The stylistic analysis of Sherwood Anderson’s short story “Hands”
I would like tell you about the story I have read. It is written by an American novelist and short story writer. It is called “Hands” and this store is referred to his most enduring work the short story sequence Winesburg, Ohio. “Hands” is the story of alone man who has almost no connection with the people of Winesburg, although he has lived near the town for twenty years. Many years ago he had quiet unfortunate experience in the communication with this world. The reason of this failing was his hands. The main character has speaking name Wing Biddlebaum (antonomasia), so it underlines the importance of his hands and personifies freedom. What
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With George, he is confident and talkative, and he is able to express the ideas that he has developed over the lonely years.
“In the presence of George Willard, Wing Biddlebaum, who for twenty years had been the town mystery, lost something of his timidity, and his shadowy personality, submerged in a sea of doubts, came forth to look at the world.”
The story opens with a sentence that establishes the setting and the main character: ‘‘Upon the half decayed veranda of a small frame house that stood near the edge of a ravine near the town of Winesburg, Ohio, a fat little old man walked nervously up and down.’’ As he stands alone and looks out over the fields, he sees a wagon full of young people returning home from berry picking. They are laughing and enjoying each other’s company, and one of them yells across to the man, mocking him for his baldness.
The author employs a number of stylistic devises that describe the main character’s inner world and appearance.
A fat little old man – epithet
Yellow mustard weeks - epithet
Wing Biddlebaum, forever frightened and beset by a ghostly band of doubts – (metaphor), did not think of himself….
now as the old man walked up and down on the veranda, his hands moving nervously about, he was hoping that George Willard would come and spend the evening with him.
The author compares the main character’s life with a field – across a long field. In the sentence “The berry pickers, youth and maidens,
As I walked up inhaling the beautiful aroma of the flowers to Gatsby’s house I noticed a few sleek black Chryslers parked out front of the house. I then began to hear men speaking which led me to immediately conceal
Through characterisation, the author is able to express the main idea of disempowerment and also allowing us as readers to feel discontented and upset towards the main character.
First, George’s attentiveness is what led him to be successful since his surroundings influenced him in a positive way. For example on page 11, he says, “I wasn’t any smarter or more special than the guys around me. For some reason, throughout my life I was blessed with people who told me positive things, and I believed in them. I believed my third-grade teacher when she told me that I could go to college and have a great career someday if I just stayed out of trouble.” This shows us that George
Intertwined within the novel is the presence of many different genres including letters, articles and magazine clippings, and pictures. At first sight there is the
• What are the characters’ emotions, attitudes, and behaviors? What do these indicate to the reader about the character?
The short story Hands by Sherwood Anderson is one of the twenty-two stories in the book Winesburg, Ohio. This story specifically focuses on the psychological trauma of a teacher after being falsely accused of molesting his male students. This alone brings up the topics of homosexuality and sex, which was considered scandalous at the time it was published in 1919.Although this is true, it did not stop the public from finding this piece of literature as fascinating. In Hands, Anderson’s form of symbolism, narration, and themes are what make this piece modern and unique.
The informal language, creative word choice, and diction used by all of the characters in this story are true to the Southern Gothic genre short story style (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). Southern imagery extends beyond the characters to the setting and language. As we read about dirt roads, southern plantations, “red clay banks”, and crops in the field, we are transported to a
The viewpoint of the world that the narrator has, completely alters as certain events take place throughout the story. His outlook on nature transforms into a wholly different standpoint as the story progresses. As his tale begins, the narrator sees himself as a tough guy or “bad character”. He believes he is invincible. There is nobody as cool as he
Along in with the author’s use of metaphors is the frequent use of imagery. In this reading, it is simple to envision the scenes as the different scenarios are explained and the audience can easily picture Staples in the places he is describing and also the people he comes across. Perhaps the most powerful and memorable imagery is provided in the author’s description of people’s different reactions and faces when they come into contact with him. Actions speak volumes and an immediate change of facial expression is possibly one of the
By exaggerating circumstances, emotions, and thoughts, he really shows how his fourteen-year-old mind worked. A great example is when he writes, “The hotel reserved by my parents’ friends featured army cots instead of beds and a half-foot-long cockroach evolved enough to wave what looked like a fist at us.” This humorous example shows that he now looks back and realizes the ridiculousness of his own thoughts about the rooms in which they stayed. Yet another example of hyperbole shines through when Shteyngart says, “I felt coldness, not the air-conditioned chill of southern Georgia but the coldness of a body understanding the ramifications of its own demise, the pointlessness of it all.” Though he must have been disappointed, the reader can assume that at that moment, Shteyngart did not feel that the vacation and life in general were pointless.
This self-description of the narrator says it all. He gives a brutal, yet inflated description of himself and his friends that gives the reader a very round main character.
you analyze how the novelist reveals the values of the character and the nature of the character’s
aims his focal point at imagery to provide vivid and rich details. Literary devices play a crucial
However, once more, “there interposed a Fly” (12), interrupting not only the silence but also the narrator’s mind which is trying to calm before the fear of death. This is because, the fly act as the last string the narrator can hold on to, or in other words, the last string that will connect the narrator and the world. With all her possessions assigned to others, the narrator does not own any physical possessions and she is also standing on the margin of losing her life. The sound of the fly buzzing and the sight of the fly flying around the room allow the narrator on the deathbed to know she is still alive and existing in the world as a human being. The fly, when seen from the positive or the optimistic point of view, can act as a symbol of hopefulness, for life existing in the same room with death can be interpreted as fly blocking and stopping the door of death from opening.
The paper will analyze the literary skills in the novel. The literary styles will be analyzed in the context of their significance in influencing the plot and characters. The literary analysis will include review of the major literature styles the author uses and the characteristics of characters in regards to adapting the requirements of the specific literature styles. Additionally, the review will also include a perspective of the importance of style used by the author.