Grotesque In Soldier's Home

1190 Words5 Pages
2. Anderson’s notion of the grotesque does not concern a person who is physically deformed. Rather, it is a person who has experienced the loss of someone or something close, and as a result has many thoughts about the past. The hallucinations talked about in the first chapter of Winesburg, Ohio, the shadowy figures seen by an old man, are the physical embodiment of a grotesque. In terms of literature, a grotesque is a character who acts outlandish because they do not act like how they are supposed to. Their actions may or may not be because they cannot acquire what they desire. A character in Winesburg, Ohio who personifies the idea of the grotesque is Jesse Bentley. One explanation as to why he became the way he did is because all of his brothers were killed in the Civil War, and his mother died soon after. The latter death affects him the most, as his mother was the only one in his family who understood him. Jesse’s grotesqueness in his older years stems from selfishness. Since he has suffered, he wants to make those around him suffer as well. Though he blames God for the death of his family members, he is obsessed with the Old Testament. This fascination, coupled with…show more content…
The accusations above come from how he sees women romantically. In another aspect, the story is not sexist because he has a strong bond with his sister Helen and his mother. The war has caused him to act both indifferent and harsh towards them, but his actions have to do with his experience, not with gender. Krebs has awkward, but sometimes positive talks with his mother and is sweet towards his sister. Though the story does not depict women in a great way, it is not always necessarily hateful towards women. One section of “Soldier’s Home” is blatantly misogynistic, but that does mean the overall theme and content in the story is
Show More
Related

  • Trench Warfare Research Paper

    825 Words  | 4 Pages

    The times of World War One were very grim for all. The death toll of this horrific event in history has been estimated at about 10,000,000 people, all fighting for what they believed in; for what they believed to be just. Responsible for many of these gruesome deaths was a new war tactic, known as trench warfare. Trench warfare, a type of combat in which opposing troops fight from trenches facing each other, was a ruthless system of warfare in which mass death, disease, and constant terror among

    Read More

  • Cold War Film Impact

    3784 Words  | 16 Pages

    suffered losses by the closing off of certain European territories, war shortages, regulations and war-related disasters. Shrewd studio leaders understood the long-term value of the war. Unlike European film companies, the US studios enjoyed an unimpaired home market and predicted a decline in film imports as a result of the

    Read More

More about Grotesque In Soldier's Home

Open Document