Prosperous, Propertied Pete: Varieties of Wealth in "The Rich Brother" Anonymous 12th Grade

In “The Rich Brother” by Tobias Wolff, Pete drives his brother Donald home from a church community. Pete is the typical middle class success story and Donald is a poor drifter. Throughout the short story, the question arises who is truly the “rich” brother. Pete is the rich brother because of his material wealth, more intangible forms of wealth he possesses, and fulfillment he has in his life.

To argue which brother is richer, we need to first define what makes someone rich. Merriam-Webster defines rich as “having abundant possessions and especially material wealth”. In the literal sense of the word, Pete is the richer of the two brothers. Pete has a new car, a sailboat, a house “from which he could see a thin slice of the ocean”, and a successful real estate franchise. Donald, on the other hand, had his car repossessed, has no home, and occasionally paints houses. The only money to his name is whatever he owes his older brother, Pete. If one were to examine the question strictly in a material sense, it would be no question that Pete is richer. However, being rich is more than just having lots of material possessions. One can have all the money in the world and still be lacking the things that make life worth living. There are...