In his novel Winesburg, Ohio, Sherwood Anderson portrays the lifestyle of small town America from a negative perspective. Winesburg, Ohio is separated into twenty-four different stories, each pertaining to a specific person of the town; in each story, Anderson portrays each person as deformed in some way. Most often, the inhabitants are suffering from loneliness or a loveless life. In other words, each person is trapped in small town America sulking in their loneliness and not trying to better themselves or their lifestyles.
The first story of the book, “Hands,” focuses on an old schoolteacher, Wing Biddlebaum. In his lectures, he encouraged his students to think freely and dream, but he continuously put his hands on the boys’ shoulders and played with their hair. He was driven from the schoolhouse by the infuriated parents, and lived the remainder of his life alone. Anderson says, “For twenty years Adolph Myers lived alone in Winesburg. He was but forty but looked sixty-five” (13). He looks older than he should because he sits waiting for his life to return to normal; he gawks at what he has degraded himself to, yet does nothing. He has been brainwashed and can only think along the narrow lines that he already knows. He preaches to his students that it is alright to think freely because he does not want the same fate for his students. The fact that he had to encourage his students to think for themselves implies that small town America brainwashes its citizens.
Many of the women suffer mostly from loneliness relating to their love lives. In one instance, a teenage girl name Alice Hindman fell in love with Ned Currie. Unfortunately for her, Ned left for the city in order to secure a job. At first, Ned wrote to her often, so she felt as if her future was secure. But as time went on, he got caught up in city life in addition to other women, but Alice continued to wait for his homecoming. “In the dry goods store weeks ran into months and months into years as Alice waited and dreamed of her lover’s return” (61). She fell into the trap and refused to give up on her affair. Her life in small town America, consisting of dreams too large to fulfill, caused her to waste many years simply grieving over her lost love and living in loneliness wanting nothing more than “to be loved, to have something answer the call that was growing louder and louder within her” (63). Her loveless life dismantled her unrealistic dreams and held her captive in Winesburg.
George Willard is the only character that manages to maintain his sanity. George acts almost like a therapist to some of the characters. He appears in 15 of the 24 stories proving himself to be the vision of hope amongst the inhabitants of Winesburg. As one example, a boy named Enroch Robinson returns to Winesburg from an odd life as an artist in New York City and feels a strong need to just speak with someone about his troubles. Anderson explains that “Enroch told George Willard about it (his reason for leaving New York City) one night. He wanted to talk to someone, and he chose the newspaper reporter” (96). Although George did not know him on a more intimate level, he offers his consolation to Enroch by listening to his story. Although George deals with many of the troubled characters in the town, he manages to keep his composure as well as his sanity.
Overall, Sherwood Anderson introduces the warped town of Winesburg and its troubled citizens. Through the various stories, he describes small town America as a lonely world that holds its inhabitants captive. The people hold onto their large dreams that are too large for them to hold, and they become trapped in a dream in which they cannot find an escape, or rather, do not search for an escape. Instead, they act content with their lonesome lives. Anderson’s main message in Winesburg, Ohio is for one to think freely and not become trapped in a lifestyle based on assumptions that others may have. In the end, the only way to escape a lonely life is to leave a find a new, better suited lifestyle.
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