In the memoir "This Boy's Life," Tobias Wolff examines the attitudes and behaviors that all human beings exude during childhood. Indeed, Wolff demonstrates how exorbitant hope has the potential to blind individuals, resulting in an unfulfilled and disappointing life. In contrast to the stereotypical 1950s ideals surrounding conventions, Wolff highlights how the many promises of unconventionality turn out to be a kind of myth, as those who chase their dreams often turn out to be failures. Furthermore, Wolff shows that those who rely on their imagination to grasp a sense of optimism only prolong their misery, as their reality never equates to their dreams and expectations. Furthermore, Wolff encourages self-realization, but urges people to reconsider desires for transformation, since the outcome is not always as expected, thus suggesting that excessive hope and optimism are indeed extremely misleading. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Wolff uses the contrast between the stereotypical social "norms" of 1950s America, those that support the idea of ​​convention and the perceived benefits of nonconformity, to illustrate how those with high motivation often find themselves in circumstances completely different from their expectations. Rosemary Hansen, a single mother “with no money and no place to go,” is characterized by Wolff as an adventurous and fiercely independent woman, who dreams of the unconventional and breaks the stereotype of the 1950s housewife. With his son, Jack, they travel across America in search of uranium to "change [their] fortune", however, Wolff quickly states to readers that this fortune will never materialize in the opening sentences, while describing how their "machine it boiled over." again,” indicating their repeated “[i]mfortune.” Wolff then uses the image of a "big truck" that "overtook them" "on the next bend" with "its trailer gleaming wildly." She then “breaks through…guardrails” and falls “hundreds of feet” off a cliff, thus foreshadowing the bleak futures of both Rosemary and Jack as a result of Rosemary's desire for the unconventional due to her exorbitant optimism. Furthermore, with the search for uranium leading Rosemary and Jack to Chinook to live with Rosemary's violent, alcoholic boyfriend, Dwight Hansen, Wolff discourages naivety that is combined with excess faith and hope as it often leads to a attraction to dangerous men like Dwight, who use their masculine power to both oppress and take advantage of the weak and vulnerable. Therefore, Wolff exposes how the demand for the unconventional, due to an extraordinary amount of optimism, can be truly devastating. Furthermore, Wolf further emphasizes his opinion that individuals who rely on their imagination to gain a false sense of a bright and positive future are the ones who feel the greatest implications once they can no longer escape reality. Wolff frames his memoir in the epigraph with the quote "The first duty in life is to pose." This foreshadows Jack Wolff's nature, as he constantly uses his imagination to adopt many "poses" as part of his facade to try to gain a sense of belonging and purpose in his miserable life. It is through numerous rites of passage, including alcohol, tobacco and automobiles, that Jack is able to strike these poses, such as that of boy scout and rebel, and thus gain a slight glimpse of.