Analysis Of Winesburg, Ohio By Sherwood Anderson

In Winesburg, Ohio, Sherwood Anderson emphasizes the idea that past events define the lives of many characters by the means in which they allow the events to influence their present attitudes and values. The characters Wing Biddlebaum, Wash Williams, and Louise Bentley dwell on thoughts of their past, which allow the effects the incidents had on them seep into their everyday lives and relationships with other characters throughout the story. In the short story “Hands”, society’s misinterpretation of Wing Biddlebaum as a perverted teacher forces him to leave his old life and suppress the way he displays his affection while teaching. As a result, Wing ultimately forces himself to stay in a state of isolation in his new community as he interprets …show more content…
During her childhood Louise was “a silent, moody, child, want[ing] love more than anything else in the world and not getting it” (87). From the lack of experiencing stable and loving relationships as a child, Louise displays the quick affect the past can have through her moody and withdrawn personality growing up. Furthermore, because of the lack of intimate relationships in her childhood “a wall had been built up . . . she was living just on the edge of some warm inner circle of life that much be quite open and understandable to others” (91). The wall represents her disconnect with the real world since she lived in an isolated state since her childhood. Moreover, unlike the other girls in the short story “Terror”, the wall depicts the cause behind Louise’s inability to build strong relationships with others. Louise grew up with her own notion of love in a relationship, so when she “tried to make her husband understand the vague and intangible hunger that had led to the writing of the note [she] was still unsatisfied” (96). Louise’s past leads her to have a lack of knowledge about relationships, therefore, she is unable to find a well-balanced relationship with her husband. This further leads her to feel unsatisfied in life and this affects the way she sees her son, because “had I been a women child there is nothing in the world [she] would not have done for it” (96). Louise never finds a stable and loving relationship, which she expresses through her incapability to show her son any affection. Additionally, Louise displays a dislike that her child was born male, which reflects that she has a disregard for males as a result of the men, particularly her dad, in her past that showed no emotion towards