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.
Great analysis! I never thought about George's gradual importance in the book. There are many stories where George struggles with masculinity. He tries super hard to be masculine, as you explained through his alcohol consumption. Another example is his encounter with Belle Carpenter. He wants to assert his male dominance over Belle during their whole time together. George thinks that sexuality is a characteristic of adulthood.
ReplyDeleteI remember Ms. Baskin told us that George is largely believed to mirror Sherwood Anderson. It would make sense that George's life is followed through the book if it was intended to be semi-autobiographical.
It was interesting to see the progression of George throughout the book. George's impact at the beginning seems minuscule. As the story progresses, not only does he take a larger role, but you can also see how he was important to the plot of previous stories. For example, George did not seem very important to the plot of "Hands" on my first read through. After reading subsequent stories and beginning to delve deeper into the psychology and symbolism, it became evident that George was serving as a psychiatrist, with everyone that he interviews being the patient. This carried throughout the story, and was built upon, just like George's manhood.
ReplyDeleteI also have never thought of George's gradual importance of the book and find it interesting that his importance in the book correlates with his maturity. Throughout the story he tries harder and harder to demonstrate his masculinity because he thinks it is the key to his manhood and makes many mistakes, which turn into valuable learning experiences. It isn't until George actually proves his real manhood by doing what I would consider something that is actually manly: leaving Winesburg to become something that his father could not be.
ReplyDeleteThis is a pretty neat analysis. I hadn't really thought of George's maturity as the plotline of the book, I had only considered the end of the book, where he leaves, as a sign of his maturity; I hadn't at all considered the progression of his role as the main character. Throughout, we see him progressing as a man through different events, from a seemingly minor character to the main focus by the end, which I thought was one of the most interesting parts of the book. The way that Anderson could develop a character like that was one of the more interesting parts of the book, and one I've really only thought about just now.
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