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.
I agree that "A Man of Ideas" is different from all the other stories. It is a very nice break in the barrage of depressing stories that surrounds it. All the other stories tend to be about a sad person who feels alone and can not really connect with other people, but Joe Welling is a people person who beats the bully and gets the girl. It almost does not make sense in the book.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to hear about a story of success within this book of depressing grotesques. Although many of the stories are very interesting and ponder important ideas about society, they can be very sad and reading so many sad stories can get old. If somebody was trying to learn about life solely through this book, they would be lead to the conclusion that life is miserable, so it is good to have a story that ends in triumph.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kevin, many of these stories involve very depressing characters that turn in to very sad grotesques. This story is uncharactaristically happy and really feels out of place in the context of the rest of the stories. This makes me wonder what Anderson was attempting to say with this story. If he was using Winesburg to refelct how he actually felt about society, perhaps this means he didn't think it was all horrible.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this, "A Man of Ideas" is a very good break in all of the depressing stories the book is filled with. It was nice to hear that there are at least some redeeming qualities in the town, and that a man like Joe, who would probably be looked down upon in society for his outbursts, becomes a very well respected man because of his achievements. I agree, that was one of the better stories we've seen so far just because it had a happy ending.
ReplyDelete