In his memoir, This Boy's Life, Tobias Wolff explores his childhood as he tries to define who he is and who he wants to be in life. Throughout the book Toby has an ideal persona that he idolizes, but is unable to achieve. This version of him shows up when he falsifies his applications for elementary school and again when Mr. and Mrs. Howard take him out to get some new clothes and he looks at himself in the mirror. This person is confident, gets good grades, is a top athlete, and is personable; the kind of person you might find at an elementary school like the Hill School. Although in the book's narrative Toby never reaches his ideal, he leaves the reader wondering whether he is capable of changing. Toby's delinquent behavior at the beginning of the book stems from the lack of a father figure in his life. Toby's biological father abandons him and his mother at the beginning of the story, and abandons Toby again at the end of the book when Toby moves west to California to live with him. Likewise, the adult males that Rosemary brings into Toby's life have a negative influence on him. Roy, Rosemary's ex-husband, is an alcoholic who abuses Rosemary and chases her from Florida to Utah. While he is around, he is a negative influence because he gives Toby a .22 Winchester rifle and bonds with him in activities such as "tomcatting", chasing women for sexual gratification. As a result of Toby not having a father figure in his life, he seems to lack a moral compass. At the beginning of the book, Toby joins the school archery club, run by his sister James. One day, he catches him aiming a bow and arrow at the other children. Toby was not the only one to participate in this activity, but the children saw it as a game. When Sister James sees him, she realizes the extent of what he is doing. “Sister James was about to say something. His mouth was open. She looked at the arrow I was aiming at her, then she looked at me... Inside