Narrator

Anderson often shifts between the psyche of his characters and the narrator's perceptions of them. He always seems to be searching for the correct way to describe his characters' feelings and temptations, often deferring to a necessary yet absent poet that might be able to to his job better. In a way, Anderson's narrator, telling the tales of these "grotesque" figures, operates from the perspective of the town's gaze. We see the actions of the townspeople and their constant attempts to live in a world with no privacy, no secrets.

The narrator sees more than what they do, however. He sees into their minds and souls. Often temptation and sin are at the forefront of these tales, but, unlike the judgemental gaze of the town, the narrator looks past his initial perceptions and finds humanity, and even beauty, in their imperfections.

By laying bare their psyche and their souls, however, the narrator ironically strips the townspeople of their one remaining refuge in this small corner of the world. This is not an intrusion, however. The narrator sees what the townspeople cannot, and demonstrates for the reader that the imperfection and moral difficulty that plague one member of Winesburg plague them all. There is equality and understanding in the imperfection of the human soul.