On Sherwood Anderson's Character Creation In His Short Stories

Sherwood Anderson is a controversial figure in the history of literature. And ever since he published his first novel Windy Mcpherson's Son, criticism has begun to follow him. Nowadays, study on him and his works is still on the rise, which generally revolves around the following aspects, that is, Anderson's position and influence in American Literature, his belonging in literature trend, theme of his works and writing techniques Anderson adopts in his writings. And since the 1960s, re-examination became revaluation in the hopes of achieving a balanced understanding of Anderson, of his work, of his relation to his times, of his role in the development of twentieth-century American literature. Critics now generally agree that Anderson is a significant figure in the transition time of American literature, and recognize him as a pioneer of modernism. It is now reasonably clear that Anderson was an innovator, making breakthroughs, particularly in short fiction, in form, theme, style and characterization.However, critical attention has not been focused sufficiently on Sherwood Anderson's characterization. Because Anderson is generally regarded as a short-story writer, and he has formed his own characteristics in characterization in his short stories, the thesis focuses on his character creation in his four collections of short stories, that is, Winesburg, Ohio (1919), The Triumph of the Egg (1921), Horses and Men (1923), and Death in the Woods (1933).In order to study thoroughly Anderson's characterization in short stories, the paper analyzes the following aspects one by one: characters and...