The story explores the simplicity of the old woman’s life. Her single purpose in life is to feed animals.

‘Then she settled down to feed stock. That was her job…Horses, cows, pigs, dogs, men.’

(Death in the woods, S. Anderson: 285 & 287).

Every aspect of the old woman’s primitive life and death relates to feeding animals: when she was a bound child on a German’s farm, when she was married to Jake her abusive husband, as she grew old and eventually in her death. The author repeats this point many times throughout the story. The repetition of this constantly in the story helps the reader feel something for the old lady, a feeling of sadness and sympathy. The repetition of this point also enhances the monotonous quality of the old woman’s life. Her destiny is to feed animals.

A variation of long and short sentence structure is used in the s

‘…one of the men, he was the town blacksmith, took off his overcoat and spread it over her. Then he gathered her into his arms and started off to town…’

(Death in the woods, S. Anderson: 282-283).

The narrator it seems is protective of the old woman. With time he has come to tell the story and incorporated it with his own experience and thoughts.

The reader feels sorry for the woman, but eventually, as the story reaches its climax with the woman’s death, the reader experiences a great feeling of regret and pity towards her. The change in tone represents the end of one part of the woman’s life and the start of the next.

‘…the old woman sat down to rest at the foot of a tree. It was a foolish thing to do.’

Some topics in this essay:
Sherwood Anderson, Grimes…’ Death, death woods anderson, woods anderson, death woods, woman’s life, , allow reader, story ‘death woods’, woods anderson 285, story ‘death, feed animals, story woman’s, husband son, feeding animals, tell story,