George Becomes a Man

In English class this week, we finished Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio. I noticed that as the novel progresses, George’s role in the stories increases. In the early stories like “Hands,” George simply is being told the story, but by the end of the book, George is has significant involvement in the plot of the stories (usually as a person who gets beat up). Since George’s role is larger, I noticed a lot more about George in the end of the book. One significant thing is that George develops from a boy to a man by the last story. In Anderson’s depiction of this maturing, he uses a lot of Freudian symbols of masculinity.

One example of George’s attempts at maturing is when he gets drunk in “An Awakening.” Only adults are supposed to drink, so alcohol is a symbol of adulthood and masculinity. Not only does George get drunk, he also pretends to be much more drunk than he actually is. This shows that George really wants to grow up because he is trying to act older and more masculine than he actually is. George also tries to act masculine by getting into several fights. George gets into a fight, and loses, in both “Queer” and “An Awakening.” While fighting is not actually a mature act, it is seen as masculine, so George does it.

George actually demonstrates that he has become a man in “Departure.” One of the largest steps of the transition to adulthood is moving out of your parents’ house, which is exactly what George does by leaving Winesburg; he becomes independent. George also becomes a man because he is successful at his goal of leaving and moving on to greater things, something his father could never achieve. Because of this, George is described as a “taller” man than his father. Success is also considered masculine. For all of these reasons, George fully develops into a man when he leaves Winesburg.

Not Everyone in Winesburg is a Grotesque

For the most part, Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio is a collection of stories about miserable people living miserable lives, so it stood out to me that the short story, “A Man of Ideas,” is about a character who does not seem that bad off. After looking at it more, I noticed that there are several things that set this story apart from the rest of the stories we have read so far. In almost every other story, George has to seek the story out himself and many characters are hesitant to tell their stories. However, Joe Welling is one who seeks out George and he freely tells his story. He is also closer to George than most of the other characters; he openly envies George and wants to become a reporter like him. Joe Welling also lives at George’s inn, making him even closer to George. This relationship is unlike any relationship George has with other characters. Even with his own mother, the story isn’t freely told to George; he has to seek it out.

“A Man of Ideas” is also unique because of its more lighthearted tone and happy ending. Joe Welling’s truth is simply his wordiness, unlike many darker truths in other stories. As a result, the story is not as dark and Joe does not experience any significant hardships or challenges. Joe’s truth also also helps him instead of hurting him in the situations he faces in the story. In the baseball game, Joe spews out his excitement and is so loud that “the opposing pitcher [becomes] confused” (107). As a result, his team wins the game. Joe’s talking also helps him in his courtship of Sarah King. Sarah’s father and brother are known as “proud and dangerous” in town, so everyone believes Joe will be hurt for his pursuit of Sarah (108). Instead. Joe “[carries] the two men in the room off their feet with a tidal wave of words” (110). Joe’s ideas win over the Kings’ strength. In both of these instances, Joe’s words and ideas lead to his success instead of leading to his failure. Because of this, Joe is one of the few characters in the novel who is not a grotesque. Since he lets his ideas out, they do not affect him. This makes Joe Welling, and “A Man of Ideas,” unique from the rest of Winesburg’s inhabitants and stories.

Tightening of Form to Open the Minds of the Characters

In English class, we have started to read Winesburg, Ohio, an episodic novel by Sherwood Anderson. In Winesburg, Ohio, Anderson uses a lot of symbolism, but one thing I noticed repeatedly appears is tightening of form.Tightening of form is giving the structure of the story and physical objects in the story symbolic meaning. This is accomplished mainly through the use of motifs. Tightening of form is present in many of the short stories within the novel. One story it occurs in is “Hands.” In “Hands,” Wing Biddlebaum lives in a small house “near the edge of a ravine near the town” (27).The location he resides possesses a lot of symbolic meaning. He literally lives on the outskirts of town to symbolize how he is an outcast and isolated from the community because he is believed to have molested a child when he was a school teacher. Wing also literally lives on the precipice of a ravine which is symbolic of his mental state. He feels lonely and frustrated at what happened to him because his downfall was his urge to inspire his students. He is on the edge of depression and he displays somatization as a way to handle his frustration; he takes his hands and “[beats] them upon a table or on the walls of his house” (29). This behavior shows that he is standing on the edge of madness and depression, just like his house stands on the edge of the ravine.

Tightening of form is also present in “Paper Pills.” In the story, Doctor Reefy physically isolates himself after his wife's death, which reflects his emotional state. He “[sits] all day in his empty office” and “he never [opens] the window” (35). He feels isolated and lonely after his wife dies and, so, he makes himself actually isolated. One day he tries to open the window, “but [finds] it stuck fast and after that he [forgets] all about it” (35). This is symbolic of Doctor Reefy trying to assimilate back into society, but failing because he had isolated himself for so long, just like a window becomes jammed if it is never opened. In both short stories, physical isolation is used to symbolize mental and emotional isolation. This tightening of form adds more depth to the stories and their analysis. It both informs the reader about the mind of the characters and enhances the quality of the writing by using symbolism to show instead of tell.

I Didn't Use Procrastination as a Defense Mechanism to Cope With the Anxiety of Having to Write this Blog Post

This week in English we have been learning about Freudian psychology. Freud believed that there were three parts to the mind: the id, ego, and superego. According to him, the id is your primal drive and is where all of your emotions and impulses come from. It is instinctual and the same for everyone. The superego is the conscience of the mind and resists the id’s impulses and tries to make you act in a mature and responsible way. The ego is what mediates between the id and superego and deals with reality. I found this theory of the mind interesting because it is fairly similar to the age-old image of the devil and angel standing on your shoulders trying to influence your decisions. The id is like the devil trying to make you do what you want, while the superego is like the angel imposing morals and influencing you to make the right decision. While I do not necessarily agree with Freud’s exact image of the brain, I do agree that there is an impulse center and a rational center and that they work to influence how you behave.

The other thing we learned about this week is Vaillant defense mechanisms. These are the different ways that your mind deals with traumatic events and range in acceptability. The least acceptable ones are considered psychotic and prevent people from functioning in society. The mechanisms range from those to ones that are considered mature and perfectly acceptable and healthy. We all exhibit some of these defense mechanisms, though the vast majority of what we do is considered perfectly healthy. Freud was especially interested in two of these behaviors: suppression and sublimation. He believed that suppression, the postponing of emotions, was the most basic mechanism. As long as people eventually deal with their issues, it is perfectly heath, and even positive, to put those emotions aside temporarily. I know that I do this a lot. If I am nervous about doing something, I just try to forget about it and just do it. For example, whenever I get a shot, I just try to think about something else until it is over. The other defense mechanism Freud thought was particularly important is sublimation. Sublimation is the channeling of negative energy into a positive action, like working out when you are angry. Freud believed that this is the most advanced defense mechanism and the best one because it makes a positive outcome from a negative influence.