Sherwood Anderson

Throughout Winesburg, Ohio women are a reoccurring theme. Nearly every woman mentioned in the story is unsatisfied or miserable in some way. It is interesting to me that biblically, women are the cause of man’s downfall and this seems to be apparent in Winesburg as well. In “Respectability”, we see a woman destroy Wash Williams. During Wash’s marriage, he is handsome and well kept and a pleasant man. He has good morals and is devoted and enamored by his wife. On the contrary, his wife is dishonest and disloyal to Wash. Interestingly, Wash did not hate his wife when he found out she cheated on him; he was not pleased but he let it go and moved on because he loved her so much. It was not until his wife’s mom tried to basically whore her daughter off to him that he lost all respect for women. Not only was his wife disloyal but she was also presenting herself as a sex object. Wash wants women to be actual people with feelings and thoughts; the realization that the woman he loved is in fact artificial made him lose faith in humanity- women especially.  His wife is on several occasions described in an angelic way yet she is ironically nothing like an angel. Her dishonesty turns Wash into a hateful, disgusting, and ugly man. So, alluding to Adam and Eve, the woman has led to the man’s downfall. Additionally, none of the women in the book are particularly admirable; everybody just seems whiny. They all have some sort of love issue because they have not allowed self independence. Women are seemed as weak yet semi influential in this book. Perhaps Anderson has had a difficult time with women in his past because it certainly does not seem like he is very fond of them. Anderson’s personal life was severely dysfunctional. He was married three times and had a mental breakdown and left his wife and three children. This episode is probably reflected in his writing because all of the characters have odd marriages and families. I guess Anderson never really “grew up” in some ways; his inability to have a normal life reflects that. Perhaps this is because in some ways he had to grow up so fast. He had several jobs as a young teenager and made a life of his own at a young age. Maybe his book is his way of warning people from missing out on childhood and becoming him. It is not even all about experiencing childhood, but more about truly finding oneself. This is because nobody is really capable of being independent and confident if she or he doesn’t experience self stability. I think that Anderson lacked this step in life and he suffered his entire life from never growing up properly. His mental breakdown was this realization and he wrote Winesburg to warn others and express reason for his failures. Winesburg shows that maturity will come when it is ready to come and nobody should rush this.

Finding Ourselves

For my group’s literature circle, we chose “The Strength of God” section and I am assigned as the “connector”. I’m glad that I got this position because in my opinion, the most fascinating part about literature is deciphering the author’s main message which often time relates to the real world. One thing that I noticed was that Reverend Curtis Hartman is far too timid. At times however, his shyness works to his advantage because people appreciate a less radical approach to religion. But, I also realized that his timidity is creating a barrier between what he truly feels that he needs to express. I think that most people can relate to Reverend in this aspect. I know that for me anyways, it’s hard for me to completely express a thought unless I am comfortable with the listener. Our thoughts are precious and subjective and therefore people do not always feel okay with expressing them. But perhaps it would be better for everybody if more of our deeper ideas were expressed more openly. I also noticed that the reverend mostly marries for ritualistic and traditional reasons. The desire to fulfill society’s expectations is outweighing Reverend’s actual wants. Society is guilty of this for sure. We are all so concerned on following the “path” that society has created that we forget to explore a little. In Alpharetta, going to college really isn’t even a question. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very thankful for this because I have always intended on furthering my education, but I’m sure not everybody feels the same way. Some people in Alpharetta might want to go on to learn a trade or skill; not everybody is meant to go to college. It’s sad though because even the kids more interested in pursuing a trade are probably too intimidated by the high expectations of the Alpharetta culture to ever actually go through with the idea. So, like the reverend, tradition is undoubtedly holding back society from exploring all of life’s options.  Additionally, the minister’s sinful thoughts demonstrate the hypocrisy of the world. It’s discouraging to think that the minister, the man everybody looks up to for moral guidance, is considering giving into his sinful thoughts. Had the reverend not had his epiphany, he would have been just like everybody else. I think that this is Anderson’s way of putting to light the issue of hypocrisy in the world. There is a reason that we are told to “practice what we preach”, and it’s because society has such a difficult time doing this. Maybe Anderson is also trying to tie in religion to this. Unfortunately, religion often times gets a bad name because those advertising their religion tend to also do things that counter those beliefs. Hypocrisy makes people look pretentious and dumb; as a whole, society should be more aware of this. If a person actually believes what they are saying, they will be more likely to follow through with what they say. I guess all in all, Anderson asks us to be more in tune with who we individually are and what that means.

Winesburg, Ohio

I’m glad we were required to read Winesburg, Ohio. All of the stories are quirky, interesting, and meaningful which makes it a very pleasurable read. Although there are many themes presented throughout the novel, I especially noticed the “coming of age” theme. I suppose that’s because I am getting closer to that step from childhood to young adulthood. Some of the words I indexed were “white” and “awkward” which I think have a significant meaning to the text. White connotates to “pure” and “innocent” which describe the blissfulness of childhood. Maybe Anderson wants the readers to really feel the transition from childhood to adulthood by describing as much as possible with his usage of “white”. Also, awkward is a key part of growing up and I noted that most people in the stories were at one point described as awkward. “White” and “awkward” are just a couple of the things described to emulate a childlike feel. Maybe Anderson’s hope is to acknowledge the struggles of growing up but also note the importance of getting over it and embracing adulthood, like George does. I can definitely appreciate that message because right now I certainly don’t want to grow up. But then again, it’s going to happen and I mine as well make the best of it. Additionally the idea of absolute truth is portrayed throughout the novel. Maybe it’s because no one can really feel content without the truth and if you don’t know the truth then it’s hard to move on with life. So George probably has trouble growing up because he lacks truth. All of the stories help him discover his truth. All of the people of Winesburg have been telling themselves lies whether about happiness or loneliness or love or success, these lies make them miserable. George finds out the absolute truth by learning from these people’s mistakes and lies. His knowledge will make him successful in life. In the end “his life there had become but a background on which to paint the dreams of his manhood”(247). This last quotation shows that George has learned a lot from his past. He has taken advantage of the stories his fellow towns people have told him and he is using them for his own success. George knows the truth which has sent him fully armed into manhood. We physically see his manhood when he is taller than his father. This physical change represents his mental ability to become an adult. He also pays no attention to Helen white at the end of the novel. Just beforehand he had been having a wonderful time with her- his lack of interest shows that he is ready to totally and completely move on. Childhood is something holy in some aspects. It’s innocence and bliss and once it is gone, it is gone forever. Anderson shows the importance and extremity of growing up which everybody, especially my peers and me, can relate to.

A Streetcar Named Actuality

“They told me to take a street-car named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and get off at- Elysian Fields!”(Williams 6). Wow, what a fantastical journey that must have been! A street-car called Desire, and the arrival place called Elysian Fields? How perfect. Blanche is looking for some sort of escape, undoubtedly from reality. Her Desire is to leave her past and come to a new heaven-like world thus introducing a major theme in A Streetcar Named Desire: fantasy vs. reality. However, this theme is not something we haven’t seen before. In fact, it’s arguable that this theme reoccurs in nearly every novel. We see Jack Burden struggle with reality when he constructs all kinds of theories such as the Twitch theory or the spider web theory, and it’s obvious that he is trying to avoid reality during his Great Sleeps. Or what about Jay Gatsby’s inability to let go of his fantasy with Daisy? Or Dorian Gray’s inability to face the consequences of his actions? Or perhaps Holden Caufield’s yearning for eternal childhood. Yes, fantasy vs. reality is everywhere in literature, and it is there for a reason. How many times do we push something off, or decide simply not to think about it? I know I am guilty of this. But the authors of these novels are trying to explain that reality will overcome fantasy and that we cannot hide in our dreams forever. The more I think about this, the more it freaks me out because I realize just how often fantasy overcomes my reality. For example, try everyday where I procrastinate finishing my homework. I know that I have to do it, I know that I will do it, but I instead find something else to do in order to avoid reality. Although this is just a minor fantasy, it still is a part of my daily life. But this got me thinking about kids my age in general. The stresses of college and grades and temptations are very real in high school, and the other day I took a special notice to the cliques in my grade and I realized how covered up reality is. On one end we have the Liberal Partiers and on the other end we have the Straightedge Conservatives. Which clique is living in a fantasy? In my opinion it has to be both. The Liberal Partiers are spending their free time covering up the stresses of reality with drinking or various other inappropriate activities, but what are the Straight edge people doing? They’re avoiding the reality of temptation by not even exposing themselves to it. They’re creating a sort of bubble of protection from the negative realities of high school.  Honestly I don’t know which is worse. Both groups are avoiding something and who is to say which reality is more significant. Either way high-schoolers are living in a fantasy that we have decided for ourselves. The authors of these literary masterpieces are warning us of the dangers of fantasy and maybe suggesting we hop off Desire and catch the next streetcar named Actuality.