Making Our Own Choices.

     In, Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson, many words are used frequently to show Anderson's opinion on learning and making mistakes. One of the very first words that I noticed repeating a lot was "grotesque" (11). Now when I read or hear the word "grotesque" I bobble about it. I mainly think of something that is gross and something that one would grimace at. But Anderson's use completely baffled me beyond normal baffilization- if that's an actual word. The grotesques are "all of the men and women the writer had ever known" but "were not all horrible...some almost beautiful" (5). Come again. Say what. Soo it's something in between not quite horrible yet not quite beautiful. Thanks, Anderson that's really helpful. But as I kept reading, I started thinking about the people he is talking about. The people make mistakes when they are "young" (4) and learn from them. Another popular word: "young". The grotesques are young. They are learning what they should do, and what they shouldn't. In "Adventure," Ned Currie, "the young man" is seeing Alice Hindman but he's not fully committed to her. He said things "he did not intend to" (103) which causes Alice to fall more in love with him only to get her heart broken. Alice becomes a grotesque because she learns from her mistake of waiting for Ned to return home after he has moved to the big city and has stopped writing letters. Big mistake, Alice. Big mistake. She lost her youth! After Ned she moves to "a middle-aged" fellow. Clearly, she has grown up. She's no longer young. She's lost her ability to not become a grotesque. Ok, random question. If being a grotesque means you have made a mistake and learned from it, doesn't that mean that everyone is a grotesque?? I don't know. Just a little side plank to think about. Going back to the word "young," later on in the novel, a "young reporter" aka George Williard, is learning from Enoch Robinson. Anderson is connecting the characters to show they are all once young and innocent. However, that innocence doesn't last forever. When George is talking to Enoch, Anderson writes, "The old man dropped into a chair...'I thought it might be a good idea to tell you but it isn't" (176). Enoch is going to warn the young George Williard of what is going to happen and what to do and not to do. But if he does, George won't learn. He will, but he won't for himself. He will be wondering how things could have been different. Anderson is commenting on how when other people give advice on what to do and not to do, someone doesn't truly learn. I mean yes they learn and get the idea, but there's always the wonder of what if. What if I did go to that party? What if I did get those boots? What if I went to a thirteen dollar movie instead of buying my sister's birthday present? What if. We all have to learn for ourselves. We can learn from others but it's not implanted into our brains.