Being directly influenced by his childhood, the time period he lived in and his own beliefs and connections with his characters, Anderson addresses instinctual human behavior in his works. These aspects are clearly evident in his series of short stories “Winesburg, Ohio.” He brings out very personal, internal issues within the main characters of his stories (Hurd) (Anderson).
There were many influences on Sherwood Anderson’s writings. One of the most important was his childhood. He was born in Camden, Ohio on September 13, 1876 (Sherwood). He grew up in a hard working, yet struggling family of 7 kids (Anderson). Being in such a large family, he wasn’t exactly living the American Dream in his Midwestern town. His parents were trying to work in an industry that was morphing into pure technology (Hurd). He attended school sporadically but did eventually graduate (Dunaway). After graduating, Anderson went on to become a successful advertiser and business man (Peck). All of his childhood and mid-life led Anderson into his writing career. Being a child of 7 kids and a hard working family not reaping the benefits gave him a strong look at the American life. It showed him that the American dream is usually just that. He used his life and childhood experiences to create many stories.
Another influence on Anderson’s writing was the time period he lived in. During the late 1800’s, the Chicago Literary movement was prospering. Some of the men in this movement like Theodore Dreiser, Floyd Dell, Carl Sanburg and Ben Hecht had an encouraging impact on Anderson (Anderson). During the late 1800's, there were many struggling farmers desperately battling to maintain an agriculturally based economy (Stewart). Prices of farmer’s crops were dropping which caused controversy among them. There were climate changes and issues with the fertility of the land that also caused predicaments for the farmers (Stewart.) The Panic of 1893 was another historical event of the time Anderson grew up in. After the Civil War the economy dropped dramatically and in the later 1880’s to 1890’s the unemployment rate soared (Whitten). Some say that this depression was equivalent to the Great Depression in the 1930’s (Whitten). The pitfall of the economy was clearly written about in Anderson’s short stories because he often focused on the struggles in the Midwest (Dunaway).
Additional influences that were brought out in Anderson’s writings were his own beliefs and connections he could make with his characters. He was much like many of the struggling characters he wrote about because of his own childhood. The background he came from allowed him to be very aware of the situations of many people living in the Midwest (9). He also did not like the way America was turning into an industrial based economy rather than an agricultural based economy (9). Loneliness and personal annoyances were the most prevalent aspects Anderson wrote about (Hurd). As a man himself, Anderson had a mental lapse in his earlier working years that landed him in an estranged state in the hospital (8). He translated this incident of his life into different kinds of bad experiences the characters he wrote about went through (Peck). All of his own beliefs and connections he could make with the people he encountered in his life allowed him to write short stories that touched many.
There are many different facets Sherwood Anderson incorporates into his works. The main portion of them come from his own life. Other portions derive from his beliefs and the tough time period he lived in. All of his works have been greatly influenced by these three things.
Techniques
In one of his short stories in his series “Winesburg, Ohio,” Anderson uses epithets, distinct themes and grotesques to create the picture of Wing Biddlebaum. There are many other techniques Anderson uses in his works, but these are the most apparent. These techniques make his works come to life and create specific characteristics of each and every character like Wing Biddlebaum.
The short story “Hands” by Sherwood Anderson has many intricate epithets. These epithets are very palpable throughout the story. The main character in “Hands” is Wing Biddlebaum. His name is actually a part of a defining characteristic of him. His name came from the actions of his hands resembling that of a butterfly (Hands). Anderson also wrote about “beautiful quantities in obscure men” (Hands). There was also repetitive description of Wing being a very powerful man in different ways (Hands). This power is misinterpreted and seen as a struggle with sexuality (Peck, Hands). Throughout the beginning of the story, Anderson keeps hinting at an event that happened in Wing’s past. He eventually writes about the event and brings out the meaning in its entirety in Wing’s life (Severson). All of these descriptions make Wing Biddlebaum come alive in the short story.
Another very prominent technique Anderson uses is distinct themes. Many of his works are based on his own life experiences so he is very understanding of his characters. Many times throughout “Hands,” Anderson infuses one of his most common themes of loneliness of his protagonists (Peck). There was also an element of “estrangement and dillusionment” in the characters, especially Wing (Peck). Because of the schoolyard incident that Wing was involved in, his life was left completely in shambles. Anderson captures this in his revealing of Wing’s isolation. Depression is a further examined element in “Hands.”