The Maturation of George Willard - Essay Example

Maturation of George Willard Sherwood Anderson brings out touching themes from a small town life. In Winesburg, Ohio, Sherwood combines novelistic aspects with those of short stories to describe life in Winesburg. Consisting of twenty-four short stories, the book paints a picture of the inhabitants of winesburg through the narration of George Willard. George Willard harmonizes all the short stories to make up one continuous story. The writer introduces George as a young boy working as a reporter with the Winesburg Eagle. The book describes George’s progression from a young boy in the beginning, to an adult in the end. The writer tells the story of George’s family, his adventures with women during adolescence, his relationship with peers and his maturation to an adult. At the end of the book, George is a mature individual who is ready to face the world and he leaves Winesburg (Anderson and Boyd, 328). All the characters in the story confide in George and therefore, he understands life in Winesburg better than any other person does. George is the only son of his father and mother. George grows up lacking the warmth of a beautiful relationship with his mother (Howe, 31). They do not get along well. His mother is dissatisfied with what life has offered her in the years. Her life is full of vanity because she has not found true love in marriage. On the other hand, his father only has failed ambitions to show for the years he has lived. He often urges George to focus on achieving something in life. His mother wants the best for him but does not like the way his father pesters him to leave the hometown. From the way his parents still guide him on the path of life, the reader realizes that George is but a boy at the beginning of the book. He has not chosen the exact thing he wants to pursue in life. Although he wants to leave the hometown, that will come after two years. George concentrates on his dreams and these define his world (Howe, 13). George is an adventurous adolescent. Emotions of love confuse and drift him easily. He wants to experiment with love and sex like any other boy his age. He is romantically involved with several women. After he successfully seduces a girl and has sex with her, he expresses mixed feelings. At first, he gets a heroic feeling but later embarrassment crops up. These are the feelings that come with love and youth especially when adolescents engage in sexual matters to satisfy their curiosity. George experiences the illusions of love. When he loves, he does not get love back in the same measure. In the story `nobody knows’, Sherwood describes how George handled his first love attempt (Howe, 48). His actions left him a bit embarrassed. In a different story, `the teacher’, George is romantically involved with his former teacher (Howe, 137). However, this affair did not get too far because the teacher realized it was absurd. George became confused when the teacher suddenly changed her mind. The story of George and the teacher displays the disillusionment that comes with being young. As a young adolescent, George does not know exactly the type of woman he wants. He practices trial and error in the search for love. Sometimes lust drives him to a woman. In a different instance, George is involved with Belle Carpenter in the story `an awakening’ (Howe, 156). This young woman chooses Ed over George. Ed hits George and that serves as an awakening to reality. In this case, George faces rejection. In addition, George is attracted to Helen White, and he intends to fall in love. Although Helen loves someone else, circumstances lead her to George. Helen white becomes the girl that George dates for the longest time. In the story `Sophistication’, Sherwood brings out the emotional maturity of George. He has had confusion about love in his childhood. However, in this story, he displays sophistication as he spends time with Helen. He displays the maturity he feels from deep inside. George has gotten over all the anxieties of being young. The emotional maturity he attained gives him freedom. Even as he leaves Winesburg, George does not have any emotional attachment with Helen. He is ready to start a new love life out in the world. He is past the infatuation of youth and he realizes that he needs something more realistic. There is an aspect of competition among peers displayed in some stories. It is evident that George does not have healthy relationships with his peers. In the story, `the thinker’, Sherwood brings out the immaturity in George. In a conversation with his friend Seth, he declared that he had set his eyes on Helen White. It appears that George realized that the two had feelings for each other and did this intentionally to hurt Seth (Dunne, 54). Such is the reasoning of young boys as they grow up. On the other hand, Seth considers George, a fool who does not deserve Helen. If George had been mature, he would have handled this issue differently. In the story, ` An Awakening’, George is in a conflict with his peer Ed over Belle. Ed hit George to keep him away from the woman. In a different story, `Queer’, Sherwood describes the opinion of George’s peers through Elmer (Dunne, 57). Elmer, a stranger in Winesburg feels that George has never experienced the suffering he has. Elmer has faced condemnation from society. The writer uses Elmer and Seth to expose the immaturity of George. George is immature and boasts of his achievement expecting to earn respect from people. He displays the same attitude when he addresses Helen his girlfriend and bragging about what he would become in the future.He is different from the other young people because he works and is making money. However, all people confide in him. Despite his immaturity, he knows the real life situations in Winesburg. When his mother dies, reality dawns on George. He makes up his mind that he should seek more opportunities. George gives an ear to anyone who wants to open up and tell his or her story. It is not clear why everyone found it easy to confide in George. He got the opportunity to understand the realities in the lives of different people. He understood the cause of all the alienation and loneliness in their lives. These experiences contributed greatly to the maturation of George. The stories of other people made him realize that life is full of vanity at times. Life could treat some individuals unfairly and deny them everything they have always wanted. Most of the people in Winesburg lived to tell of disappointment. They had no achievement to show. The people open up the emptiness of their lives to George. George sets out to leave the small town to the outside world. He is finally prepared to face the realities in the wild world (Anderson, 212). It is time to leave behind the village mediocrity. From his father’s advice, he works hard not to look green. As he boards the train to leave, he is not nostalgic of the major things. His girlfriend does not come to bid him goodbye but it does not matter any more. George Willard is now a mature man who is going out to the world in search of opportunities for self-growth. He knows that life will not be easy; he is bound to meet more challenges. The readiness to face these new challenges indicates a transition from a young boy to manhood. He is ready to walk down the path to independence. Every thing that happened in his hometown will be but a background on which he will lay the foundation blocks of a new life. According to Jameson, Sherwood describes all the experiences that transform the boy in George to a man ready to pursue independence. Circumstances in the life of George portray the real life situation of young people in that era. Like any other person, George faces disillusionment with love and romance at first. He lacks the sophistication to address relationships at first. As a result, he finds himself in awkward situations at time. He lets lust drive him and when he realizes that all these were signs of immaturity, he decides to leave everything behind. Sherwood effectively describes the progression of young people growing in a society full of unhappiness. When George leaves Winesburg, it is the end of the story. He is optimistic that he will make it out in the world. Work Cited Anderson, Sherwood and Boyd, Ernest. Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life. South Carolina: BiblioBazaar. 2010. Print. Anderson, Sherwood. Winesburg Ohio. South Carolina: BiblioBazaar. 2008. Print. Dunne, Robert. A new book of the grotesques: contemporary approaches to Sherwood Anderson's early fiction. Ohio: Kent State University . 2005. Print. Howe, Irving. Sherwood Anderson: Winesburg, Ohio. Web 12 Dec. 2011. Jameson, Will. Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson. WW Norton & Cob Ltd 1996. Web 12 Dec. 2011. Read More