Isolation, Failure To Communicate, And Being Defined By One Event In One’s Life In Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio

The two stories following “The Book of the Grotesque,” “Hands” and “Paper Pills,” exemplify the themes of isolation and failure to communicate. The story of Wing Biddlebaum, an old Pennsylvanian schoolteacher, unfolds. Gaining his name from

The difference between Biddlebaum’s and Reefy’s types of isolation and failures to communicate stems from their problems’ causes. Wing suffers because of an unjust accusation, an event that he is unable to control. His situation would never change, regardless of his actions. Conversely, Reefy suffers on his own accord. Instead of enriching others with his words of wisdom, he chooses to stuff his thoughts into his pockets, and symbolically crumples the paper into small balls to ensure that they are never seen.

The quality of being Tandy offers a counterexample to the themes of isolation and failure to communicate in Winesburg. Through accepting the name, the young girl offers hope for the future of the community. By using her strength, perhaps she can remedy the isolationism and lack of communication that runs rabid throughout Winesburg.

“Paper Pills” retells the story of Dr. Reefy, a lonely, old doctor who suffers in the same way as Wing Biddlebaum. Isolated in his musty office, Dr. Reefy’s only means of communication are the small paper balls in his jacket pocket on which was written what he thought were the truths of life. After his marriage, Reefy had established a more effective means of communication with his young wife; he would read to her from his scraps of paper. Unfortunately, after almost a year, Dr. Reefy’s wife passed away, forcing him to return to his old method of communication, his paper pills. Before his marriage, Reefy isolation only allowed him to express his thoughts and truths through writing. Occasionally, however, the old doctor would emblematically throw his paper balls at other people, expressing his desire to communicate, while mocking his inability to do so. Reefy’s young wife offered a form of escape from his inability to communicate and ultimate grotesqueness. Her ability to open up his heart and allow him to verbally express his emotions, which were previously only written on his paper pills,

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