An Awakening By Sherwood Anderson Analysis

Author Sherwood Anderson, in “An Awakening”, a chapter from his novel Winesburg, Ohio, narrates the story of George Willard, who believes he is becoming a man at first but experiences a true “awakening” from his egotistical life when Ed, the man Belle truly loves, doesn’t even consider an equal and deems him unworthy to fight. “An Awakening” signifies the awakening of George from his ego, and how he awoke from his false reality. The author wanted his readers to belie the love Belle holds for Ed stems from her childhood of and abusive father. Belle, while in love with Ed, was unsure that she could have control over him with his past experiences with mistresses so she decides to relieve this stress by going out with George to make Ed jealous.

The title is representative of Georges two awakenings in the chapter: first when he discovers his grotesque, and the latter when he disassociates from it because he is humiliated. On a night wandering through Winesburg the he imagines himself scolding his peers about not being orderly enough, then he drops that role and begins to reflect, "In every little thing there must be order . . . I myself must be orderly” (170-171). In an earlier chapter, “Nobody Knows”, George had, "…stood perfectly still in the darkness, attentive, listening as though for a voice…"(43). In “An Awakening,” he feels "…some voice outside of himself had been talking…"(171). As he continues to walk through Winesburg his thoughts become egotistical and romantic, whispering words with no meaning, “…death, … night, the sea, fear, loveliness…” (173). Hypnotized by his words he himself becomes a peddler of words. In “The Teacher” Kate Swift attempts to warn George of becoming a peddler of words by saying, “You must not