Winesburg, Ohio

As the primary linking character of the book, George Willard’s arc illuminates one of Winesburg, Ohio’s key concerns: the dynamics of youth and experience. The young people of Winesburg often encounter profound truths both through their encounters with others and their private experiences and reflections. However, Anderson’s stories suggest that their ability to appreciate these truths is limited by the naivete of their youth. George himself is repeatedly frustrated by his failure to make sense of what is happening to him. By the end of the book, his departure from the town is inextricably linked to his developing maturity.

Anderson represents George as driven by his personal ambition to become a writer living in one of the major cities—a goal Anderson’s stories indicate can only be done well by connecting with the inner thoughts of others—a skill that results from growing maturity. Working as a journalist gives him the opportunity to investigate and develop stories, a role he pursues even in his youth. In “Mother,” however, George’s father, Tom, criticizes him for being aloof in the presence of others. George tries to defend his behavior to his mother, indicating that he wants to be observant and contemplative. Because he cannot reconcile his father’s advice and the qualities that he thinks a writer should embody, he tries to seek comfort from his mother. But Elizabeth, who deals with her own lack of fulfillment in her life, remains unable to give him what he needs or model the behavior necessary to pursue maturity. George retreats from sharing his inner life with his family, which emboldens him to take greater risks in his adventures around town.

Anderson uses George’s first sexual encounter with Louise Trunnion in “Nobody Knows”—which represents a common trope of coming-of-age narratives—to explore the ways in which George’s immaturity keeps him from establishing a genuine connection. During his encounter with Louise, he feels frustrated by the way in which her note contradicts her behavior toward him. Anderson depicts George’s frustration as less indicative of Louise’s fickleness than it is of his inability to understand her motivations. George later experiences an echo of this failure when he engages with his teacher, Kate Swift, who tries to advise him to live first in order to become a great writer. Kate’s attempts to influence her former student become muddled up by George’s belief that Kate is infatuated with him, and Kate ultimately resigns herself to the fact that George cannot understand what she’s trying to say.

As George’s arc progresses, he begins to build a more nuanced perspective of the world in “An Awakening” as he beholds the wonder of life’s conflicting truths. He yearns to share this perspective with someone, leading him to seek out Belle Carpenter’s company. When his encounter with Belle causes his assault at the hands of Ed Handby, George gets a firsthand taste of the idea that life can be both joyful and painful, beautiful and grotesque at the same time.

The death of George’s mother—another common coming-of-age trope—triggers the final stage of George’s journey toward maturity. Although he has long courted the idea of moving to the city to work as a writer, Elizabeth’s death firms his resolve to pursue life outside of Winesburg. In “Sophistication,” George bids farewell to his youth, knowing that to leave Winesburg means to leave everything he has known behind. The image of the county fairground, which Anderson describes as a place that contains the “ghosts […] of living people” (198) resonates with the final image of the book: a Winesburg fading into George’s memory. George’s departure from Winesburg serves as a metaphor for the end of George’s youth.