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.

Adventure

Last night while I was reading I came across the passage "Adventure" and it stood out more than the others. Though I've been able to identify to a point, with most of the featured citizens of Winesburg, Alice Hindman was one that sort of struck home. I made a note in the margins of my book, so I'd specifically remember her, and what she's gone through. I noticed, that the word "ferment" was used almost immediately to describe her, while the others in town had been compared to something that has decayed. Though fermentation is a type of decay, it's one that births something sweet and hopeful, and though Alice is a grotesque, this seems to mean that the narrator might hold out a small hope for her. It's almost as if she's pre-grotesque, and still has the ability to prevent the loneliness and ostrasization that the other's we've read about have experienced.

That's all...though I could probably ramble a bit more.

The Front

I consider many of these stories depicting the search for identity from a society of "dull clods" (Mother pg. 18). Most of these people display a unique quality that makes their story interesting but the overall sense is that they are stuck in their place by the ineptitude of their character characterized by an outward manifestation (Biddlebaum's hands, Ned Currie, God). Throughout the book there is a general sense of a "front" put on by most of these characters where the appearance they show each other hide their truthful self as they try desperately to escape the inevitable fate of becoming a "dull clod."

I also found it ironic the descriptions of Biddlebaum's and William's hands contradicting the nature of their "crimes."

Anderson's Women

Sherwood Anderson seems curiously sympathetic to women. I say "curiously" probably only because in past readings his narrator struck me more forcibly. George Willard is the perpetual outsider, celebrated by the author and by several characters for his uniqueness of vision. George Willard sees. George Willard listens. George Willard takes on the ancient task of the storyteller, to carry culture through narrative. George tells the stories that are told to him. He tells the stories that the other characters cannot tell. On this reading, however, I am more impressed by the way in which the narrator/author seems to understand the frustrated passions of the female characters. I stopped with the story of Louise Hardy-and here I am thinking of the other post about reading Anderson from a feminist perspective-and wondered what preoccupied Sherwood Anderson in this story. Certainly he focuses on the reawakening that David Hardy makes possible. Yet, he involves the reader more intensely in the life of Louise. To what end? What effect does it create to spend so much time on individual frustration? Do the women have a particular kind of frustration?

Loneliness in Winesburg, Ohio

In terms of character struggles in Winesburg, Ohio, loneliness is the major factor in the unhappiness of the town's inhabitants. All of the characters that are presented express some feelings of alienation in their individual relationships, as well as a disconnect from the world around them.

This is particularly evident in the depiction of the Willard family. There is a decay happening among both Tom and Elizabeth Willard who appear to be defeated by the lack of communication and lack of happiness in their marriage. They have become cynical of others and their placement in society. At this point it appears that the parents are in an attempt to live vicariously through their son to ease the loneliness and unhappiness that they feel in their own lives.

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.

Questions to consider as you read Winesburg, Ohio

–What elements of Modernism do you find in Anderson’s stories? (Consider Raymond Williams and Peter Singal--from the lecture notes posted to Blackboard under "Course Documents.")

–What is one of the main conflicts portrayed in these stories? With what conflict or conflicts do the characters struggle?

–What do these stories tell readers about small town America?

–Who is the most interesting or sympathetic character and why?

More specific questions:

•“Hands” : Of what is Wing Biddlebaum guilty?

•“Godliness, Part Three”: Is Louise Hardy a moral character?

•“The Strength of God”: What does the title of this story mean?