Winesburg, Ohio and Salute To Spring

This study will compare the worlds described by Sherwood Anderson in Winesburg, Ohio and Meridel Le Sueur in Salute to Spring. The study will consider how these two novels help the reader to understand the similarities and differences between the two periods covered---the early 1900s of Anderson's book (his work was first published in 1919) and the 1930s of Le Sueur's book (first published in 1940).

The basic difference between the two worlds is a political one. Anderson's book has a timeless quality which aims to shine light on the human condition as it might exist in any era. Anderson intends to show how most people are incapable of or unwilling to express themselves in any emotionally, psychologically or spiritual significant way, or simply do not find the encouragement or opportunity to do so. Anderson's stories of people struggling to so express themselves to George Willard are stories which might be written to describe almost any society in any era.

Le Sueur's book, on the other hand, is far more politically enlightened. Anderson sees the suffering of his characters as an inevitable element of the human condition, whereas Le Sueur describes the suffering of her characters as a result of social, economic and political injustices. For Anderson, it seems that it is enough that George has described the suffering of the residents of Winesburg, but for Le Sueur what is required is a transformation of society itself which must be achieved before any suffering can truly be

Related Essays

Winesburg, Ohio & Spoon River Anthology This research will examine Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio and Edgar Lee Masters's Spoon River Anthology, with a focus on the narrative of tension between .... (2978 12 )

The Grapes of Wrath & Winesburg, Ohio John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio serve as interesting subjects for comparison because of their complementary .... (1185 5 )

Winesburg, Ohio and Spoon River Anthology: A Comparison This research will examine Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio and Edgar Lee Masters's Spoon River Anthology, with a focus on the narrative of tension between .... (2978 12 )

Babbit & Winseburg, Ohio In both Babbit and Winesburg, Ohio we are presented with two cities, one large and one small, whose inhabitants represent the superficial, materialistic and .... (1848 7 )

Marriage in Literature .... Sherwood Anderson presents a panorama of small-town American life in the stories in Winesburg, Ohio, and he includes a number of marriages, some good, some bad .... (2332 9 )

than bloom and be blighted (Le Sueur 7). It would be utterly misleading to argue that Anderson's book is one entirely devoted to an idyllic dreaminess. To the contrary, the "grotesques" of Winesburg are steeped in suffering. However, Anderson does not consider what serves as the heart and soul of Le Sueur's work---that the suffering of human beings is rooted in social, economic and political conditions. Anderson's world remains entrenched in a time when most people still maintained a simple faith in God, a time before world war and world-wide depression and a decade of illusionary pleasure and wealth (the 1920s). Accordingly, we find the philosopher in Anderson's work offering this perspective on reality: You must pay attention to me. .. . If something happens perhaps you will be able to write the book that I may never get written. The idea is very simple, so simple that if you are not careful you will forget it. It is this---that everyone in the world is Christ and they are all crucified. That's what I want to say. Don't you forget that. Whatever happens, don't you dare let yourself forget (Anderson 56-57). This is not to say that there is a willful blindness on the part of Anderson to the social, political and econom

Category: Literature - W