Hands By Sherwood Anderson Analysis

In “Hands” by Sherwood Anderson, a man named Wing Biddlebaum lives isolated from everyone in the town. Nobody knows much about Wing because for the time he has lived in this town in Ohio, he does not get out much or talked to people. Wing only speaks closely to George Willard, who is a news reporter. Wing would look forward to the times George would come over in the evening. Wing used his hands a lot when talking and when he noticed himself using his hands he would hide them. George always wanted to ask why he always restrained his hands, but never did. One evening when Wing was telling George how he should act for himself, and follow his own dreams, the story about his hands was revealed. Wing was previously a teacher live in Pennsylvania by the name Adolf Myers. He always using his hands to speak and caress the student’s shoulder and hair. One young boys parent found out he was touching his child and

All the people in the town no longer wanted him living there, so they decide to chase him out of town. Furthermore, he ended up going to a family members house in Ohio, which is how he ended up settling in the town he is in now. The themes switch back and forth between loneliness and isolation to being connected. In the beginning, the narrator tells us that Wing Biddlebaum “did not think of himself as in any way a part of the life of the town where he had lived for twenty years” (p.755). This example shows that loneliness and isolation do take place in the story and it has been like this for the passed twenty years. Wing has isolated himself from the rest of the people in the town and does not care to take part in the community around him. Although the people in the town are unsure about him, due to stories they may have heard. He does have one close friend name George Willard, who is a new reporter. George would sometimes stop by in the evening to talk to Wing. Bringing George into the