Winesburg, Ohio

David Hardy is the grandson of Jesse Bentley, the son of Jesse’s only daughter, Louise Bentley, and her husband, John Hardy. John and Louise have a rocky marriage, primarily because Louise has had a notably short temper since childhood. John tries to placate her, but finds that in doing so, he only provokes her into more destructive acts—such as attempting to burn down their house and threatening John with murder.

David is afraid of Louise. One day, while riding back into town from the Bentley farm, David decides to run away from home. He gets lost on the country roads and gets stuck in a powerful storm. His father, John, calls for a search party, believing that David has been kidnapped. When David miraculously finds his way back to the Bentley farm and is returned home, Louise hugs him tenderly. David feels surprised by the sudden transformation of his mother’s behavior toward him. She bathes him, cooks him dinner, and puts him to bed. In the years to come, he longs to experience such tenderness and care from her again.

When David is 12, he goes to live on the Bentley farm at Jesse’s request. Louise, who resents her upbringing, believes the farm will suit a “man child” like David and does not protest. She retreats into solitude. David is tenderly looked after by one of the women on the farm and becomes accustomed to life there. The mood on the farm, which has grown to cover most of the valley, generally turns brighter.

Jesse feels caught between the influence of two major forces in his life: his desire to become “a leader among men of God” (56) and the Industrial Revolution. He has remained spiritually zealous despite the apparent absence of God in his life and in the world around him. He recognizes the need to become a modern industrialist, so he starts acquiring machines to improve productivity. When David arrives, Jesse gets the impression that God has finally answered his prayer.

Jesse and David regularly ride out to inspect the estate. On one of these rides, Jesse terrifies the boy so much that it puts their relationship at risk. On one of their rides, Jesse gets into such an excitable state that he stops the carriage and gets out. David follows Jesse, unaware that his grandfather is hoping to receive a sign from God. In a nearby clearing, Jesse falls to his knees and prays aloud, which terrifies David, who feels that his grandfather has transformed into a dangerous person. Jesse takes the boy’s shoulders and cries for a sign from God. David breaks out of his grip and runs back into the forest. He falls and wounds his head. Jesse shakes himself from his reverie, retrieves David, and brings him back to the carriage. David wakes up and urges Jesse to take him away from the man who terrified him in the woods. Jesse wonders what he has done to earn God’s disapproval.

The narrator describes Louise Bentley’s story as a “story of misunderstanding” (62). She is one of many neurotic women born during the Industrial Revolution. Her early life is marked by the desire for her father’s love, which she is consistently denied. By age 15, she moves into the house of Jesse’s friend, vehicle merchant Albert Hardy, so that she can attend high school.

Louise feels unable to shake her malaise even after she moves in with the Hardys, so she focuses her energy on her studies. Though Albert did not receive an education growing up, he strongly endorses it for his children, John, Mary, and Harriet. Albert praises Louise’s industrious work ethic and berates his daughters for doing poorly. In retaliation, the Hardy girls decide to ignore Louise altogether.

Louise befriends John, though she is too shy to talk to him whenever he brings firewood up to her room. She convinces herself that she will feel less excluded from the joyful circles of people around her if she can become close to him.

One night, John comments that Louise is a hard worker. When he leaves the house, Louise tries to call him from her window. She decides to wait for him to return beside the parlor. She hears someone coming back through the orchard and initially thinks it is John, but when she realizes it isn’t him, she hides. John’s sister, Mary, and a young man have a sexual encounter in the parlor, which gives Louise an idea of how to engage with John.

Louise sends John a note asking him to call her through her window if he wants to love her. He initially fails to respond, which causes her to avoid him out of embarrassment. A few weeks later, he finally does call on her, though her feelings for him have been affected by something that happened the weekend before.

The narrator reveals that on her way back to the farm that weekend, Louise had vented her frustrations to the farmhand who was driving her. Louise had attempted to seduce the farmhand, but the farmhand failed to return her affections. The rejection provoked Louise so much that she threw the farmhand’s hat to the road and left him behind when he attempted to retrieve it.

When John comes for Louise, she boldly accepts him as her lover. She never expresses what she really wants out of their relationship, and when she suspects that she has become pregnant, they get married. Louise and John move into their own house, and Louise tries to articulate her true desires. John refuses to listen, believing that all she expects him to be is a passionate lover. She soon begins to reject his sexual advances and their relationship eventually turns hostile.

Louise gives birth to David, but cannot readily express affection toward her newborn baby. John rebukes her for being so cold. Louise retorts that David will get his way because he is a man-child—he will thrive with or without her tenderness. Had he been a woman-child, Louise would have been more sympathetic.

At 15, David has an adventure that inspires him to leave Winesburg and his family. Jesse and Louise both die after David leaves. John spends part of his inheritance unsuccessfully trying to reunite with David.

David’s adventure happens during an abundant time for the Bentley farm. Jesse spares no expense in converting a strip of swampland into arable land. Although his neighbors had expected the investment to fail, Jesse turns a huge profit with his crop, which enables him to further modernize the farm.

During the summer, David spends most of his time outdoors. He takes a homemade slingshot to forage and hunt. The satisfaction he gets from this activity is enough to dispel thoughts of his impending manhood. One morning, he is about to set out when Jesse invites him to accompany him to the woods. They ride out to a field where a lamb has been born out of season. They tie the lamb up to bring with them. Jesse indicates that he has been planning this excursion for a long time, and knew it was the right time when he saw the lamb. He wants to offer the lamb as a burnt offering so that God can send them a message about David’s destiny.

They return to the clearing where Jesse had terrified David years ago. Though he still remembers how frightened he was, David assures himself that it is safe to follow his grandfather. He nevertheless loosens the binding around the lamb, promising to run away with it in case of danger. Jesse builds a fire then approaches David and the lamb with a knife. David and the lamb flee in terror. Jesse chases after the lamb. Thinking that he is being pursued by his grandfather, David shoots at Jesse with his slingshot. Jesse falls forward, causing David to think that he has killed him. He resolves to leave Winesburg, allowing him to be “be a man and go into the world” (75).

Jesse regains consciousness after David flees, unable to talk about anything other than God. Whenever someone mentions David, Jesse indicates that God had sent an angel to take him away because Jesse had become “too greedy for glory” (76).