Adventure

- Sherwood Anderson -

Teacher’s script edition

I. Author and Works

a. Author
- Sherwood Anderson was an American novelist and short story writer who
lived from September 13, 1876, to March 8, 1941. He was self-taught and
worked his way up to success as a copywriter and company owner in Cleveland
and Elyria, Ohio. After experiencing a nervous breakdown in 1912, Anderson
decided to give up his business and family in order to pursue writing. He later
relocated to Chicago and got married three more times after that.
- His writing style was naturalism, which could be said to have a big influence
on some of the most renowned American writers including Ernest Hemingway,
William Faulkner and John Steinbeck.
b. Works
- His works include novels, short stories, poetry, drama, non- fiction, and are
renowned for being subjective and autobiographical
- Anderson produced a number of short story collections, novels, memoirs,
books of essays, and a book of poetry throughout the 1920s. He wrote in a
variety of literary genres, especially his short stories in: Ohio's Winesburg. The
short-story collection Winesburg, Ohio, which launched his career, is his most
famous piece of writing. The plot of the piece revolves around the life of the
protagonist George Willard, from his early years as a child to his eventual
separation from Winesburg as a young adult. It takes place in the fictional town
of Winesburg, Ohio.

II. Summary (Video)

- It tells the story of Alice, who had been in love with Ned Currie when she was
sixteen. They had to stay apart when Ned went away to find a job in the city.

- Alice had wished that she could go with him, but Ned’s denial and his promise to
come back kept her stay.

- Ned's life does not proceed exactly as planned as he couldn’t get that job. He moved
to another place and soon forgot about Alice after he met other females.
- Alice, “the girl who had been loved”, remained hopeful that Ned will return to marry
her.

- She refused other men, believing that she still belonged to Ned, despite her growing
loneliness and fear that he would never return.

- She joined regular meetings at a church to hold hope upon life. As time goes on and
the feeling of loneliness settles in, she chose to move on and have relationships with
people clearly interested in her to avoid being alone.

- Then there's the adventure, in which Alice's boldness and desire to live to the fullest,
leads to a moment of running naked in the rain into the night and approaching the
closest man she could find.

- Tragically, he couldn’t hear her plea and left her alone. She ended up accepting that
she is one of the “many people who must live and die alone.”

III. Settings

- Time: The story happened in the 19th century and tells the story of a girl in 11 years.
The time phrases like “in the spring”, “during the fall” to suggest how time vagule
goes by.

- Place: A small town Winesburg - Ohio (a group of related fictitious short stories
from the early 20th century that center on residents of a small town)

- Physical environment:

+ Wine Creek: the last place they met each other in Winesburg, romantic scenery
when they shared the promise with each other: the dim light, the high moon, the
running along the meadow, only Ned did not remember.

+ Cleveland and Chicago: they are all big cities, Ned encountered full of new
interesting things => “was caught up by the life of the city; he began to make friends
and found new interests in life”, places where Alice could not go. This was the time
when the bond between them is challenged

+ Winesburg Methodist Church: “Alice joined the church because she had become
frightened by the loneliness of her position in life”, then she met Will Harley and
started a new relationship

+ To ease the missing of her lover, Alice took up weaving: the loom she bought, the
money she saved up trying to get to her lover.
+ In the rain: desperate actions of running and yelling. She tried to get back into her
life but to no avail.

- Social environment:

The tradition of the 19th century emphasizes the relationship of single women, they
should be faithful to the first lover and should not keep in touch with any other man.

In Winsburg: “many people must live and die alone”, they hardly could change their
old style of living.

IV. Point of view (Narrator)

- Sherwood Anderson's Adventure is told in third person unlimited omniscient

by an unidentified narrator. Many people wonder why Sherwood Anderson
doesn't let Alice tell her story, it will be more realistic and reveal her true
feelings.

“Alice took a pillow into her arms and held it tightly against her breasts. Getting out
of bed, she arranged a blanket so that in the darkness it looked like a form lying
between the sheets and, kneeling beside the bed, she caressed it, whispering words
over and over, like a refrain. “Why doesn’t something happen? Why am I left here
alone?” she muttered”

- He chose the third person omniscient for “Adventure” because it helps the plot
to be conveyed by an objective point of view of the person who witnessed the
story. The narrator enters the mind of any character and shares their thoughts
and emotions with the reader. The narrator can perfectly understand what is
going on in the story and in the characters minds

“One of them attracted his attention and he forgot Alice in Winesburg. At the end of a
year he had stopped writing letters, and only once in a long time, when he was lonely
or when he went into one of the city parks and saw the moon shining on the grass as it
had shone that night on the meadow by Wine Creek, did he think of her at all. “

=> Besides, by getting a deeper insight into the thoughts of both characters and
revealing upcoming events, it helps Anderson's story reveal more empathy for both
characters than just Alice or Ned. The author's clever way of choosing the narrator has
helped the reader to know the feelings and circumstances of all the characters in the
story.
V. Characters and Characterization

Alice Hindman: tall and slight, large head, stooped shoulder, brown eyes and hair,
pretty, quiet, a woman who desired to be loved. The author has indirectly described,
through her actions, her inner thoughts, her speech and relationships throughout the
four stages of her life.

Protagonist, Round, Dynamic

- Beginning:
+ Relationship: Alice and Ned became lovers “They got out of the buggy
at a place where a long meadow ran down to the bank of Wine Creek
and there in the dim light became lovers”
+ Speech:
● Alice adored Ned and wanted to be there for him, whether he married
her or not. She said: “I do not want to harness you to a needless expense
that will prevent you from making progress. Don’t marry me now. We
will get along without that and we can be together. Even though we live
in the same house no one will say anything. In the city we will be
unknown and people will pay no attention to us.”
- After Ned left Winesburg:
+ Actions:
● For a number of years, Alice tried to find her lover in the city and tried
to win back his affections. But then, she feared that Ned wouldn’t come
back, she “began to save money,.. would follow her lover to the city and
try if her presence would not win back his affections.”
● She kept longing for him to come back for 6 years, and was a constant
lover from the beginning. She did not blame Ned for leaving and she
still didn’t fall “Alice did not blame Ned Currie for what had happened
in the moonlight in the field, but felt that she could never marry another
man”
● As time passed, Alice grew very lonely, she “began to practice the
devices common to lonely people.”. She would have died of grief , she
missed Ned so much, the loneliness was around her, she “went upstairs
into her own room she knelt on the floor to pray and in her prayers
whispered things she wanted to say to her lover. She became attached to
inanimate objects, and because it was her own, could not bare to have
anyone touch the furniture of her room”
● She was really stuck on her boyfriend, she “waited and dreamed of her
lover’s return”
 ● Realized that she was no longer young and beautiful, and at that moment
Alice found out that she was betrayed. She “did not blame Ned Currie
and did not know what to blame.” But after all the pain and
disappointment Alice had been handling when she knew that Ned never
came back, she still did not blame him, for tossing her aside or taking
her virginity.
+ Inner thoughts:
● Alice believed she could never marry another man, she thought that
“giving to another what she still felt could belong only to Ned seemed
monstrous.”
● She thought she was Ned’s wife“I am his wife and shall remain his wife
whether he comes back or not”
● “Ned always liked to travel about,” she thought. “I’ll give him the
chance. Some day when we are married and I can save both his money
and my own, we will be rich. Then we can travel together all over the
world.”
● She remembered the times she had strolled with Ned Currie and what
he had said “We will have to stick to each other now.”
● “Oh, Ned, I am waiting,” she whispered over and over
● She knew her youth had passed her by, fearful that Ned might not
return.“It is not going to come to me. I will never find happiness. Why
do I tell myself lies?
+ Relationship:
● She didn’t want to have an affair with another man, she had none but
Ned“When other young men tried to attract her attention she would
have nothing to do with them”
- When Alice was 25: “things happened to disturb the dull uneventfulness of
her days.” Therefore, she began to struggle psychologically to get out of her
loneliness.
+ Actions:
● “Alice joined the church because she had become frightened by the
loneliness of her position in life.”
+ Inner thoughts:
● She looked at her self and thought that “I am becoming old and queer. If
Ned comes he will not want me.”
● When Will Hurley wanted to walk with her, she didn’t refuse but she
would not “let him make a practice of being” with her because she
“still determined in her loyalty to Ned Currie.”
● There were times when she wanted to sit with Will on the night in front
of the house, but internally she insisted that: “It is not him that I want”
 + Relationship: When she realized that “As time passed and she became
more and more lonely”, Will Hurley came and wished to heal her soul.
This relationship has the potential to grow if Alice accepts to open her
heart.
- When Alice was 27

+ Actions:

● Alice was alone, trying to avoid being alone “took a pillow into her
arms and held it tightly against her breasts. Getting out of bed, she
arranged a blanket so that in the darkness it looked like a form lying
between the sheets and, kneeling beside the bed, she caressed it”
● She accompanied the drug clerk. But it didn’t work out. Alice’s desire to
be loved became unclear. “She could not bear to be in the company of
the drug clerk”
● “She no longer depended on him” … “she did not want Ned Currie or
any other man”
● Her desire for love impulse that prompted her to have the “adventure”:
“She wanted to be loved, to have something answer the call that was
growing louder and louder within her”

7. What do you understand by ‘something’ in paragraph 20?

Paragraph 20: During the early fall of her twenty-seventh year a passionate
restlessness took possession of Alice. She could not bear to be in the company of the
drug clerk, and when, in the evening, he came to walk with her she sent him away.
Her mind became intensely active and when, weary from the long hours of standing
behind the counter in the store, she went home and crawled into bed, she could not
sleep. With staring eyes she looked into the darkness. Her imagination, like a child
awakened from long sleep, played about the room. Deep within her there was
something that would not be cheated by phantasies and that demanded some definite
answer from life”

In my opinion, "something" in this case means Alice’s complex mind. It means

although love blinds her, she gradually learns she is being duped. Her emotions are
manipulated, but her mind is not. She is having difficulty accepting this tedious long
distance romance. At that moment, nothing in Alice's world makes her believe in love.
She would come back to reality only after receiving her expected response.

* Adventure:

+ Actions:
 ● She had a strange desire to go outside, then in the rain, she ran naked
through the street “she ran downstairs through the dark house and out
into the rain.”
● She didn't care about anything else that prevented her from being
adored. “She wanted to leap and run, to cry out, to find some other
lonely human and embrace him”
● Desire to be loved by someone she could find on the street, to embrace
him. Turned out it was a deaf old man who she found. “without
stopping to consider the possible result of her madness, called softly”
● She came back home, sat on the floor and quivered: “Alice dropped to
the ground and lay trembling.”
● She was terrified and startled by what she had done. “She was so
frightened”; “When she got into bed she buried her face in the pillow
and wept brokenheartedly.”
● Alice forced her to be on her own, till the end of her life: “turning her
face to the wall, began trying to force herself to face bravely the fact
that many people must live and die alone, even in Winesburg.”
+ Inner thoughts:
● “Why doesn’t something happen? Why am I left here alone?”
● For the first time in ten years, Alice felt the exhilaration and boldness of
youth. “She thought that the rain would have some creative and
wonderful effect on her body. Not for years had she felt so full of youth
and courage.”
● When she saw a man, she didn't care who he was, she thought “What do
I care who it is. He is alone, and I will go to him,”
● She was shocked since she was the polar opposite of ordinary Alice.
“What is the matter with me? I will do something dreadful if I am not
careful,”
+ Speech:
● “Wait!” she cried. “Don’t go away. Whoever you are, you must wait.”

Ned Currie, older than Alice, co- employee, and is Alice’s lover. He decided to leave
hometown and pursue his career in Chicago. He gave her too many promises about the
dream future but he forgot. He only takes good care of himself. Therefore, the author
indirectly describes Ned through his actions, inner thoughts, speech, and relationship.

Antagonist, Round, dynamic:

- Beginning:
+ Actions:
 ● When he worked at the Winesburg Eagle, “for a long time he went to
see Alice almost every evening.”
● He “took her into his arms and kissed her” and “became excited and
said things he did not intend to say”.
● He didn’t want Alice to follow him to Chicago because “He wanted to
protect and care for her.”
+ Inner thoughts:
● “Ned Currie was puzzled by the determination and abandon of his
sweetheart and was also deeply touched.”
+ Speech:
● He refused her proposal and promised that “As soon as I get a good job
I’ll come back.”
● And then, he said goodbye to Alice with a sweet promise that “Now we
will have to stick to each other, whatever happens we will have to do
that”.
=> Through Ned's actions, inner thoughts and speech before leaving
Winesburg, the author makes us think that he is a sweet and trustworthy man.
However, life is not like a dream because it's all just his lip service.
- Next:
+ Actions:
● At first, “For a time he was lonely and wrote to Alice almost every
day.”
● “Then he was caught up by the life of the city; he began to make friends
and found new interests in life.”
● Finally, when he forgot Alice, “... he had stopped writing letters”.
+ Relationship:
● “In Chicago he boarded at a house where there were several women.
One of them attracted his attention and he forgot Alice in Winesburg.”
=> Through his actions and relationship when he was at the new city, the
author has pointed out that Ned is a bad man, irresponsible and unfaithful because he
broke all promises to his lover and left her in the new city.

Question 2: Alice & Ned’s love ended up in a break-up although it was never
so openly declared. Explain.

From the point of no more letters being sent, Alice also tried to move on
although she missed him profoundly. This also reminds me of a film I watched
recently called “Dear John” by Nicholas Spark in which the two main characters, John
and Samantha, were also separated by the distance and the girl in the end wrote a
letter with the words “Dear John” to express she’d moved on with her life and didn’t
send anymore letter. The letters in both cases were the bridge that connects the two
together so they started to lose each other when there was no more letter. That’s why
their break-up had never been declared.
Therefore, Ned Curried is a dynamic character because he changed his mind
and forgot Alice after all. And he is a flat character because, from the beginning of
the story, the author makes it clear to us that Ned is an ambitious man. He dreamed of
a life in Chicago while he was still chasing Alice.

VI. Plot

- Conflict:

+ The internal conflict of the main character. It is about Alice’s deep affection
and loyalty towards Ned versus the desire to be loved.
+ The external conflict exists between the character Alice and society because
she acted like she wanted to erase the prejudice that society has set. “And then
one night when it rained Alice had an adventure” and she would like to take off
her clothes to run in the night rain.

The 19th century women had to face discrimination. Even though they were able to
work and earn money, they were expected to stay at home and fulfill their role as a
housewife. Meanwhile, the sixteen girl, Alice wanted to break the traditional rule by
persuading Ned to take her with him, insisting on making a living instead of
depending on Ned for financial support: “I will work and you can work”, “I do not
want to harness you to a needless expense that will prevent your making progress.”

Women were also forced to keep herself for her future husband. However, Alice gave
it to Ned when she was just sixteen, the age at which was considered immature
enough for such conduct.

She wanted them to live together, without marriage and under legal age, and assumed
that “no one will say anything”, “In the city we will be unknown and people will pay
no attention to us.”

*Exposition:

- Alice was a twenty-seven woman, who had been living in Winesburg with her
mother and with a step father worked as a carriage painter.

- When Alice was sixteen, she had a romantic relationship with Ned Currie.

“Together the two walked under the trees through the streets of the town and talked of
what they would do with their lives.”
*Rising action:
- Ned went away with hopes of getting “a place on a city newspaper” and succeeding
in life.

- Ned Currie promised to come back for Alice and took her with him. “You don’t
know what you’re talking about,”; “you may be sure I’ll let you do no such thing. As
soon as I get a good job I’ll come back. For the present you’ll have to stay here. It’s
the only thing we can do.” However, he was soon fascinated by the city life. He forgot
his sweetheart in his hometown. “he forgot Alice in Winesburg. At the end of a year
he had stopped writing letters”

- Alice continued to wait for him and isolated herself from the others.

- She came to terms with the reality that Ned wouldn't return “For a number of years
nothing could have induced her to believe that Ned Currie would not in the end return
to her.”; “Alice did not blame Ned Currie for what had happened in the moonlight in
the field, but felt that she could never marry another man”. She would have to adapt
to living and dying alone in Winesburg.

- Time flew, Alice’s loneliness grew stronger and she became obsessed with
inanimate objects.

Question 4: What did Alice do to lessen her loneliness? Did it work?

She busied herself with work to make her day less long and dull.

Time passed, she became more lonely and began to “practice the devices common
to lonely people.”

At night, when she was in her room, she “knelt on the floor to pray ... whispering
things she wanted to say to her lover”

She became obsessed with inanimate objects, “could not bear to have anyone touch
the furniture of her room” and took saving money as a habit: “It became a fixed
habit, and when she needed new clothes she did not get them.”

She “spent hours dreaming impossible dreams” about her future with Ned.

One day when she could not bear the loneliness, she went into the wood.

Question 5: What are the impulses behind Alice’s visit to the lovers’ places in the
wood?
 Loneliness prompted Alice to visit the forest of love - where young couples used to
go “one day after he had been gone for two or three years and when her loneliness
seemed unbearable, she put on her best dress and set out”. A lonely girl in a beautiful
dress found a secluded place and looked at the town and the fields. The spring beauty
in Winesburg was so delightful that it captivated Alice. “The town lies in the midst of
open fields, but beyond the fields are pleasant patches of woodlands. In the wooded
places are many little cloistered nooks, quiet places where lovers go to sit on Sunday
afternoons”. Pleasant forest areas, where there are many trees and peaceful nooks.
Humans can not resist that beauty.

-She realized that she had passed the most beautiful and youthful period of her life.
For the very first time, she felt betrayed. “Dropping to her knees, she tried to pray,
but instead of prayers words of protest came to her lips.” “It is not going to come to
me. I will never find happiness. Why do I tell myself lies?” Since then, she formed a
habit of bravely facing the fear.

Question 4: What did Alice do to lessen her loneliness? Did it work?

After 9 years of waiting, she joined the local church and attended Sunday meetings of
The Epworld League “Alice joined the church because she had become frightened by
the loneliness of her position in life.” She tried to socialize with people in the hope of
lessening her loneliness.

She even arranged her blanket so that it looked like a human. On a rainy night of her
twenty- seven, she wanted to run wildly and grab a random man who appeared in front
of her: “What do I care who it is. He is alone, and I will go to him”

All the things she did could not decrease her missing Ned, instead caused her
loneliness to accumulate more day by day. In the end, she ended up impelling herself
to believe that many people - including her - had to be alone.

- Alice dated several times with Will Hurley, a middle-aged man when her dreams and
hopes were meaningless “Of course I will not let him make a practice of being with
me, but if he comes to see me once in a long time there can be no harm in that,” But
she didn't love him at all “It is not him that I want,”; “I want to avoid being so much
alone. If I am not careful I will grow unaccustomed to being with people.,”; “ She
could not bear to be in the company of the drug clerk, and when, in the evening, he
came to walk with her she sent him away” and her heart went elsewhere.

- She neither had any affection toward Ned or any other man. She just longed for love.
“She did not want Ned Currie or any other man. She wanted to be loved, to have
something answer the call that was growing louder and louder within her.”
- Not only did Alice block out the world around her but she may also be trapping
herself again. Having spent the last eleven years of her life waiting for Ned and then
for somebody to love her. She might remain alone and stuck in Winesburg.

- “when it rained Alice had an adventure”, A frenzied desire ran through Alice's body
on a rainy night when she was alone at home.

*Climax: Alice yearned to run outside naked, intending to find one random lonely
man to love

“Without stopping to think of what she intended to do, she ran downstairs through the
dark house and out into the rain. As she stood on the little grass plot before the house
and felt the cold rain on her body a mad desire to run naked through the streets took
possession of her.”

“She wanted to leap and run, to cry out, to find some other lonely human and
embrace him. On the brick sidewalk before the house a man stumbled home-ward.
Alice started to run. A wild, desperate mood took possession of her”

8. Give a psychological analysis of Alice’s adventure in the rain? How did she feel
in doing so?

The level of Alice's loneliness was intolerable. She wanted to leave the stuffy, dark
place she was now in. She no longer wished for Ned to leave her, but rather for love
and the satisfaction of receiving what she deserved after her youth had passed. She
expresses her need for escape by running into the street while completely naked in the
rain.

In my opinion, she does it because she thinks why should she tie herself up even
though she already knows the outcome is that her lover will never come back. She
now believes that there are numerous men out there that can make her happy. The rain
will refresh her soul and wash away her sorrow. She will let everything behind.

The moment she finds a man, she just wants to hold him close and doesn't care who he
is. This explains why she longed for someone by her side, she couldn't stand this
loneliness anymore. But instead of sprinting over to give that man a bear hug, she
paused, gave up, and went back home. This makes it clear that she is struggling
within. On the one hand, she wants to find a partner who will love and care for her.
Instead, she believed that this was merely a momentary activity before realizing that
she was becoming older.
It was just the moment that she broke out of reality. But then she realized that she
wouldn't be able to change that reality either, she would end up alone and dying in
Winesburg.

Falling action:

- She listened to her inner voice, then stopped, shouted “wait” and cried.
“without stopping to consider the possible result of her madness, called softly.
“Wait!” she cried. “Don’t go away. Whoever you are, you must wait.”
- The old man who was slightly deaf stopped and stood listening; he didn't hear
what Alice said. “The man on the sidewalk stopped and stood listening. He
was an old man and somewhat deaf. Putting his hand to his mouth, he shouted.
“What? What say?” he called. ”
- She was so terrified by what she had intended to do.

“Alice dropped to the ground and lay trembling. She was so frightened at the thought
of what she had done that when the man had gone on his way she did not dare get to
her feet, but crawled on hands and knees through the grass to the house”

“When she got into bed she buried her face in the pillow and wept brokenheartedly.
“What is the matter with me? I will do something dreadful if I am not careful,” she
thought”

Resolution: She gradually started to confront the fact that many people had to be
alone for their whole life, even in Winesburg “turning her face to the wall, began
trying to force herself to face bravely the fact that many people must live and die
alone, even in Winesburg.”

*Discussion between two professor:

Question 1: What would be your comment on the love story between Alice &
Ned? What do you think of Ned’s conduct with the girl? Does such conduct
have anything in common with the rituals & nature of love in your
community?

a. What would be your comment on the love story between Alice & Ned?

From the perspective of a reader as well as an outsider, I see their love story as
stubborn and foolish. If the character Alice in the story thought that she was a tolerant
and loyal person because she always waited for her lover to return and did not blame
him when she realized that her lover had changed, for me, I think that Alice's love is
blind. Many people may think that when they love someone, they are always waiting
for them to return and agree with the view that "a life of loving only one person is
enough". I think it's true when both sides are facing each other and are ready to
cultivate love for each other, and love is the driving force that helps both move
forward. However, when we love someone and feel that we or that person are
sacrificing too much for this relationship, that is not love. That is stupidity.

b. What do you think of Ned’s conduct with the girl? (Quân)

I think Ned's conduct is too impulsive and aggressive because he clearly hasn't
confirmed his feelings. He hastily said his love to Alice and also hastened the
relationship to "took her into his arms and kissed her". Then he made too many
promises about the future to Alice, saying, "You may be sure I'll let you do no such
thing. As soon as I get a good job, I'll come back". Finally, they fell in love in one
night on the banks of Wine Creek. However, it was all just his lip service. Ned has
failed to fulfill his promise. Therefore, Ned's conduct should be criticized and
prevented.

c. Does such conduct have anything in common with the rituals & nature of love in
your community?

In the past, our culture in Vietnam was “your parents put you where you sit there”.
Most of the love couples in the past were very pure and eternal. For example, like our
grandparents and parents, they all nurtured marriage to old age and rarely had a
change of heart. However, nowadays, it seems that due to the development of society
and because we are living in an integrated culture, the old culture has been greatly
degraded.

I think that the love of today's youth in my country has many similarities with the love
of Alice and Ned because they are also liberal and they easily make secret promises to
each other without taking responsibility. I think a progressive society is a good thing,
but don't let it affect our national cultural identity.

3. Alice’s attitude of forbearance & resignation makes some food for thought. Do
you agree?

Throughout the whole story, with how the author had constructed the image of Alice
with such characteristics, we could clearly see the vivid image of a maiden whose
lover is taken away by the glamor of the city. Her attitudes merely depict her fantasy
of true love, woven around her whole concept of having a man that would treasure her
through the end of the world. Some might put her in the position of stubborness and
selfishness, only keeping the thoughts of that impractical true love. However, after all,
all she did was pursuing what she deemed as the best for her. This invokes sympathy
from deep within the readers and the author himself as through Alice’s actions, we
could withdraw an idea of if one let fantasizing cloud one’s ability of realizing the
harsh reality, the outcome would be catastrophic, same with how Alice had run naked
in the middle of night only to search for a man to love.

6. Comment on the brief relationship between Alice & Will Hurley, the store clerk.
Do you think this grows out of her desire to renew her contacts with the outside
world?

What can be inferred from the relationship about Alice & Will is that it’s just like a
friendship, Will was simply a companion to her and it can’t be called love. Because
Alice became too lonely and she couldn’t bear it, she thought of Will as a replacement
for Ned at that time, but she still consistently bore in mind that she was Ned’s spouse.
Yes, I absolutely agree with the statement, Alice does desire to renew her contacts
with the outside world “I want to avoid being so much alone. If I am not careful I will
grow unaccustomed to being with people.” But now the woman, Alice, eleven years
later, couldn’t let the thinking of being with Ned Currie go.

VII. Figurative language, irony and symbolism

1. Figurative Language:

a. Simile:

1. “He, like George Willard, was employed on the Winesburg Eagle and for a long
time he went to see Alice almost every evening.”

=> Comparison between Ned and George.

2. “At the end of a year he had stopped writing letters, and only once in a long time,
when he was lonely or when he went into one of the city parks and saw the moon
shining on the grass as it had shone that night on the meadow by Wine Creek, did he
think of her at all.”

=> Comparison between the moon shining on the grass and that night on the meadow
by Wine Creek.

3. “In the town bells ring and occasionally a train passes, looking like a toy thing in
the distance.”

=> Comparison between a train passes and a toy thing in the distance.

4. “Her imagination, like a child awakened from long sleep, played about the room.”

=> A comparison to describe her imagination.

5. “Getting out of bed, she arranged a blanket so that in the darkness it looked like a
form lying between the sheets and, kneeling beside the bed, she caressed it,
whispering words over and over, like a refrain.”

=> A comparison to describe the arrangement of the blanket and her action.

b. Metaphor:

1. “The outer crust of her life, all of her natural diffidence and reserve, was torn
away and she gave herself over to the emotions of love.”

=> “outer crust”, “natural diffidence and reserve”. The author used the image of a
crust with natural diffidence and reserve that is used to a hard layer that forms on the
outside of something to express Alice conceals her feelings behind her quiet, she's an
introvert person.

c. Personification:

1. “Then he was caught up by the life of the city; he began to make friends and found
new interests in life.”

=> Using an activity of humans (caught) to describe the action of life.

2. “Dropping to her knees, she tried to pray, but instead of prayers words of protest
came to her lips.”

=> Using an activity of humans (protest) to describe the prayer's words.

3. “Her imagination, like a child awakened from long sleep, played about the room.”

=> Using an activity of humans (play) to describe Alice’s imagination.

4. “A long meadow ran down to the bank of Wine Creek and there in the dim light.”

=> Using an activity of human (run) to describe the long sweep of meadow

=> Using an activity of humans (lie) to show the location of the town instead of using
the word (locate).

5. “A wild, desperate mood took possession of her.”

=> The author wants to emphasize a very bad mood, she seemed to be devastated. It
had been growing inside of Alice every single day, and now it was big and strong
enough to cover her. She couldn’t bear this mood and she wanted to escape.
6. “For a moment she stood by the window hearing the rain beat against the glass
and then a strange desire took possession of her.”

=> Use an activity of an human to show the action of the rain

2. Irony

Dramatic Irony

When acknowledging that Ned were to leave Winesburg and seeing Alice offer to go
with him:

“I will work and you can work”

“I do not want to harness you to a needless expense that will prevent you from
making progress. Don’t marry me now. We will get along without that and we can
be together. Even though we live in the same house no one will say anything. In
the city we will be unknown and people will pay no attention to us.”

We can somehow predict that she would be the kind of woman who is only loyal to
her first love. After several years suffering from loneliness, Alice was still dedicated
to Ned and did not blame him for anything. As expected, she ended up burying herself
deeper in loneliness by forcing her mind to believe that she was among the people
who were destined to be alone, even in Winesburg.

3. Symbolism:

The first one, the character Alice, represents the American woman in the 19th
century. It indicates that they were a part of a time when there was discrimination
against women. That is described by the sentence: “Her head was large and
overshadowed her body.” She longs and dreams a lot in her head and hopes a lot for
the life in her imagination instead of facing the harsh reality. The author has built the
image of Alice as a woman who represents the unequal life they have to endure and
shows sympathy for those unfortunate lives. At the same time, writing about Alice is
like the author expressing his support for an equal life between men and women, as
well as showing a progressive way of thinking at that time in America. Then, in the
last scene of the story, when she ran naked through the streets, clothing serves as a
metaphor for traditional limitations and puritanical purported moral standards. Alice
lived a confined, stereotyped life, every day just like a life cycle. “Alice worked in the
dry goods store from eight in the morning until six at night and on three evenings a
week went back to the store to stay from seven until nine.” Now, loneliness has made
her want to get out of her comfort zone to do something new, at least break free from
the traditional rules she has endured. And her nakedness represents being ready to
face the current reality. It means she has accepted the fact that: “Many people must
live and die alone, even in Winesburg.” And the second one, the rain in the evening
of the day when Alice had an adventure, represents rebirth because when Alice
basked in the rain, it was like a person being purified by the rain and experiencing a
new rebirth. “She thought that the rain would have some creative and wonderful
effect on her body.” It seems that this is the time when Alice yearns to revive her life
more than ever. She knew that she could no longer hide from reality. It's time for
Alice to erase Ned from her life. That’s because water is the source of life for all
living things, and rain helps support and encourage life on Earth. Therefore, the author
uses the rain on Alice's adventure day as a reminder that when we feel sad or
disappointed, the rain will come to revive our souls again. The last one, Alice's
adventures symbolize a breakthrough of self. For the first time, Alice dares to break
the old rules to do something crazy “desire to run naked through the streets took
possession of her.” She wanted to be herself, she wanted to get rid of all social
prejudices and eliminate inequality in society at that time.

VIII. Theme and Haiku

1. Theme:

Pursuing true love is a noble thought, but blindly doing so could end up very badly for
one.

2. Haiku:

1. Where is happiness?

She spent time looking for it

Well, just loneliness!

2. She had a sweet dream

About a future with him

But it's just a dream.

3. She's waiting for love

Though she knew there was no hope

She still wants true love.

4. Little does she know?

To Ned that being loyal

Once forgotten all.

5. They were so lovely.

When they walked under the trees,

Well, just hopelessly!

6. Her childhood sweetie

Left her empty and lonely

With their memory.

7. She slumped lifelessly.

Neither hope nor certainty.

Was he that worthy?