The Way Out

【Abstract】This essay analyses George Willard’s progress through his communication and love affairs with the townspeople， and his struggle to find a way out.

【Key words】George Willard； initiation； Winesburg； Ohio

【作者簡介】劉曉娟（1978-），女，漢族，首都師范大學大英部講師，英語語言文學博士。

1. Introduction

“Bildungsroman is considered the story of a child’s initiation into adulthood or youths struggling for identity， maturation， and a place in society.” （ Sun 12） Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister is generally taken as the archetypal text of this genre. The heroes in these stories are teenagers， those who are struggling on their way from childhood to adulthood， and who have begun to show physical and social signs of maturing but have not yet assumed full adult responsibility. George Willard in Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg， Ohio falls into this category.

George is a representative figure who typifies all of the buried yearnings of his fellow townspeople， including his parents and especially them. As the only child of the unhappy parents， George Willard becomes their only hope. Being the reporter on the town’s newspaper， George is also regarded as the only hope of his townspeople. They all try to influence and shape George in their own way. With so many voices around him， the adolescent George gets quite confused. Not knowing what to do， he has formed the habit of talking to himself in darkness， and restlessly going out to have a walk. He talks about leaving Winesburg all the time， but has no idea where to go and what to do for his future.

Sexual anxiety， which people experience while growing up from childhood， also worries young George Willard. But through his affairs with four women， George finally gets that true love between man and woman is through mutual understanding and mutual respect. His first affair is with Louise Trunnion in “Nobody Knows”. In the presence of her， what George cares is whether his insidious behavior will be known by townspeople， her sentimental loneliness being mistaken and utilized to release his newly-gained masculine power. Louise Trunnion’s initiative brings George physical satisfaction， simultaneously degrading the relationship between men and women to lowest degree and being lack of any precious spiritual communication. Between them， there is no affection， at least in George’s heart， “there [is] no sympathy” at all. （Anderson 61） And after their sexual intercourse， George buys a cigar on his way back. Smoking， which is regarded as typical adult men’s pleasure， reflects George’s complacence of “winning” a girl with his own masculine power.

In “The Thinker” George plans naively to fall in love with Helen White to get material for a love story， and the reason he chooses Helen just because she is “the only girl in town with any ‘get-up’ to her”. （Anderson 135） When he says to Seth about this plan and asks him to talk to her into it， he is also lighting a pipe， a pretentious way to show his masculine power. But in fact， his feelings for Helen are by no means love. By imagining Helen as the heroine of his love story， the adolescent’s thirst for love is more or less quenched. Therefore， the fact that he does not dare to face the girl himself， afraid of being refused and hurt expose his boyish cowardice.

Then in “The Teacher”， Kate Swift， who is well aware of George’s sensitivity and talents in writing， visits him at work and speaks to him about life and writing. Being eager to open the door of life to the boy， the teacher tries to guide the boy see deeply into life and into people around him， she speaks with passionate earnestness. In fact， her passion is so strong that it becomes something “physical”. And George， without fully understanding his mentor’s views， mistakenly takes her passion for love. After their struggling hugs， Kate awakens from her passion and leaves. George then goes back home， this time， instead of boasting of himself being a powerful adult， he thinks about what Kate Swift’s real intention. George’s first serious thinking about women enables himself to realize the essence of relationship between men and women.

In “An Awakening” we view a partial initiation of George from boyhood into manhood. This initiation comes about through the humiliation young Willard suffers at the hands of Ed Handby， the local bartender. It is this experience that brings George to one of the critical moments of his “awakening”—the beginnings of true manhood—to the knowledge of his own limitations. In George’s attempt to experience an adult sexual relationship with Belle Carpenter， a woman of the town， he is paradoxically made aware that he is still very much a boy. For Ed Handby， who breaks in upon that attempt， does not even deign to fight with George to assert his rights over Belle （who is only using the innocent young Willard as a pawn in her battle to bring back the jealous Handby to her）. Handby not only will not dignify young Willard by challenging him to a fight， he thrusts George aside like a whipped puppy. Ed Handby picks Belle Carpenter up off the grass and “marches” her away， having proven his own manhood in the face of young Willard’s impotence. Thus， this incident， perhaps more than any other， paradoxically brings George to the beginnings of manhood—by convincing him that he is still a boy with a boy’s limitations. He finds neither physical nor romantic love in Belle Carpenter， for he is too weak to battle a full-grown man， and he is too timid to make love to a mature woman.

George’s first mature as well as the only fruitful love affair does not come true until in “Sophistication”. New thoughts have been coming into his mind and he feels the fast-growing manhood inside his young body. Instead of a sexual experience， now he wants “most of all， understanding”. （Anderson 235） George wants to be understood by townspeople， especially by Helen White， whom he once takes a fancy for， but now， all he wants is to love her and loved by her. When he sits with Helen White on the old grand-stand in the autumn dusk， silently yet closely， mutual treasuring of delicate feelings transcends the physical stimulus， which once blocks George’s normal communication with women. Brewing now in George is the Platonic belief in the essence of love and the respect for Helen， for all women and all the other townspeople. He begins to realize the essence of love： real love should be based on mutual understanding and mutual respect to each other rather than physical impulses. The fact that George begins to know more about love and even extends his love for Helen to love for all the people he knows and even the whole universe shows his growing man power.

There is no doubt that the townspeople find tremendous consolation in confiding to George， but at the same time， George benefits from his communication with them. It is frequently by his contacts with the alienated souls in the town that George is permitted the partial insights that will lead to his maturity. Winesburg has nurtured and prepared the young man for the breakout into the new life of the future. As time goes on， George comes to understand those people around him， their agonies and their undying dreams. In “Hands”， the adolescent George cannot understand the outburst of Wing Biddlebaum’s inspiration and agony， he is perplexed and frightened by the old man’s wild behavior， and even leaves him with “a shiver of dread”. As to Doctor Parcival， George begins to show some understanding. In the past， he thinks what the doctor says is only a pack of lies， but gradually he is convinced that those stories contain the very essence of truth. When Wash Williams tells George his own love tragedy， George is fascinated. Trying to understand the miserable man better， he leans forward to study the man’s face and even visualize the story in his mind， in the end， his sympathy with the man is so great that he feels “ill and weak” too. With the lonely man Enoch Robinson， George tries to comfort him by sitting close to him and even wanting to put his arms about the little old man. To the queer boy Elmer Cowley， George is delighted to hear his story and even wants to make friends with him. Hearing Elmer’s leaving， he runs to the railway station immediately to meet with him， despite the inappropriate time. If at the beginning， George is rather told than trying to listen， he gradually shows his sympathy and understanding while listening. The self-centered， indifferent， arrogant adolescent has gradually developed into a sympathetic， sensitive and considerate young man.

Elizabeth’s death also contributes to George’s initiation. When he sits beside the dead woman in the dimly lighted room， he begins to think life. In the epiphanic moment， George ascertains unspeakable beauty in the slender body covered by the sheet. The consciousness that his mother has ever been a young vigorous woman transforms George from being immersed in the sorrow of the loss of mother to more universal sorrow of the loss of beauty， and her death incites his breaking from the Oedipus complex as well as the small town life to the psychological independence and isolation， which can find evidence in his “queer empty feeling in the region of his stomach”. （Anderson 229） Due to his mother’s death， George has learned to view life retrospectively and come to taste the uncertainty of life and death. These new feelings make him， for the first time， feel extremely isolated， and he longs to come close to some other human beings， among whom the most reliable one is Helen White， the one also immersing herself in the sentimental uncertainties of maturity.

2. Conclusion

At the beginning， George already keeps saying “I’m going away”， but does not know where to go and what to do， he is just a talker who does not have a clear life goal. Just like a caged bird， George tries to find a way out， but does not know how. Until his mother’s death impels him to make the final decision—leaving Winesburg. And this time， he does have a goal-- go to some city and get a job on some newspaper. With his leaving， George Willard has taken the first step in his future. And his leaving signalizes the death of his boyhood and the birth of his manhood， or rather， it places him on the borderline of manhood， but not completely across it into full maturity. But there lies within him the potentiality for a fuller maturity. The fact that George leaves on a Spring morning suggests hope for that. At last， the townspeople come to see him away， even the one who never pays attention to him comes to shake hands with him shows their compromise with life， with George’s departure， they all seem to find a way out. Bearing their hopes and dreams， as well as support in mind， George is very likely to reach his full maturity.

References：

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