Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio: The Individual in the Village Dr ...

Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio: The Individual in the Village
Anderson did not label Winesburg a novel. The book has no one
central protagonist. Yet, it has always been treated as a unified work that
has thematic unity, sustained tone, and one narrative consciousness
informing the reader about the secrets of the inhabitants of the town. The
different chapters have titles and they deal with different characters.
They can be seen as separate short stories, and are often published
separately as autonomous units. However, the intertwining stories of
these characters, in terms of theme and treatment and in the appearance of
many of the characters in more than one story, argues for the treatment of
the book as a unified work. The intertextuality of the stories is evident
throughout. Some of the stories can be sequenced differently and yet the
overall effect would remain the same. "Departure," is an exception since
it gives the narrative its closure and thus cannot be sequenced differently
without changing the impact of the work. However, whether "Drink" or
"Adventure" come before or after "Death" does not greatly affect the
overall impact of each. The effect these stories have on the reader is
achieved cumulatively and not incrementally. Whether reading the
chapters separately or as a group the readers would receive essentially the
same impact. Yet, of this collection, no story is so dependent on the
others that it would be unintelligible if read alone. One can, however, ask
about the reason Anderson put his narrative in this form.
In most chapters, different moments in the lives of the characters
happen simultaneously and segmenting these moments into different
chapters highlights these moments. In fact, this segmentation highlights
the separateness of the characters and their living in their own individual
worlds. In each of these stories, Anderson’s descriptions seem at first
glance to be only attempting to give the background for the action that is
taking place or will take shape. The reader gradually sees that the
descriptions that are abundant throughout the book serve to heighten the
reader's awareness of the moment. The scenes dramatize the moment that
seems as if it is always the immediate present leaving the future and the
past beyond any significance. The reader encounters one character at one
moment struggling with his/her separateness and inability to achieve
understanding by others or to think that success is achievable.
Anderson emphasizes the importance of the present moment over
any other. It is in this moment that he highlights the details of life, the
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