Reinforcement By Wendell Berry Dismemberment Sparknotes

Dismemberment, a short story written by Wendell Berry, highlights the physical and emotional hardships of Andy, the protagonist, when he loses his hand to a corn picker. The story follows Andy’s emotions, relationships, and struggles when adjusting to living with one hand. The tone throughout is uncertain, which mirrors Andy’s feelings on changing his lifestyle to fit his new ailment. Wendell Berry himself, a farmer who views industrialization as a threat to the “simple life,” based a lot of this story off of his own personal thoughts on the mechanizing world. Throughout the short story he teaches his audience the importance of support from friends and perseverance in what you believe in.
When I initially read “Dismemberment”, I thought that

I pieced together that “dismemberment” meant removing a “member” of his body, his hand. My primary feeling when reading this piece was frustration because the grammar of the piece is very convoluted. For example, Berry explains, “He would not get over the loss of his hand, as of course he was plentifully advised to do, simply because he was advised to do it, or simply even because he wanted and longed to do it” (147). In addition, none of the characters were formally introduced into the story, which created a lot of confusion for me. I found many of his actions pathetic, such as trying to hammer with only one hand or put a saddle on a horse. As a major believer of recovering through rest, I believe that a lot of his mental ailments (“He began in a sort of dusk of self-sorrow and fury…” (147)), could have been solved through some time off to heal. I noticed that the characterization of Andy goes back and forth; one moment, “he got better” (148), and soon after he was experiencing, “self-pity and despair” (150). I’m assuming that this fluctuation

He was grieving, he was embarrassed, and he was angry. I couldn’t imagine losing a hand. I began to feel pity for Andy, however my frustration with the piece still continued. I noticed that in the beginning of the story, Berry characterized Andy as strongly opposed to the rapidly mechanizing world, however in the middle of the story, the author described Andy laying awake at night, unable to sleep, “trying to piece himself whole by mechanical contrivances and devices,” (148). If Andy was so opposed to mechanization, why would he be imagining and inventing new technology? When I shared this thought with my group, I was surprised that I was the only one to catch this juxtaposition. In addition to that, I was confused about why Andy refused to ask for help when he clearly needed it. Berry described him as having, “extreme embarrassment,” which I can understand, however his friends were extremely supportive and helpful to him, so why wouldn’t he accept their help? Berry explains, “they made him one with them, by no acknowledgement at all, by not crediting at all his own sense that he had ever not been one of them” (150). The support that Andy’s friends provided him was vital to his emotional healing and reestablishment in his community. I realized that the title, “Dismemberment,” in addition to being literally about losing his hand, maybe symbolized Andy ostracizing