Winesburg, Ohio

Of the books we have read so far, Winesburg, Ohio immediately takes the cake regarding social criticism.  Sherwood Anderson’s stories, filled with outrageous action and conflict, indirectly portray a number of societal flaws; flaws he obviously attempts to confront throughout the book.

 

One story that projects these flaws particularly well is “Godliness.”  Being the longest story in the book, it has plenty of room to raise social questions Anderson hoped to address – first and most obvious being religion.  Throughout “Godliness,” religion develops into a very negative force.  Jesse, who is considered a “man of god,” is driven mad with the greed he derives from his religious fantasies.  Problems trickle down from there into his daughter, Louise, and even into his grandson, David, both of whose conflicts raise different social questions.     

 

Louise, who struggles with affection her entire life, blindly allows John Hardy to take her innocence and then her hand in marriage.  The relationship between the two brings up the age-old issue of male and female miscommunication, where Louise and John enter into the relationship with very different expectations and desires.  From there, the relationship takes a dive and never recovers, strongly solidifying Louise’s hatred for men stemming from her father and ultimately ending up with her son, who she openly admits to wishing was a daughter.

 

With a family history like this, David was destined to have problems.  His interaction with his mother and grandfather thoroughly disturbs the child until he is forced to run away and never return.  His conflict obviously raises out of poor parenting, another issue touched on in the chapter.

 

While “Godliness” holds the highest concentration of societal flaws in the book, Anderson touches on many more throughout most of his stories.  This observation leads the reader to wonder if the town of Winesburg is a culmination of all the issues Anderson wishes to address, or if the town itself feeds the evil in each story.