Folks are still folks, and folks are still lonely, isolated, and depressed. Additionally, they still find it hard to connect and communicate with one another. Plus they're frustrated and angry.
Good ol' Ohio! All things are possible!
In 1919, Sherwood Anderson painted a untraditional version of a small town at odds with the rosy, mainstream view of life in Anywhere, USA. Anderson originally chose Ohio to be the backdrop of his novel dissecting rural Americana since he spent a majority of his teenage years in Clyde, a town very similar to Winesburg, as it transitioned to an industrial society, full of its dead ends and down on luck.
One wonders just how autobiographical the experiences of George Willard are: by the end of the novel, Willard decides to get the hell out of there, similar to the way Anderson moved on from small town life to the bigger opportunities offered in Chicago.
Willard knew Ohio was about to become a post-industrial wasteland.
Whatever his inspiration was, Anderson struck a nerve. His portrayal of life in Ohio is so spot on that many Ohioans, while proud, still long to get out and see what the rest of the world has to offer.
That's perhaps putting it too nicely. It was only a few years ago that four communities in Ohio were named the most miserable places to live in the United States. And due to several socio-economic issues, residents find themselves stuck with nowhere to go.
Mansfield, Cleveland, Youngstown, and Warren were the lucky areas to be named in the damning report. The common denominators in all four of these places are unemployment and poverty, issues tackled all those years ago in Winesburg.
But it’s not just because of the unemployment and poverty rates...wait, there's more! Let's not forget the high population of uninsured, the level of crime, and rampant drug use. Throw in a little blight, some mental health issues, and voila! Miserable and unfortunate living environments!
But it’s not just because of the unemployment and poverty rates...wait, there's more! Let's not forget the high population of uninsured, the level of crime, and rampant drug use. Throw in a little blight, some mental health issues, and voila! Miserable and unfortunate living environments!
Just last year, a study showed that incidents of depression are above the national average in Ohio. Also, one in four adults claim they needed mental health treatment and did not receive it. That's 22% of the state suffering from mental depression and a 56% suicide increase.
Of course, these numbers might be slightly skewed because the poll was taken after the Ohio St. football team lost to Michigan last November.
But these are the places in America that Anderson was very cautious about. Anderson just so happened to use Ohio as an example. Notwithstanding, Ohio today is a failing state and its inhabitants don't know how to help themselves.
Anderson would call characters who chose this type of living environment “grotesque,” and there's a whole prologue dedicated to this idea. Anderson meant this in a traditional sense to a degree (ridiculous, bizarre, unusual) but he also meant it to signify a character's ability to distort reality and create his own truth. Anderson's characters are crippled, but many cripple themselves believing in the lies that they themselves have spun.
Ohioans can relate to this crippling. They believe that they will be ok and they believe that things will get better, but they won't. As things get worse, the Ohioan gets more alienated from his social existence. He becomes repressed and suffers just like the Winesburg residents of Anderson's comedy.
So yes, Anderson is advocating for people to take care of themselves and get out of a shitty situation even when societal forces almost make it seem impossible. His hero George Willard knows when it is time to call it quits, pack up, and head for greener pastures (but many today—nonwhite, uneducated—are without his opportunities).
Another thing that George Willard didn’t have to deal with? Toxic chemical scares. Polluted water supplies. And maybe worst of all, a lax federal government knowingly putting regular folks at risk by allowing corrupt transportation companies and rail lobbyists to create their own safety regulations (resulting in two dangerous train derailments in Ohio alone). This is the stuff of nightmares for current and former proud Buckeyes everywhere, and one wonders how Anderson would have incorporated these tragedies into his book.
Of course, there's no way Anderson could predict things being this bad in Ohio, but he came pretty darn close. Yes, in his story the dark forces are a little more obscure and can hide behind the small-town veneer of a quiet, happy “Main Street.” Things don’t appear to be that bad in Winesburg, with its quiet lunch room, Sinning's hardware, and struggling grocer, but there is simmering ennui and the estrangement is about to boil over.
Nowadays, the lunchroom is a gas station that serves fried chicken, the hardware store is an out-of-business Lowe’s, and the grocer is a Dollar General. Today, we are more connected than Anderson could ever dream but more isolated than he could ever imagine.
Just an entire country full of sad little Winesburgs.