Hands
by Sherwood Anderson
Summary
After peculiar introduction, the first chapter begins. Entitled "Hands," it tells the story of Wing Biddlebaum, an eccentric, nervous man who lives on the outskirts of the town of Winesburg, Ohio. Despite having lived in Winesburg for twenty years, Biddlebaum has never become close to anyone, with the exception of George Willard, a young man who works as a reporter for theWinesburg Eagle. On this particular evening, Biddlebaum is pacing on his porch, hoping that George will visit. As he paces, he fiddles with his hands, which are famous for their dexterity and wanton behavior. "Their restless activity," Anderson writes, "like unto the beating of the wings of an imprisoned bird, had given him his name." He has difficulty controlling his hands, which have a tendency to wander inappropriately of their own accord. The last time he was talking with George, he jerked back in horror after finding himself starting to caress the young man's face.
Biddlebaum's horror stems from his past as a schoolteacher in Pennsylvania, where he was named Adolph Myers. He was very talented, but during his passionate lectures, he would often caress the shoulders and heads of his pupils, and one boy accused him of molestation. The schoolteacher barely made it out of town with his life, changed his name, and moved to Winesburg, where he lives in a seclusion broken only by his friendship with George Willard. On this particular evening, George does not come to visit.
Analysis: Psychological Approach
The story received harsh commentaries from all over the world and been considered as one of the "widely condemned stories" due to the general theme homosexuality which most readers in the twenties thought unimaginable.
The story centers on the life of Wing and his hands known for their dexterity and wanton behavior. He finds it hard to control the impulse of his hands to move which often brings him serious trouble. In psychological account, we can attribute this wanton behavior as whim dictated by the ID- the instinctual, pleasure-seeking part of the mind. Although his EGO tries to control these impulses made by his ID, it cannot repress it. His decision of secluding himself in a far away land is a representation that his SUPEREGO is taking over the control of his mind, preventing himself to further submerge in deep water.
In the Author's Perspective
In 1912, Anderson suffered from nervous break-down which cause him to leave their family business and his family to become a writer. He started writing novels but all of his previous works pale in comparison with this sensational novel "Winesburg, Ohio (1919) This is a collection of short stories, one of these is the story entitled "Hands".
It was mentioned in the story that Wing abandon his old identity to move to a secluded place-away from the society who judge him for what he is. This is pretty similar to what happened to the author's life. He chose to leave for him, away from his family, away from the line of work that he had. He even described the experience as "escaping from his materialistic existence".
Anderson was tagged as "sex-obsessed`' by his fellow authors because none of his fellow fiction authors had dared describe a sexual pervert. They call him daringly frank. (cliffnotes.com)
Sexual Symbols
Hand
-As implied in the story, the characters hand became the pleasure- seeking part of his body. He used to caress his students face, head and shoulder using this.
Head
-In Freudian perspective, the head of the student that was being caressed by his wanton hands can either be, a real head-the upper part of the human body, or the private part of a man. After all. the theme of the story is about homosexuality.
Imprisoned Bird
-It can be attributed to a male sex organ.
.
The story centers on the life of Wing and his hands known for their dexterity and wanton behavior. He finds it hard to control the impulse of his hands to move which often brings him serious trouble. In psychological account, we can attribute this wanton behavior as whim dictated by the ID- the instinctual, pleasure-seeking part of the mind. Although his EGO tries to control these impulses made by his ID, it cannot repress it. His decision of secluding himself in a far away land is a representation that his SUPEREGO is taking over the control of his mind, preventing himself to further submerge in deep water.
In the Author's Perspective
In 1912, Anderson suffered from nervous break-down which cause him to leave their family business and his family to become a writer. He started writing novels but all of his previous works pale in comparison with this sensational novel "Winesburg, Ohio (1919) This is a collection of short stories, one of these is the story entitled "Hands".
It was mentioned in the story that Wing abandon his old identity to move to a secluded place-away from the society who judge him for what he is. This is pretty similar to what happened to the author's life. He chose to leave for him, away from his family, away from the line of work that he had. He even described the experience as "escaping from his materialistic existence".
Anderson was tagged as "sex-obsessed`' by his fellow authors because none of his fellow fiction authors had dared describe a sexual pervert. They call him daringly frank. (cliffnotes.com)
Sexual Symbols
Hand
-As implied in the story, the characters hand became the pleasure- seeking part of his body. He used to caress his students face, head and shoulder using this.
Head
-In Freudian perspective, the head of the student that was being caressed by his wanton hands can either be, a real head-the upper part of the human body, or the private part of a man. After all. the theme of the story is about homosexuality.
Imprisoned Bird
-It can be attributed to a male sex organ.
.
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