I loved this book from my high school days and was glad that I had another opportunity to read it again. The story covers the life of George Willard from his time as a child until he left the town of Winesburg as a young man.
The book is divided into 24 sections or can be considered 24 short stories that take place in Winesburg. Each section focuses on a different resident of the town. Willard is included in 15 of the sections and he is a newspaper reporter who is an empathetic listener to his neighbors. Most of the residents are very unhappy and lead bleak lives. Consequently, I felt the book was depressing and don't know why I idealized it all these years.
The major problem that I had with the book is due to how I personally changed since I last read it 40 years ago. I was healthy at the time I initially read it but within 10 years of reading Winesburg I became disabled. My professional life then centered around civil rights. I now view these Winesburg residents as being members of protected classes. Some are physically disabled, some mentally disabled and others have psychiatric disabilities.
I abhor the name of the first section "The Grotesque" because it describes a man "whose body was old and not of much use anymore." I would call that ageism. I realize this was written a hundred years ago when attitudes were different but these thoughts were dominant in my mind as I read the book. A bent up, or disabled, body is not grotesque in my opinion.
The other residents had deformities. Some were physical, some mental, and some had both. All were described as grotesque. Is that what we were called 100 years ago or did the author have a problem that he worked into a book that became acclaimed? I became angry as I continued reading but another thought came to mind.
One of the stories concerns Elizabeth Willard, George's mother, who had an illness and "between Elizabeth and her one son George there was a deep unexpressed bond of sympathy." When a child grows up in family with a sick or disabled family member they become empathetic listeners. Let me also add that the Introduction by Irving Howe in my version of the book referenced the town of Clyde, Ohio as the town that Winesburg was based on. The author grew up in Clyde and during this time in our nation we were turning from hand crafted items to machine made items. Many people were out of work and life was bleak just as it was in this fictional Winesburg. It is my belief that the author chose the 24 residents to write about because he was their empathetic listener. He cared for them as he cared for his mother.
After rereading Winesburg, Ohio I no longer idealize it. It is archaic compared to our 21st century manner of thinking. It did not seem archaic 40 years ago but it certainly does now. I did not like the negative physical descriptions of the residents. Since in many of the stories the physical characteristic had nothing to do with the storyline it appeared to me the author hated people with deformities. If you read reviews of this book you will see that each resident is considered an example of the grotesque. For me, the unstated question is who is the grotesque? The town's residents or the author?
I was quite surprised by my reaction to the book. However, I have spent most of my career trying to change people's perceptions of those who are different, including the usage of more politically correct, i.e., kind words to describe people. This language used in this book was jarring and did not sit well with me.
