A Study Of Epipahny In Winesburg, Ohio

Sherwood Anderson is one of the important writers in modern Americanliterature. His Winesburg, Ohio won a high fame for him and he also receivedadmiration from Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner. With his particular andsharp insight, he explores the soul of town people in Winesburg at the period ofAmerican changing time. Based on the studies done before, this thesis intends tomake a systematic study of the use of all kinds of epiphanies Anderson’s grotesquesexperience, especially the protagonist George’s epiphanies, study of the features, andfunctions of epiphanies as well as the truths of life that those epiphanies express, so asto show the hope and energy of those grotesques-“the twisted apples”, to prove thatthose grotesques in work are not grotesques and reveal a new theme with positivemeanings.This thesis consists of five parts. The first part is an introduction that mainly andprecisely introduces the issue which is to be studied, others’ productions about theissue, this thesis’ argument, the structure of this thesis and the contents of each chapter,as well as significance of this thesis. Chapter one mainly discuss the grotesques seethe truth of life in all kinds of epiphanies including epiphany about self-guilty,self-revelation and universal truth. Therefore, we can see their beauty and hope inthose epiphanies about precious truth. Chapter two is to discuss how George becomesmature at writing and being human in the grotesques’ epiphanies and his ownepiphany after his experience, and then he is hopeful and is also the hope of the wholetown. The third chapter will discuss the features of Anderson’s epiphanies inWinesburg, Ohio and functions of them in context also in modern society. Afteranalyzing those overall epiphanies, they are classified as accident-epiphany, naturallandscape-epiphany and language-epiphany as well as past-epiphany. The last part isa conclusion. It is to conclude the art of epiphany Anderson adopted in work and thehope of those grotesques. We could see that the grotesques are not eccentric at all. Thelast part will retell the aim and the significance of this thesis.