The unconscious of the characters, depicted through collective symbolism, in Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio.

Abstract

Sherwood Anderson's most famous text, Winesburg, Ohio, published in 1919, is a collection of twenty-two stories. Growing up in the small town of Clyde, the author was inspired by spatial and temporal barriers of collective existence, which later transformed into a modernist text.

The events in the fictional town of Winesburg, Ohio, are seemingly independent stories: the author describes the defining factors of the characters' personalities and the turning points in their lives. After perceiving all twenty-two stories, previously invisible threads emerge, connecting the city's residents with a common denominator, yet distinguishing them with a subjectively tailored touch. Similarities between the stories include: the unbearable feeling of loneliness, the concept of love as a purely destructive form, the alienation between parents and children, and a whole series of obsessions or affective actions - are mainly revealed through three, one might say collective symbols: hands, a window, and a prayer are symbols that Sherwood Anderson uses throughout the collection as means of expressing the characters' unconscious. The listed symbols can be connected to three concepts that define the essence of a person: hands - activity in society, as well as a physical means of expressing emotions and intentions; Window - worldview. Also, the characters' place in the world seen through their own eyes; prayer - a highly subjective act of faith. Thesis discusses symbolism according to the six stories, each of them representing totally different motif.

The theme of hands is addressed in the story "Hands," which, as Anderson writes, is not the story of Wing Biddlebaum but of his hands. The story of a former teacher with "nervous, small hands" brings us back to Joyce, the first story of Dubliners, "The Sisters." The man's hands, which the owner quickly places in his pocket at critical moments, are a kind of original sample for the hands of all the other characters, as well as the staging of the Wing's prayer seen through the eyes of the narrator.

Dr. Riff, the main character of "Paper Pills," has "huge hands," and his habit - writing his thoughts on scraps of paper, then rolling into balls, putting them in his pocket, and then throwing in people's faces when they are full- represents him a paranoid as well as philosophical person.

 Elizabeth Willard from the story "Mother" is the only character the author expresses through all three symbols. The hands of the woman express two types of emotion, as well as her prayer uttered in an aggressive and threatening tone. The window is a medium between the woman and the past because the present and the future are non-existent concepts for her.

Doctor Parcival from "The Philosopher" whose name alludes to the knight Percival, the seeker of the Holy Grail, is introduced to us with only one symbol: praying next to the table that is full of money.

Like Parcival, Anderson does not show Jesse Bentley's hands in the story "Godliness" as his only activity is sitting by the window and enjoying the illusory reality of both the present and the future.

We see a specific purpose for the window and hands with Enoch Robinson's character in the story "Loneliness." Enoch, an artist with biblical name, lives with imaginary ghosts in his room.