Isolation And Loneliness in "Wisenburg, Ohio"
Uploaded by sls465 on Apr 19, 2007
Isolation And Loneliness in "Wisenburg, Ohio"
Winseburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson is a novel centered on loneliness and isolation. Life in a small town is not always as picturesque, as it may seem. Many of the characters in the novel experience the ramifications of being alone. When one experiences loneliness and isolation they often become brokenhearted and see no good that can come from life. The little town of Winesburg is full of frustration and loneliness, and this is seen through the lives of Alice, David and Louise.
Alice fell in love as a young woman. Her love, Ned Currie, went to New York for a job and promised to return one day for her. Alice waited for years for Ned to return but as the years went by her loneliness and isolation grew. She feared that she would live and die alone. “…trying to force herself to face the fact that many people must live and die alone, even in Winesburg” (Anderson 67). Alice was so desperate to be loved that she ran outside into the rain naked and called to the first man she saw. The man she had called to was deaf and old. This was symbolic of herself because she too had become old and lonely and cut off from the world. Alice was affected so much by her loneliness and isolation that it brought her to despair.
From the day Louise was born, she felt as if she was not loved. Her father wanted a son and because of this, he did not treat her, as he should have. Her father Jesse wanted a son so that he could be like David in the Bible. Later in life, Louise married John Hardy merely because she needed to be loved and to have someone to love. She did not know how to love because she was never able to experience that as a child and so her relationship with her husband was not healthy and seemed to throw her into a state of madness. The town saw how Louise acted and distanced themselves from her, causing her more pain and separation. Louise had a son and was not able to love her son because she alone had failed to be loved.
David Hardy was...