In a practical sense, hands are used by the people of Winesburg to perform their work. An example of this is in ' Drink,' in which Tom Foster's grandmother's hands are described as 'all twisted out of shape. Like the dried stems of an old creeping vine clinging to a tree.' Hands also reveal the overall state of a person's mind and body. Sherwood Anderson's I Want to Know Why. Define Winesburg, Ohio, Meaning of Winesburg, Ohio - Duration: 1:50. Audioversity 566. 02 Hands Winesburg, Ohio Sherwood Anderson mp3.
“Hands” is the story of a fat, oldman named Wing Biddlebaum who lives isolated in the town life of Winesburg,Ohio. He remained a mystery to the people after moving there 20 years ago. Uponreading the story, we can say that the theme of the said story is isolation andloneliness. The main character of the story lives alone and does not think thatof himself as in any way part of the life of the town where he lives and hadlived for how many years. We know that Wing Biddlebaum is a former teacher andwe learn that the main character has supposedly inappropriately touched theboys he teaches and is now suffering the consequences. This is the reason whyhe has moved to this town. The effective use of symbolism and imagery seems toclearly demonstrate that Wing’s actions were sinful and now he is feeling guiltfor doing something wrong.
The most prevalent image in thestory is his hands. It was described as little, nervous and restless. He isvery expressive with his hands when talking. Because of his sin, Wing hasplaced himself in a situation that prevents him from socializing with otherpeople and more importantly prevents him from continuing in the journey of lifetowards happiness. His hands described physically as having slender fingersgives us a feminine picture and of him and tells us what his sexual preferencemay be.
Wing spoke closely only to GeorgeWillard, the boy reporter of the Winesburg Eagle. George would occasionallywalk to his house in the evenings and Wing looked forward to these times. Onlywith George would Wing become alive. These things happening in the story addsto the feeling that Wing is a sinner; that he belongs to the federationJ. Why is it that Wingalways looks forward to these times? What are they doing? It gives us the ideathat they are doing something every time George comes to his house. And that something isn’t that nice tomention. The suspicion is worsened by the fact that Wing would only come alivewhen George is around. Hmmm isn’t that fishy?? JJ.We are told that Wing’s hands are quick and skillful; he is talented. Thequestion is “in what way?”
If Wing is a sinner, the ravine inwhich he lives so close to can be seen as hell. Through his action, Wing hasbrought himself closer to hell, and while he hasn’t yet made the plunge downthe ravine, his surrounding would indicate that he has not made anyimprovements by changing his thoughts and/or behavior. He lacks the courage tochange. Wing’s actions support this as he is always nervous and frantic. Hegoes out and stands on the fence, looking down the road for George, and thehurries back to his house, frightened or coward. Because he has not trulyrepented and changed, he is stuck near the ravine and cannot continue on thejourney of life.
As Wing looks out towards thepublic highway, we are shown a boy and a maiden from the berry wagon who areobviously flirting. This is to show us and Wing how things are meant to be:boy/girl and man/woman, not man/boy.
In the flashback to the time whenWing was the school teacher known as Adolf Myers, we are given multipledescriptions of how Wing would stroke the shoulders and touch the hair of theboys he was teaching. These images tell us that something inappropriate isgoing on which, as mentioned, caused why he transferred to Ohio. The lastparagraph of the short story tells us that Wing hasn’t change. It was mentionedin the paragraph that “he still hungered for the presence of the boy, who wasthe medium through which he expressed his love of man”. With this sentence allsuspicions are being confirmed. Wing is a sinner. He indulged and is indulginginto something that a real man should not be doing. This also confirms that hehas done something to his students in Pennsylvania and the accusation of thepeople there are all true. He used George to satisfy his needs and to expresshis love not towards a woman but towards a man. This last paragraph of theshort story answers all questions that is formulate din the minds of thereader.
Sherwood Anderson Books
by Sherwood Anderson
Symbolism In Hands By Sherwood Anderson Marion
Are there inherently kind, gentle, well-meaning people? Of course there are. Yet, far too often we assign some malevolent intent to their actions. Recently. I got around to watching 'Won’t You Be My Neighbor,' the documentary about Fred Rogers. Again and again, critics questioned his motives and desire to improve the lives of children. I was shocked to see a group of people protesting at Mister Rogers funeral.
There are monsters in the world. A few people do prey on children, yet there must be far more with good intentions. Because of a few horrific predators, we are often suspicious of those who mean well. That is the theme of this powerful short story from 100 years ago.
Sherwood Anderson wrote about small town life in early 20th century America. It is from his best known work, Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life , that this story was taken.
Symbolism In Hands By Sherwood Anderson Summary
His stories had a power influence on a generation of writers that followed Anderson. His most notable acolytes were Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner.
