A few months ago, an online friend of mine asked if I had read The Myth of Persecution by Candida Moss. I had not, although I had heard of the book and actually had it on my “wishlist” on Amazon. A few years ago I saw an article about how some conservative Christian groups were…
Here in my final installment of my trip through Winesburg, Ohio, I’m going to cover the last two stories in the book: “Sophistication” and “Departure.” In both stories, the main character is George Willard. There are at least ten stories that I have not included in this literary series, but hopefully you are intrigued enough…
There are only a couple more stories from Winesburg, Ohio that I want to share in this literary series. There are other stories in the book, and hopefully this simple look at my favorite ones will inspire you to buy the book and read the entire thing. The story I want to cover in this…
Here in my next installment of my look at Winesburg, Ohio, I’m going to cover two short stories. As you’ll see, they are intimately connected. And that is one of the things I love about Winesburg, Ohio—so many of the stories within the book turn out, in the end, to be connected in a way…
Respectability: An OverviewIn Winesburg, Ohio, the character of Wash Williams is both revolting and immensely pitiable. At the very beginning of the story, Wash is compared to an ugly, dirty, grotesque monkey in a cage. He was the telegraph operator of Winesburg, and “the ugliest thing in town.” We are told that everything about him…
In this next look at the characters in Winesburg, Ohio, I’m going to look at two different stories. The first story is titled, “Nobody Knows,” and it is about George Willard. The second story is titled, “Adventure,” and it is about a woman named Alice Hindman. Nobody Knows: Overview“Nobody Knows” is a very short story…
The next citizen of Winesburg, Ohio is a man named Doctor Parcival. Unlike the other characters we’ve encountered, Doctor Parcival is not a pitiable character like Wing Biddlebaum, or a tender and sweet character like Doctor Reefy, or a sad character like Elizabeth Willard. Doctor Parcival is not really likable at all. The Philosopher: An…
One of the saddest characters in Winesburg, Ohio is Elizabeth Willard, the mother of George Willard. We first met George in the story of “Hands”—he was the town newspaper reporter to whom Wing Biddlebaum took a liking. In actuality, George pops up in several of the stories in Winesburg, Ohio. In this fourth story, “Mother,”…
Perhaps my favorite story in Winesburg, Ohio is “Paper Pills,” the story about one Dr. Reefy and the beautiful young woman he married who, died shortly with a year after their marriage. No, there was nothing sinister. But we’ll get to that soon enough. First, let’s look at the story. Paper Pills: An OverviewThe story…
The first full story in Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio is a story titled, “Hands.” It is one of my favorites. It is the story of an odd “fat little old man” in Winesburg named Wing Biddlebaum. He lived in a house just outside of town, next to a field that had been seeded for clover,…