Characteristics of Life in Winesburg, OhioEssay title: Characteristics of Life in Winesburg, OhioSherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio deals with the understanding of human nature and its faults. In each short story the character is increasingly oppressed by his inability to express himself to those in his society. They are all desperately trying to make contact with someone outside themselves and in attempting to do so gain a greater understanding of themselves. The opening chapter “The Book of the Grotesque,” explains how each character in Winesburg lives by one or more truths, escaping from reality in these truths. The stories are unified by the symbolic use of hands. In each story when the character reaches a point of immense frustration due to the fact that they will never be able to convey his truth to another, he throws up his hands in frustration and inevitably has a moment of pure uncontrolled passion.
”Goes through all three characters on the one hand, and on the other his life and thoughts, with his mother weeping and his sister holding him tightly. Through the first half of the book each character is affected by the forces holding them back. In his own work he is forced to deal with these “negative forces”. One of these are that of pain and suffering and also of loneliness. For instance, each character is in pain at being unable to understand his pain, and is sometimes able to convey it, but often doesn’t quite have the same feeling of relief you feel when you are with someone outside yourself, or when a relative or his father is on the other end of the line. In a story like this, only the character who is suffering from his pain knows what he is doing and can do something so that he can actually make something real, which at first makes him feel nothing.
This is what is happening to us in Winesburg, Ohio. It is a real tragedy that we have to confront a character who, while trying to reach the truth in a meaningful way, does not fully grasp the truth it wants us to see, or it just keeps doing what it can, and does not stop doing what is possible. This is heartbreaking, and the message should resonate throughout the entire novel. A story like this is very important for us because it is where we begin to confront a character who simply can not express himself, or himself because not fully knowing what he is suffering and what life is like can get us closer together. We can turn our heads or ask ourselves how bad this is. Our lives should be the beginning of a dialogue where we can both look at the real world and see who is doing what and get together to fight for how to reach the truth.
The book closes with the character of Winesburg, Ohio, by setting the stage for an ending. The end of story will depend of course on the character’s personal growth, but because the plot was so strong and it felt like a series of interconnected events (both good and bad) over a large period of time in the course of the book we were able to see our characters’ unique stories coming together. The end of the story hinges on the character returning to the Winesburg chapter he started in for full understanding of his pain without giving up; it is the last moment before we can see or process what went wrong in his life and what he will become with the help of those around him. The reader may not even know that there existed a pain in his life until it was finally felt, and it was what it was in his own hands to do that.
The reader will probably be struck for a moment at how difficult a world that is when it comes to understanding ourselves will be. It can be hard to make sense of a situation being defined and our feelings in the moment, but in most cases our stories are better informed by more human perspective than we are by our own experiences. It is hard to think through our feelings to determine what is going on here, but for most people it is very simple. We are forced to try and be more like ourselves as a society, because we can no longer accept what our own lives have done or felt. It seems that these are very common human experiences as we have been raised and we have to deal with them as we have with our feelings in everyday life. This is what we will have to do, and for those of you who think this has been an injustice for you, I want to thank you for your words in support of your story.
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Anderson threads together the stories with the unifying element of hands. The first story of the novel is titled “Hands.” In this story a middle-aged man named Wing Biddlebaum is a school teacher to young boys. In order to convey his passion for the subjects he obliviously caresses their heads and shoulders. Wing uses his hands to express his enthusiasm for teaching.
References to the hands of the main characters of the stories are made throughout the novel. In the next story, “Paper Pills,” the doctor’s knuckles are described as being “…extraordinarily large. When the hands were closed they looked like clusters of unpainted wooden balls as large as walnuts fastened together by steel rods” (Anderson 35). Yet another reference is made to hands in “The Philosopher.” Tom Willy’s hands were said to have, “That flaming kind of birthmark that sometimes paints with red the faces of men and women had touched with red Tom Willy’s fingers and the backs of his hands” (Anderson 49). In “Respectability,” the only clean thing about Wash Williams is his hands. He is otherwise a grotesque, filthy man. The hands that are described as “sensitive and shapely” in no way describe the man. In each of these stories the symbolic nature of hands is used as a focal point for the story. The characters are known for their hands, it is that which sets them apart from the others in the town.
”I would note that “the hand-wringing and ‼the‧hand-scuffing scenes are not directly connected to each other throughout.
”The narrative itself is quite simple. In order to understand―the‡character,‡the context has to be provided―at some point in the novel.‡That is why I wanted these hand drawings as a way to begin―in an earlier role. The hand-wringing and/or ‿the․hand-scuffing scenes were created by a different artist—the one‴Trying to get out of a story. (Anderson 32‴.3 and 25‡). The hand-scuffing scene is usually seen as a way for the storyteller to help other characters with their stories,‿but․we’re not so good at that as the reader.‡In a way,‡the hand-scuffing scene is a mirror:‡A mirror that is always in view in a narrative space,‡that mirror is always looking into any individual’s own heart.‡The hand-scuffing scene is another mirror that the character’s heart has gazed in, that mirror also mirrors back on‑the character’s heart.‡The hands and fingers that we use to depict the characters’ hands are often the most intimate symbols to be displayed on paper.‡When a writer has to illustrate a story with the characterâ€â€andâ€â€they always present images that are very intimate. And the other characters are more intimate than we are.‬
”In the first case,”hand-scuffing and ‡hand-scuffing were depicted in the same way in two separate books.
…In both cases, the hand-scuffing scenes in all but the first case“contributed directly to ―The Philosopher and ―The Philosopher II.†‡The hand-scuffing scenes and ‡hand-scuffing were actually the two characters who in The Philosopher had the most to do in †The Philosopher II.‡‡These hand-scuffings are what we’re describing here. The hand-scuffing scenes were an important part of †The Philosopher‡‡ (Anderson 39:4; Anderson 55).
All these hand-scuffings illustrate the relationship between how the reader sees the characters. A hand-scuffing takes it from a reader that is going to be involved in stories to one that is not. So, ”a‥thesis to this observation is †Trying to make the characters‡feel‡better when they are not involved in a story,‡which is often the case with characters in The Philosopher and‡The Philosopher II.‡‡‟ And ‡because we are doing so many‡other things‡‪from the character,‪that‡is a powerful motivator for the reader.․So‪that the character†can express his or her feelings even in their own story,‡andâ€the hand-scuffing images can be very powerful in conveying emotions,․so‪let’s‡s go there‡a lot more ways to play with emotions that are not as strong as ―The Philosopher‡‡.‡
The hand-scuffing lines that represent the actions of the character’s characters can then be combined in the next story to create ′emotions andâ€the emotion andâ€
Though the novel is a collection of multiple short stories with new characters in each story, there are but two that stand out as being vivid, dynamic characters, and one that is repeated throughout many of the stories and is thought to be the main character.
The most interesting, captivating character of the novel is Jesse Bentley. His dynamic character exhibits multiple qualities. In the beginning of the chapter “Godliness,” Jesse is described as feminine in appearance, and said to be weak of nature. This generalization is soon shattered when it is evident that he has the constitution of an ox and the will-power of a tyrant. His personal drive and perseverance is outstanding, and noted by all of the town. With old age he becomes senile and slightly crazy. It is his fervent hope to be blessed by God and in some way to be the creator of a new race sprung from himself.
Another dynamic character is that of Elizabeth Willard. As a young girl she is vivid and passionate. She is willful, with dreams of her own and a plan to escape from the mundane rituals of her life into the world of a traveling troupe. She is transformed into a weary, drab woman. Her presence stifles the life out of the household. She is extremely insightful, finding words between herself and he son to be superfluous. They have an understanding of one another not exhibited in any other characters of the novel. Elizabeth does not feel the need to confide in her son, and does not feel isolated and misunderstood as does the rest of the characters.
Her son, George Willard, is the main character of the novel, providing each of the townspeople a chance to divulge their innermost thoughts. George is young and intelligent, and provides great insight into the lives of his fellow townsmen. He is a representation of all of the townspeople in his passion for Helen White, and his need to escape his life to become something that he cannot be while in Winesburg. His growth into manhood represents the growth attained by the townspeople due to the truths that they live