Nicole Torres
ENC1102 - Summer 2014
May 23, 2014

Contrasting Characters: “The Rich Brother” Tobias Wolff’s “The Rich Brother” showcases the complex bonds of family while portraying a relationship between two brothers who are the polar opposite of each other. Pete, the older brother, enjoys an affluent lifestyle and focuses much of his time and attention on acquiring more material wealth. He is a shrewd businessman who works hard for his money and places emphasis on financial prosperity. By contrast, Donald, the younger brother, has not achieved any financial success or independence but concerns himself more with spirituality and kindness to others. He lives a simple and rather destitute life and he often gives anything in his possession away. The brothers share no common ground, and this is obvious in their socioeconomic statuses, philosophical outlooks and spiritual conceptions yet they are tied together by the bonds of family. The most prominent contrast between Donald and Pete was in their socioeconomic status, which was a direct result of a difference in work ethic. Tobias Wolff opens the story with a description of Pete and his lifestyle, which emphasizes to the reader the key difference between these characters early on. Pete is described as a hard-working family man who lives in relative luxury. He can indulge in things like sailboats and property with an ocean-view and provides well for his family. The narrator points out that “Pete worked hard and made a lot of money, but not any more than he thought he deserved” (Wolff, 309). Pete takes great pride in his financial security and places the utmost emphasis on this aspect of his life, ignoring things like personal relationships and his own spirituality. Pete’s criteria for friendship mainly included “friends doing well enough in their own lives not to wish bad luck on him.” (Wolff, 309). Pete spends his money indulging in the material things that give the impression of affluence. In one instance, when Pete is picking Donald up in his new car, Donald is trying to understand why Pete needed a new car. Pete doesn’t feel the need to justify his purchase and simply tells Donald “‘There wasn’t anything wrong with it,’ (…) ‘I just happened to like this one better’” (Wolff, 312). Pete’s strained relationship with his brother Donald manifests in his condescending attitude over Donald’s lack of financial prosperity. In contrast to Pete, Donald “lived alone, painted houses when he found the work, and got deeper into debt to Pete when he didn’t” (Wolff, 309). Pete was often bailing Donald out of financial hardship and dire situations. Donald had very little to his name and lived in pursuit of spiritual enrichment as opposed to material gain. At one point in the story, Donald finds himself stranded and in need of Pete’s help, and “when Pete asked him where he intended to go, Donald admitted that he had no plan. His car had been repossessed just before he left the city, and he was flat broke” (Wolff, 310). In terms of financial well-being, it is clear to the reader that “Pete prospered and Donald did not prosper” (Wolff, 309). If the reader were to interpret the title of the story in a less literal way, one could argue that Donald was the “rich brother,” at least in the spiritual sense. From the onset of the story, Donald’s spiritual purpose in conveyed as part of his fundamental being. Donald is described as “bony, grave, and obsessed with the fate of his soul” (Wolff, 309). Donald transitions through different religions looking for one that suits him, but he does this as part of his quest for spiritual enrichment. Donald’s religious inclinations do not stem from his upbringing and the narrator explains that his “parents were dead but while they were alive neither of them had found it necessary to believe in anything” (Wolff, 309). Like his parents, Pete does not subscribe to religion nor does he place any particular emphasis on his spiritual wellbeing. Pete feels that Donald’s fixation with these matters “was an excuse for Donald to take himself seriously” (Wolff, 309). One source of Pete’s aggravation with Donald is his tendency to “[hand] down his judgements in ways that he seemed to consider subtle: through significant silence, innuendo, looks of mild despair and said, Brother, what have you come to?” (Wolff, 309). Pete feels strongly that he is in a superior position to Donald because of his financial stability, and he doesn’t take kindly to Donald’s judgments of Pete’s characters or integrity. Pete feels that the “trouble was that Donald couldn’t content himself with worrying about his own soul. He had to worry about everyone else’s, and especially Pete’s” (Wolff, 309). While Donald handles their differences in stride, Pete gets irritated with Donald’s holier-than-thou disposition and this increases the already present tension between the two brothers. Donald has never resented Pete’s success, nor did he envy’s Pete’s life, but Pete had a deep-seated resentment toward Donald, his lifestyle and his spiritual enrichment.