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

Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio: The Individual in the Village
dark girl after he talked with her in his office about her victimization by
her suitor. In return, she listened to his peculiar ideas that he wrote on the
little pieces of paper. Events of the courtship and death of this girl after
her quick marriage happened in the past; these details of the relationship
occupy only a short passage of the story.
George feels happy with himself in "Nobody Knows," a story
concerning Louise Trunnion. But it is a twisted affair that degrades
human relationships and colors the character of George. He manages to
sleep with Louise but is relieved that no one saw them together and in
that way, she has “nothing on him.” He had taken advantage of Louise
sexually without having any emotional attachment to her. The escapade
shows, one can argue, his inability to interact with a member of the
opposite sex on an equal basis. There are other thwarted sexual feelings
in other stories. There is the Reverend Curtis Hartman, in "The Strength
of God," peeps from the church glass window to watch the undressed
neighbor Kate Swift. There is also Alice Hindman in "Adventure," who
was slept with her and left to the city with promises he did not keep and
she is who left to live a lonely life.
Marriage in Winesburg does not offer married people a chance to get
out of their loneliness or offer the chance to communicate with their
spouse. The most significant marriage in the book is that of Elizabeth and
Tom Willard who are unable to communicate or to view things the same
way. The differences between them drive Elizabeth to think of killing her
husband in order to save her son from following his father’s advice.
There is no marriage in Winesburg that is a happy except that brief one of
Dr. Reefy's.
Romantic relationships suffer also in Winesburg. Seth and Helen's
relationship was not meant to be because of the inability of each to
communicate with the other. The relationship of Louise Bentley with
John Hardy in "Godliness" is an example of a failed relationship that ends
in a failed marriage. In "An Awakening," the triangle of Belle Carpenter,
Ed Handby, and George Willard proves the inability of any two of them
to have a normal love relationship. Ed wants to propose to Belle but
instead threatens her. George thinks that he was grown enough to be
thought of as a suitable companion for Belle only to be toyed with by Ed
in front of Belle who does not know for sure what she wants.
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