1. What is the role of the storyteller in Winesburg, Ohio?Within Winesburg, Ohio, there are three storytellers. There is George Willard, the town reporter. Then, there is “the writer” at the beginning of the text, who is supposedly telling the story of all the characters in the book. And, there is the most powerful storyteller, Sherwood Anderson. The two …
Born September 13, 1876, Sherwood Anderson was a witness to the many changes that urbanization and industrialization would bring to the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. Much of his childhood was spent in Clyde, Ohio, which would later be the model for the fictional town of Winesburg. Sherwoods father, Irwin, was irresponsible …
“It was his notion that the moment one of the people took one of the truths to himself, called it his truth, and tried to live by it, he became a grotesque and the truth he embraced became a falsehood.” (p. 6 ) The writers definition of grotesque. “Only the few know the sweetness of …
The Universal Signifier The word “love” contains a great deal of meaning for people. People empower the word itself to hold the force that the concept contains. Other words, such as “God” and “truth,” are also regarded as quite powerful. Often, people hope to find a word to express the ultimate meaning; this word is the “universal signifier.” …
Traveling The first image in Winesburg, Ohio, is of berry pickers in a wagon. The last image is of a train pulling out of the station. In between, there are many references to travel, usually between countryside and town or between town and city. All of this travel is a metaphor for the modern condition, in which travel …
David Bentley David adores his grandfather but is frightened by Jesses attempt to sacrifice an animal to God. He hits Jesse with a slingshot and then runs away, fearful that he has killed the old man. Jesse Bentley Jesse is a young, scholarly man who has to return from the city to run the family farm …
Summary Ray Pearson, an older farmhand, is a quiet man. He is married to a shrewish woman whom he had to marry after he got her pregnant many years ago. They have six children. His colleague, Hal Winters, is a young, boisterous man who has gotten his girlfriend pregnant. One day in October, when they …
The Strength of God Reverend Curtis Hartman, the minister of Winesburgs Presbyterian Church, regularly prays to be more fervent and more religious. One night, he looks out the window of his study in the bell tower of the church and sees in a room in a neighboring house the bare shoulders of a woman reading a …
Winesburg, Ohio: Novel Summary: The Strength of God & The Teacher Read More »
The Philosopher Doctor Parcival is one of the towns three doctors, but he has very few patients. Nonetheless, he is financially comfortable. He likes to visit George Willard at the offices of the Winesburg Eagle to tell the young man about his ideas. He tells stories about his past life, but many times they are contradictory, so George …
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Summary An old writer has a bed that his carpenter raised up so the writer can see out the window. Unfortunately, it is now difficult for him to get in and out of the bed. From this bed, he dreams “a dream that was not a dream” (5) in which all the people has had …
Winesburg, Ohio: Novel Summary: The Book of the Grotesque Read More »
