Home » Reading & Literature » Essays on American Literature » Winesburg, Ohio (A Review) - Page 2

Winesburg, Ohio (A Review) - Page 2

© Audrey McCrone

As is stated in "Book of the Grotesque," this book is an old man looking back on concerns of the heart. The characters are made grotesque by the world and their experiences. Each has been jaded in some way, and we find out the truths about why they become grotesque. My particular favorite of Anderson's short stories is "Tandy." It's at the center of the book, seemingly central to the thesis. A stranger tells Tom Hard "They think it's easy to be a woman, to be loved, but I know better...Perhaps of all the men I alone understand."

This stranger describes "a new quality in woman," due to "her struggles and her defeats." "It is the quality of being strong to be loved. It is something men need from women and that they do not get." The drunken stranger kisses the hand of Tom Hard's daughter and begs her "Be Tandy, little one...Dare to be strong and courageous. That is the road. Venture anything. Be brave enough to dare to be loved. Be something more than man or woman. Be Tandy."

The reciprocal of human relationships is either love or desolation. The stranger in "Tandy" says "I am a lover and have not found my thing to love...It makes my destruction inevitable, you see." The young daughter of Tom Hard cries when called by her real name. She sobs, "I want to be Tandy. I want to be Tandy. I want to be Tandy Hard." Eventually, George Willard decides he has to get out of Winesburg or become thwarted, like all the grotesques from his experiences. He feels the town's walls isolating him, and notes that when Enoch returned, he became trapped.

Many readers might not agree with Anderson's cynical and possibly superior attitude. In fact, web reviews of his works will have one believe the man is a complete monstrosity, himself. I, however, disagree, thinking Anderson was wonderfully thoughtful to consider each "grotesque" thoroughly, as to fully understand how they became so world-weary. Children are beautifully simple, but adults are sickeningly complex. That is justified truth, and sometimes it's painful honesty for readers, simply put. This book is both easily thumbed through and definately worth the read.

The copyright of the article Winesburg, Ohio (A Review) - Page 2 in Essays on American Literature is owned by Audrey McCrone. Permission to republish Winesburg, Ohio (A Review) - Page 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.