What do you do behind closed doors? How do you feel? How do you really feel? We all have two lives—a public life, which we have with friends and family, and a private life, which we have only to ourselves. Why do we close off our real selves from the ones who care for us? Maybe we are all alone and we prefer for a part of us to be apart from others. Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson intersects the people of Winesburg, Ohio, and explores how and why people live. As different as everyone is, there is a similarity that everyone shares.
The novel is told through the town newspaper reporter, George Willard, who narrates the stories of the diverse townsfolk. From his regretful mother to the confused priest, George describes residents’ personalities and, in their most intimate states, how they handle life. Two recurring themes in the novel are loneliness and regret: how we come to be lonely and regretful, and how we cope with these emotions and feelings.
George’s mother knows much about regret, which she contents herself to living with. But she’ll be damned if she doesn’t push her son to follow a different path than the one she took: “If I am dead and see him becoming a meaningless drab figure like myself, I will come back.” The relationship between George and his mother is strange. It’s one that doesn’t converge or diverge, it just exists as if they are following some set guidelines on being a parent or a child.
Winesburg, Ohio is a small town that seems to trap people inside its city limits. Growth is stagnant because, like all small towns, there isn’t much room for making bad decisions, which comes to haunt many of the inhabitants. Alice Hindman lives with the decision of not leaving town with her love, Ned Currie, when he left Winesburg to start a fresh life in Cleveland, Ohio. She stayed. She constantly thinks of nothing but him, and refuses to love anyone but him. Years pass, but Alice stays devoted to Ned, where all signs point to him never coming back to her or to Winesburg: “I am his wife and shall remain his wife whether he comes back or not.” Making decisions is a natural part of life, but for the people of Winesburg, Ohio, making one bad decision can mean the difference between a life of happiness or sadness.
The heart of the novel is about making choices. Getting from one place to another requires decision-making. Another way to describe it would be risk-taking. Life is full of risks, but one needs to be able to decide the pros and cons of the risks in order to decide what to do or not to do. Is every action a risk? It depends on how you look at it, and it depends on what you value. If you value your car, you risk damaging it everytime you drive it. If you don’t value your watch, you shouldn’t mind if it gets stolen.
Article comments
1 - Mat Brewster
Thanks for this. I had to read the book for a writing class in college. I loved it. I may just have to pick it up again, since you're reminding me I remember very little of it.
2 - Tan Hoang
Thanks for the comment. I actually didn't get into the book until half-way. I had almost no clue what was going on. But when I got into you, I had to reread from the beginning again, and absolutely fell for the book. It's a great book.
3 - KRS
--"So admired are Sherwood�s stories and characters that Ernest Hemingway parodies Winesburg, Ohio in his novel The Torrents Of Spring."
That may be more a measure of how much Hemingway disliked Sherwood Anderson. I heard that, though Anderson was originally a mentor to Hemingway, the younger author turned on him.
4 - DrPat
You've caught the central theme very well, Tan:
It's a classic novel for a reason that has little to do with Hemingway's parody and possible enmity with the author. The theme speaks to all of us, even if we have never lived in a small town - we recognize that impetus to play it safe, and realize that every decision we avoid tightens the boundaries of our world.
5 - Tan Hoang
I've also heard that Hemingway meant for the parody to be light-hearted but Anderson took it badly.
6 - francisco68
Thanks. Good review. I had the book in my library back in the US for years and could never get into it. Perhaps you convinced me to get a new copy and try again.
Also Torrents of Spring , a Hemingway I somehow missed when I thought I had read all his work.