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

Damascus University Journal, Vol.٢٠, No. (١+٢), ٢٠٠٤
Kutrieh
Ahmad Ramez
Descriptions are made to paint the canvas of the scene but often
seem to add nothing to the forward movement of the narrative. Quite the
contrary, they freeze that movement. Incidents that went on before are
mentioned often and what the characters are planning to do is also
mentioned but it is the present moment that is fixed in the mind and
occupies front stage. One can argue, that this is the way Anderson
shows his love for the village he is writing about. It is a keen awareness
of the little things of life in the village, the things that constitute all that
the characters of the village have and know. These little things function
often to create almost a visceral response in the reader who is bound to
respond to some of the little things that are mentioned because they come
out of universal human experience. Anderson's description of the fight of
a shop owner with a cat comes out of the experience of anyone who
observed cats with any interest sometime in life. There are many more
examples.
The setting compounds the feeling of loneliness and separateness
of the characters. The scene of George and Helen White in
"Sophistication" as they sit in the darkness of the grandstand is a good
example. They have gone up to the hill in the Fairground. "The feeling
of loneliness and isolation that had come to the young man in the
crowded streets of his town was both broken and intensified by the
presence of Helen. What he felt was reflected in her”(٢٣٢). The fair had
been held a day before and the fair ground stand gave them a special
feeling. “The sensation is one never to be forgotten. On all sides are
ghosts, not of the dead, but of living people. Here . . . People have come
with their families and gathered and filled the place with life--but now the
life has all gone away. The silence is almost terrifying”(٢٣٢).
Readers remain aware of the vast frustration, lack of fulfillment,
deficiency of communion, and simply the general absence of happiness in
the characters’ lives in Anderson's book. There are however two nonrepresentative
cases that show some hope for happiness .٤ Dr. Reefy and
Elizabeth Willard, we are told in "Death," had a chance to have genuine
love between them for they were communicating well with each other
during Elizabeth's visit to the doctor's office. However, a chance passerby
shatters that possibility quickly. In "Paper Pills," the other
relationship with happiness also involves Dr. Reefy. He married a tall
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