The Conflict in the Short Story Hands

A detailed Summary of The Conflict in the Short Story Hands

"Hands," by Sherwood Anderson, is a story that seems to be stripped of sentimentality, yet conveys emotion. Anderson tells the somber story of a misunderstood and wrongfully accused man. The protagonist, Wing Biddlebaum, failed to communicate his true self. His inner desires were repressed because conventions and tradition distorted and twisted them.

As mentioned before, the central character in "Hands" is Wing Biddlebaum. He is clearly a round character because he has more than one side to his personality throughout the story. Wing is dynamic because he makes a change from a kind, outgoing, enthusiastic teacher to a withdrawn, frightened person. For as much as Wing is described, there are still many aspects of his character that seem left out. Perhaps this is for interest.

Wing Biddlebaum, previously known as Adolph Meyers, is a teacher. He "was meant by nature to be a rare teacher of youth. He was one of those rare, little-understood men who rule by a power so gentle that it passes as a lovable weakness." Since his demeanor is not of the stereotypical man, macho and strong, teaching with force or fear, people are suspicious of him. "Hands" was written in 1919, and yet today in 2000 (81 years later) suspicion sur

It has already been established that Wing Biddlebaum feared society in general. Therefore, it is difficult to explain why Wing would speak to someone who belonged to the world that had hurt him, the world that he was not a member of. The only conclusion, which might be gathered, is that Wing's love for teaching was so great that he could not restrain himself from teaching a person who was willing to listen. This might suggest that Wing did not become completely cynical and untrusting after his experience. Furthermore, this would suggest that he had a large capacity to forgive.

It seems that George is also concerned with being like the other townspeople. At least the protagonist believed that George was destroying himself by trying to imitate the townspeople. It is also revealed that George has the ability to dream, but was afraid to do so. The price of these dreams would appear to be non-conformity: something that the reader has already seen punished in Wing.

Anderson, Sherwood. "Hands." 1919.

Wing is a very sad man. False accusations aside, he has always been misunderstood. Even before the tragedy, he was looked upon with skepticism. His occupation of teaching young boys was one that would have generally been carried out by a female. People could not understand why a male would choose such a life. It must have been depressing to always be misread. An onlooker not tainted with bias or stereotypes could easily see that it was the evil in their own hearts that made the townspeople assume evil existed in Wing Biddlebaum. Without this benefit, the protagonist, far from evil, must have felt great pain.

George is very curious about Wing's hands' "strange activity and their inclination." The only thing that keeps George from bringing up the subject is his growing respect for Wing. By the end of the story, George realizes that somehow Wing's hands are the reason for his fear of himself and others. From this the reader could gather that George is intuitive. He does not want to

Some common words found in the essay are:
Wing Biddlebaum, Adolph Meyers, George Willard, Willard House, Sherwood Anderson, wing biddlebaum, Sherwood Hands, wing's hands, george willard, adolph meyers, wing able, reader informed, character george, wrongfully accused,

Approximate Word count = 1357
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English