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Character Analysis in Winesburg, Ohio

Character Analysis Examples in Winesburg, Ohio:

The Book Of The Grotesque

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"the moment one of the people took one of the truths to himself, called it his truth, and tried to live his life by it, he became a grotesque and the truth he embraced became a falsehood..."   (The Book Of The Grotesque)

The passage describes the effects of becoming fixated on one belief or aspect of life to the exclusion of all others; obsession with one "truth" leads to a distorted understanding of it. In establishing this idea and the concept of a "grotesque," Anderson is introducing the theme that will be developed through various characters in the book. 

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"putting the lamp upon a low stool he began to pick up the crumbs, carrying them to his mouth one by one with unbelievable rapidity. In the dense blotch of light beneath the table, the kneeling figure looked like a priest engaged in some service of his church. The nervous expressive fingers, flashing in and out of the light, might well have been mistaken for the fingers of the devotee going swiftly through decade after decade of his rosary..."   (Hands)

The imagery in the passage emphasizes Wing's solitary state and his odd behavior. He is a "grotesque" by Anderson's definition of the concept, a person who has been damaged in spirit and for whom reality has become distorted.  

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"Although he did not understand what had happened he felt that the hands must be to blame. Again and again the fathers of the boys had talked of the hands. "Keep your hands to yourself," the saloon keeper had roared, dancing, with fury in the schoolhouse yard..."   (Hands)

The passage explains how Wing became fixated on thinking about his hands, by associating them directly with the trauma he had experienced in Pennsylvania.

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"Also they made more grotesque an already grotesque and elusive individuality..."   (Hands)

Anderson introduces into Wing's story the idea of the "grotesque" as explained in the previous chapter. The frantic activity of Wing's hands (and whatever drives it) sets him apart from the people in the town and isolates him in society. George is the only person in Winesburg who befriends Wing and with whom Wing can talk.

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"Their restless activity, like unto the beating of the wings of an imprisoned bird, had given him his name..."   (Hands)

The passage explains how Wing was given his name, which is a nickname, but it also suggests a subtle idea: that Wing, like the bird, is somehow "imprisoned." 

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"She wanted to cry out with joy because of the words that had come from the lips of her son..."   (Mother)

Elizabeth is filled with joy because George is not like his father and doesn't want a life like his father's. In deciding to leave Winesburg, George is refusing to settle for an unfulfilling life. He will not suffer the kind of unhappiness Elizabeth endures. 

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"The son shook his head. "I suppose I can't make you understand, but oh, I wish I could," he said earnestly. "I can't even talk to father about it. I don't try. There isn't any use. I don't know what I shall do. I just want to go away and look at people and think." ..."   (Mother)

George expresses what Elizabeth once felt and, like him, could not make others understand.

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"Going to a cloth bag that hung on a nail by the wall she took out a long pair of sewing scissors and held them in her hand like a dagger. "I will stab him," she said aloud. "He has chosen to be the voice of evil and I will kill him. When I have killed him something will snap within myself and I will die also. It will be a release for all of us."..."   (Mother)

Elizabeth has been driven to madness by her damaged spirit and inner turmoil.

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"Once when she was alone, and after watching a prolonged and ineffectual outburst on the part of the baker, Elizabeth Willard put her head down on her long white hands and wept. After that she did not look along the alleyway any more, but tried to forget the contest between the bearded man and the cat. It seemed like a rehearsal of her own life, terrible in its vividness..."   (Mother)

Elizabeth weeps because she identifies with the cat—a fearful, abused, miserable creature that suffers at the hands of an angry man.

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"In the room by the desk she went through a ceremony that was half a prayer, half a demand, addressed to the skies. In the boyish figure she yearned to see something half forgotten that had once been a part of herself recreated..."   (Mother)

Odd behavior that reveals her inner turmoil, the kind of interior life that separates a "grotesque" from others, creating great loneliness.

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" "I want to fill you with hatred and contempt so that you will be a superior being," he declared. "Look at my brother. There was a fellow, eh? He despised everyone, you see. You have no idea with what contempt he looked upon mother and me. And was he not our superior? You know he was..."   (The Philosopher)

Dr. Parcival's thinking was distorted when he was growing up with his abusive brother.

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"Alice dropped to the ground and lay trembling. She was so frightened at the thought of what she had done that when the man had gone on his way she did not dare get to her feet, but crawled on hands and knees through the grass to the house..."   (Adventure)

Alice's behavior is reminiscent of the bizarre actions of characters in previous chapters, especially those of George Willard's mother.  

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"Pride surged up in him. "I showed him," he cried. "I guess I showed him. I ain't so queer. I guess I showed him I ain't so queer."..."   (Queer)

Ironically, it is Elmer's obsession with being different from others that sets him apart, making him genuinely and sadly odd in ways he does not comprehend. 

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