Winesburg Ohio is a moving, intriguing book of short stories about the lives of people in a small town in Ohio. Although each story seems to have a different theme and meaning, with the only connection being time, place and George Williard, all the stories seem to come together to a common, general theme as well. This characteristic of this work has lead some critics to say it is a novel, but one without a clear joining thread. Literary criticism about this work by Sherwood Anderson seem to center around the debate as to whether Winesburg, Ohio is a novel or a book of short stories(Miller,1999). The overall theme of this fascinating book appears to be that all the trials, troubles, decisions, rewards, rumors, and stories of the people of a small town add up to more than the sum of the people and their stories. The town takes on a personal identity of its own, it is more than the sum of its parts., but its character is formed by its parts, the people who live there. The argument over whether it is a novel or a book of short stories has been going on for over seventy five years, and no satisfying conclusion has been found (Miller, 1999). This work must be looked at not from the point of view of what genre it represents, but instead we must ask the larger question ‘ What is the theme of this work? What was Anderson trying to say? . If we look beyond the surface, deeper into the subtle meaning Anderson was trying to convey, we can see this is a work where characters are being affected by the time in which they lived and the characters were affecting the times in which they were living. That is the subtle connection between the stories that binds the book together. In order to understand the connections and the theme runni... ... middle of paper ... ... Anderson's rejection of the plot as the main focal point. Instead he captivates the essence of humanity through the struggles of his solitary characters.” I think he did a beautiful job of just that in Winesburg, Ohio. 1881 words Works Cited Geddes, Dan. "Winesburg, Ohio - Novel or Stories - by Dan Geddes." The Satirist - America's Most Critical Journal. Dan Geddes, 1999. Web. 28 May 2010. . Howe, Irving. ""Winesburg Preface"" American Studies @ The University of Virginia. University of Virginia. Web. 28 May 2010. "Sherwood Anderson Criticism and Reviews." Ohio Reading Road Trip. Think TV Network, 2004. Web. 27 May 2010. . Stouck, David. ""Sherwood Anderson and the Postmodern Novel."" Contemporary Literature No. 3 XXVI.Fall 1985 (1985): 302-16. Print.
The story takes place in Annadel, a rural town seated in Justice County of southwestern West Virginia, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The author does a fantastic job bringing the reader to the setting through the story being depicted by four different characters’ self narrated stories, which effectively puts the reader in the character’s shoes. In addition, a unique trait is added, with the dialogue being written in a presumably region and period specific style southern dialect. This feature not only makes the reader feel as though they are there at that time and place, but also provides for a more interesting read. While the unique style added to the dia...
Updike, John. “A&P.” Literature Craft and Voice. Ed. Nicholas Delbanco and Alan Cheuse. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw, 2013. 141-145. Print.
The power of novels can allow readers to learn significant lessons about humanity and life experiences. Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men” set in Americas great depression of the 1930’s, explores the human need for company and the impact of loneliness. This is shown through the characters experiences of power and powerlessness on a barley ranch in California. Steinbeck shows his readers the need for compassion in times of cruelty, emphasised by the desperation of the era which the novel is set.
Pike, Gerald. “Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Short Fiction Writers.” Short Story Criticism. Ed. Thomas Votteler. Vol. 6. Detroit: Gale Research International Limited, 1990. 90. Print.
Cather, Willa. “Paul’s Case.” The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Eds. R.V. Cassill and Richard Bausch. Shorter 6th ed. New York: Norton, 2000. 198-207.
Wing is an extremely intricate person; however, most of the people among whom he lived in Pennsylvania before his current residence in Ohio failed to recognize this, as do his fellow citizens in the town of Winesburg. Anderson describes him as “one of those rare, little-understood men who rule by a power so gentle that it passes as a lovable weakness” (13). Just as his previous neighbors were unable to understand Wing fully, so are those among whom he currently lives: “the depth and complexity of [his] suffering” baffles them (Elledge 11). The very profundity of Wing’s situation explains why he “for twenty years had been the town mystery,” although osten...
...iness, cultural failure and unhappiness help formulate his ideas of people. Anderson was not writing about society in Winesburg, Ohio, but he was writing about people. Anderson conveys the theme of isolation, discovery, inhibition, and cultural failure to manifest the importance of humans, collectively and individually.
Greenblatt, Stephen, and M. H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 9th ed. Vol. A. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print
Novels that exhibit what the life is like for the people at ranch can help readers reflect on how they might react in comparable situation. George and Lennie who struggle to transcend the plight of inerrant farmworkers are followed by the novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck. Readers are positioned to respond to themes through Steinbeck’s use of conventions that are dispirit. Themes such as Freedom and confinement, loneliness, and racism are pivotal in the novel and draw out a range of responses from the readers.
Lipking, Lawrence I, Stephen Greenblatt, and M H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume 1c. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print.
In many of Faulkner’s stories, he tells about an imaginary county in Mississippi named Yoknapatawpha. He uses this county as the setting for his story “Barn Burning” and it is also thought that the town of Jefferson from “A Rose for Emily” is located in Yoknapatawpha County. The story of a boy’s struggle between being loyal to his family or to his community makes “Barn Burning” exciting and dramatic, but a sense of awkwardness and unpleasantness arrives from the story of how the fictional town of Jefferson discovers that its long time resident, Emily Grierson, has been sleeping with the corpse of her long-dead friend with whom she has had a relationship with.
One of the main symbols of the story is the setting. It takes place in a normal small town on a nice summer day. "The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer day; the flowers were blooming profusely and the grass was richly green." (Jackson 347).This tricks the reader into a disturbingly unaware state,
(Sept. 1976): 35-39. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Carol T. Gaffke. Vol. 26. Detroit:
Small, Judy Jo. A Reader's Guide to the Short Stories of Sherwood Anderson. NY: G. K. Hall, 1984.
Abrams, M.H. and Greenblatt, Stephen eds. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Seventh Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2001.