through his eyes, and therefore see not just the decisions that he makes but his reasoning behind them, we are more likely to feel sympathy for him, and understand why he does what he does. If the character was described through the eyes of another, the reader would just see his actions and judge him on the outcome of his decisions rather than the emotion and thought behind them. For example, when he enters a writing contest with his name on someone else’s work, the initial instinct to just his actions is that...