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

Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio: The Individual in the Village
jogged away along lonely country roads pulling
their portion of weary people. Clerks began to
bring samples of goods in off the sidewalks and
lock the doors of stores. In the Opera House a
crowd had gathered to see a show and further
down Main Street the fiddlers, their instruments
tuned, sweated and worked to keep the feet of
youth flying over a dance floor. (٣١٥-٣١٦)
Both instances do not advance the narrative or tell us anything about
the two characters. Life is happening, and the passages lyrically heighten
the moment the characters are living. At the same time, these characters
are not part of that communal life of the village. They are alone
observing that life and not being part of it.
Often the descriptions are full of sensory images that carve their
impression on the imagination of the reader and bring the scene to life.
Anderson depicts scenes that are full of the activities of living, activities
that are simple and happen every night and dusk. The details do not
affect the progress of the story. They bring it “live.” In "Mother," the
narrator tells us that when son and mother sat together in the evening,
Darkness came on and the evening train came in
at the station. In the street below feet tramped up
and down upon a broad sidewalk. In the station
yard, after the evening train had gone, there was
a heavy silence. Perhaps Skinner Leason, the
express agent, moved a truck the length of the
station platform. Over on Main Street sounded a
man's voice, laughing. The door of the express
office banged. George Willard arose and
crossing the room fumbled for the door-knob.
Sometimes he knocked against a chair, making it
scrape the floor. (٢٨)
A clear attempt is made in this passage to evoke the sounds of the
place. Although it is not as lyrical in language as the passage from "The
Thinker" the lyricism of incidents palpably shows that life is going on;
the silence existing between the two on the scene, in contrast, is void of
any communication.١
٤٢