The mood of Winesburg

Suppressed and/or repressed desire seems to ail most of the characters in these stories. The psychic suffering is only compounded by the spatial limitations of small-town life. There is little room/opportunity for catharsis. They very often suffer silently--especially the women.

The characterization is very interesting, as the narrator often describes these figures in terms of their occupation and/or physical deformities, both outward projections of identity.

Those characters preoccupied with metaphysical or philosophical concerns seem to suffer doubly. First, from a struggle with expression and secondly from the resultant alienation from their peers.