Hannah Gandelman
April.9, 2014
ENC1102
Literary Analysis on Hands by Sherwood Anderson The short story Hands by Sherwood Anderson is one of the twenty-two stories in the book Winesburg, Ohio. This story specifically focuses on the psychological trauma of a teacher after being falsely accused of molesting his male students. This alone brings up the topics of homosexuality and sex, which was considered scandalous at the time it was published in 1919.Although this is true, it did not stop the public from finding this piece of literature as fascinating. In Hands, Anderson’s form of symbolism, narration, and themes are what make this piece modern and unique. Anderson’s use of symbolism to help convey the meaning of the story is what keeps the reader interested and at the same time emotionally attached. Wing’s hands are the first and most obvious symbol of the entire story. They were first a source of inspiration and respect in town, but these same hands are the reasoning for his downfall, “They became his distinguishing feature, the source of his fame. Also they made more grotesque an already grotesque and elusive individuality” (250,251). Wing’s hands were his tools of communicating emotionally and literally, especially with his students. In the story Anderson states, “By the caress that was in his fingers he expressed himself”(252). Wing believed that by his touch he was instilling dreams into the minds of these young boys, “…the stroking of the shoulders and the touching of the hair were a part of the school master’s effort to carry a dream into the young minds”(252). This belief no longer existed after the innocent touch was misinterpreted as an act of perversion, “For once he forgot the hands,” (251). By forgetting his hands were on the shoulder of George Willard, it demonstrates that Wings intentions are not evil; it’s just his way of teaching and showing