The Theme of Isolation

The Theme of Isolation

In the novel Winesburg, Ohio, written by Sherwood Anderson, one of the most reoccurring themes is isolation.   The idea of loneliness is conveyed by Anderson though out majority of his stories.   At the time that Anderson is writing Winesburg, he had completely abandoned his wife and three children a few years earlier. He left for Chicago to pursue his career in writing. I imagine this change from a full home life to a single bachelor had some effects on his writing. He writes about loneliness because that was one of Anderson’s biggest fears.   We can draw this conclusion due to the fact he had three different wives in his life. Sadly however they all ended in divorce and Anderson ironically died alone.   The theme of isolation is one of the more dominate and underlined themes in the book.
As the story opens we are introduced to the idea of the “Grotesque.” In a world filled with thousands of beautiful truths, when someone becomes obsessed with a single idea do they become Grotesque.   When Anderson classifies this group he uses the word grotesque.   This gives the reader an image of an outcast doomed to loneliness. These people have become so haunted by their truth that they have lost contact with the fellow town’s people. “These people fall into a rut of sorts and find themselves either unable to break free from their particular beliefs they have embraced or forever scarred because they once tried and failed to break free (Dunne, 2).” So right off the bat Anderson gives us this idea of Isolation.   In the second chapter Hands we are introduced to Wing Biddlebaum who seems to be a very sad and unhappy man. Wing was run out of town because he was wrongfully accused of molesting one of his students. This event forever shaped Wings life.   He got chased out of town and developed a physical problem with his hands.   He blames his hands for the mix-up and now they shake and twitch sporadically.   George is one of the only communications to the real...