In John Edgar Wideman’s Article “Our Time,” he gives an exploration of the experiences his brother Robby Wideman went through as well as the circumstances that led to the latter’s imprisonment as he became a recognized writer. Edgar considers how a member of the family can grow up the same way as the other siblings and live a different life. He tries to establish why Robby goes to jail in his mind. He even tried to understand as a person who lives in the same family as you are can lead a completely different kind of lifestyle. He argues that despite the challenges that people face in life, it reaches a point in life where an individual has to stop blaming others people for the events in their life, but take responsibility for the choices they made in life.
John attempts to communicate the things that he encountered and the experiences he underwent in his life. The essay begins in Robby’s point of view and explains about significant events that had great impact in changing his life, and finally the disastrous death of Garth, his close friend. Following Garth’s death, I notice that Robby was already bitter with the world and had a pessimistic attitude about it. He believed that it was unfair for his friend Garth to die. He becomes angry with the doctors since he believes that they could do something to save his friend from dying. “The world’s a stone bitch. Nothing true if that’s not true” (694). This phrase indicates that Robby had resented in the world. This attitude led to Robby ending up getting into trouble later in his life.
Wideman says that his mother had a remarkable capacity for "{trying] on the other person's point of view." I notice that while John tried to write the essay from his brother’s point of view, he does not exactly explain, as his brother would have done it in his own view. However, from Robby’s point of view, Robby would have indicated everything that happened to him. Nevertheless, from either point of view, the essay indicates that Robby had regretted his choices and intended to make up for his mistakes. He decides to stop blaming people for his actions and decides that he wishes he would have died, but still lives and intends to live positively.
Work Cited:
Edgar Wideman. “Our Time.” Ways of Reading , 6th Edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002, 752 – 790
