Rightly Detected Truths In Sherwood Anderson's Hands'

Paul Newman once said, “People stay married because they want to, not because the doors are locked” (74). There is no such thing as the perfect relationship, however, being involved in a healthy relationship is essential for a person to feel valued, safe, and happy. Unfortunately, in the situation of Kelly Sundberg’s personal essay “It Will Look Like a Sunset,” and Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of An Hour,” include extreme examples of unhealthy relationships. The essay “It Will Look Like a Sunset,” shares painful experiences of Sundberg’s physical and emotional abusive relationship with her husband Caleb, while “The Story of an Hour,” shares a rare reaction of a married woman, Louise Mallard, who explores her emotions cautiously when hearing about the death of her husband. Each woman faces their own prison created by their husbands. The two marriages represent the figurative meaning of doors being locked in a marriage. Both pieces of literature convey the theme of confinement by using the literary devices of foreshadowing, imagery, and conflict.

One of the most difficult, yet rewarding roles is that of a parent. The relationship between and parent and child is so complex and important that a parents relationship with her/his child can affect the relationship that the child has with his/her friends and lovers. A child will watch their parents and use them as role models and in turn project what the child has learned into all of the relationship that he child will have. The way a parent interacts with his/her child has a huge impact on the child’s social and emotional development. Such cases of parent and child relationships are presented in Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” and Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy”. While Roethke and Plath both write about a dynamic between a child-father relationship that seems unhealthy and abusive, Plath writes about a complex and tense child-father relationship in which the child hates her father, whereas Roethke writes about a complex and more relaxed child-father relationship in which the son loves his father. Through the use of tone, rhyme, meter, and imagery, both poems illustrate different child-father relationships in which each child has a different set of feelings toward their father.

When one looks at romantic love, one would conclude that it is a social dyad that brings about certain responsibilities between two people in a relationship such as honesty, protection, openness and expressions of love. (William, 2008: 76). Contrasting with

In “Love: The Right Chemistry”, author Anastasia Toufexis discusses the philosophy of love in a more technical manner, by expressing it through scientific knowledge. She argues that, “Love rests firmly on the foundations of evolution, biology, and chemistry.” Toufexis

Charlotte Mew explores the theme of lack of intimacy during the course of her poem, The Farmers Bride. Various techniques are used to represent the stilted relationship the speaker and his ‘maid’ succumb to. Likewise, The Manhunt, written by Simon Armitage uses various metaphors and semantic fields of war and anguish to illustrate the speaker’s yearning to ‘feel the hurt’ her partner is experiencing and take the pain away. Although, the ambiguous ending doesn’t satisfy this.

“First Poem for You,” by Kim Addonizio, illustrates a night between two lovers lying next to each other. From this sonnet, it is discovered that through symbolism, imagery, and structure, the speaker’s views on relationships are embellished.

Fairy tales tell us that once upon a time a girl met a boy; they fell in love, and lived happily ever after. Reality is not that simple. Long-term relationships force couples to become more acquainted with each other, include themselves in each others’ worlds and eventually develop further connections. However, a relationship can come to an end point and therefore one will try to come back in the other’s life. This type of relationship is remarked in Fran Kimmel’s short story “Laundry Day”. The author suggests that getting rid of unhealthy relationship leads to happiness, the author uses the protagonist’s transformation, contrasting characters and symbols.

Dating back to the early 1900’s and all the way through to the present, romantic relationships have been viewed differently. From strict unwritten dating regulations to not having regulations at all, recent generations have become more liberated in making their own decisions. The progressing times have made us become a more accepting society and have caused a decrease in the strong practice of religion and class. Even though differences such as religion and class in relationships were more than an issue they were not always a complete deterrence.

In Charlotte Mew’s ‘The Farmer’s Bride’ and Simon Armitage’s ‘The Manhunt’, difficult relationships are presented by speakers who are dealing with an emotionally closed partner. Both poems explore how relationships are affected by mental health issues.

Next, Through Christopher's understanding of relationships, Haddon unveils the reality of the idealistic thoughts of normality in society. Society thinks a relationship is to mutually love and respect and trust one another. It’s considered “normal” to show affection if you care for someone. Christopher has an inability to express his feelings of love. "And Father said, 'Christopher do you understand that I love you?' And I said 'Yes', because loving someone is helping them when they get into trouble, and looking after them, and telling the truth,” (87) Despite the normality society has put on relationships, every person has their own opinion on how a relationship works. The normality of relationships is only an ideal standard. Contrary to what most believe as a typical relationship, some don’t express their thoughts and feelings in the same way. Haddon shows his readers that just because there are standards to what a relationship should be like, doesn’t mean everyone has to abide by those standards. The love Christopher's parents have for him is one- sided, they can’t expect him to feel the same way. (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time). Normality is a standard and the standard society has on relationships are unattainable considering all people are different.

The Uncommon Idea of Love In “The Radical Idea of Marrying for Love” by Stephanie Coontz, a college professor, author, and historian on the subject of marriage, the history of marriage and the idea of love was discussed. Coontz covered marriage from many times periods and many countries, such as Greece, France, and Chinese. She also touched on the idea of love and marrying because of it. Her main idea was, “But only rarely in history has love been seen as the main reason for getting married” (4).

In Sherwood Anderson’s “Hands,” and William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” both authors introduced main characters who are alienated in their respective societies. In Anderson’s work, Wing Biddlebaum is an outsider because he wants to escape from his society since he has been accused of being a child molester. Similarly, in Faulkner’s work, Emily hides from society since the prying eyes of the people who see her gaze and oppression. In this way, both characters are outsiders in their communities by the people’s eyes on them.

In Sherwood Anderson’s “Hands,” Adolf use to be a teacher who was gentle with his students and would touch their shoulders. The kids liked him because of that. He is kick out his previous town because “a half-witted boy of the school became enamored of the young master. In his bed at night he imagined unspeakable things and in the morning went forth to tell his dreams as facts” (24). People believe those accusations and that night, a group of men drove Adolf out of town. The town people called him “Wing” because his hands move like the wings of a bird. He hates using his hands because of “the tragedy” (24), he hates himself and hates using his hands too much. The town people are really proud of his hands because they move really fast and cam

In Dave Margoshes’ free verse poem, “Note to Self” published on June 30, 2015 in the online literary journal, The Rusty Toque, the speaker is writing down their daily to-do list. Margoshes allows the reader to delve into a piece that combines intimacy with the bluntness of the simple language used. The varied word choice and syntax describe the character behind the writer of the list. In combination, the use of repetition emphasizes key elements in the relationship with the lover. Finally, the structure is used to contrast specific details revealed with vague ideas presented. Using these devices, Margoshes creates an image of how this individual lacks sensitivity and understanding of the sanctity of a relationship by turning it into just another thing-to-do.

Within “Porphyria’s Lover” and “My Last Duchess,” Robert Browning suggests couples do not have fully expressed and healthy relationships because of male dominance and an individual’s psychotic state of mind.