Symbolism In The Story 'Hands' By Sherwood Anderson

The story of “Hands” by Sherwood Anderson is about an old man named Wing Biddlebaum who used to be a school teacher. However, due to one of the boys claiming to be touched by him inappropriately, he was run out of the town. Therefore, this makes him feel like he must force himself into a self-imposed isolation. The story is centralized around Wing Biddlebaums hands and the mystery they hold. There are hints of touching and hands scattered throughout the story. As stated above, the overall symbol that appears throughout the story are Wing’s hands. They express shame at what he has done, but not guilt. I feel like he didn’t know what he had actually done. The fidgety movements his hands made were likened to “the beating of the wings of an imprisoned bird” and when they come out of his pockets they “became the piston rods of his machinery of expression” (Sherwood). However, his hands also expressed his innermost feelings when they come out of his pockets. His “nervous little hands fiddled about the bare white forehead” and rubbing his hands together showing his worry. I feel like the pockets are a mask or a curtain that he uses to hide his “expressive fingers” (Sherwood). Throughout the story I felt so bad for the little …show more content…
Some people are tactile talkers, meaning they like to touch and learn by touching. This is a form of nonverbal communication. The definition of nonverbal communication is “All aspects of communication other than the words themselves that affect the meaning of words” (Beebe, Beebe and Redmond). There are different categories that nonverbal communication is put under. The one that Wings animated hand movements fall under is affect displays. It is the type of nonverbal communion that is associated with posture, eye movements, body movements, and facial expressions (Beebe, Beebe and Redmond). Unlike Wing, most peoples’ body movements are not as obvious or