Sherwood Anderson's "Paper Pills", involves a protagonist who is referred as Doctor Reefy. The short story begins with a brief description describing Doctor Reefy's appearance by an unknown narrator. The narrator's point of view is a third person objective. The narrator introduces us to Doctor Reefy as an old man with a white beard, huge hands and nose. The first paragraph highlights the life of Doctor Reefy, his career and marriage. Doctor Reefy marries a wealthy girl, whom owns a large fertile farm because of her deceased family. The narrator describes his wife as a tall, quiet, dark girl, and adds that most people of Winesburg found her beautiful. The narrator's tone seems of judgmental, pity, and curiosity. For example, the narrator says, “She was in that condition because of a series of circumstances also curious.” The narrator is referring to the tall dark girl’s visit to Doctor Reefy’s office.
As the story continues we learn that within a year of marriage his wife dies. Doctor Reefy mourns by persistently smoking and sitting all day in an empty office next to a window. He never opens the window until one day and realizes that it cannot be open. The window symbolizes a separation between Doctor Reefy and the outside world. By having a glass Doctor Reefy is seen as a spectator, not as someone who is involved in any kind of way with the world. He only receives a narrow view of the outside world through the window. This causes the town of Winesburg to forget Doctor Reefy because of the lack of presence after his wife's death. As paragraph three starts, the narrator describes Doctor Reefy before he met the tall dark girl. The narrator tells us that Doctor Reefy wore the same suit of clothes for ten years. Also that he consistently stuffed scraps of paper in his pockets. As weeks passed the scraps of paper turned into hard balls in which he would eventually dump out to the floor. The scraps of paper contained thoughts, end of thoughts, and beginning of thoughts, he had about anything and everything. Doctor Reefy's way of writing his thoughts in paper instead of verbally communicating allows us to determine his human psyche as an archetypal of collective unconscious.
The collective unconscious is a number of feelings, thoughts, instincts, and memories that reside in the unconsciousness of all people. Doctor Reefy’s way of expressing himself and keeping himself sane is by having his thoughts written on paper. The truths he conceives overwhelm his mind until they are written and put away in his pocket. The round hardballs form an odd shape as opposed to paper balls in which brings us to the title “Paper Pills” they form into looking like paper balls (pills), being that the majority of pills are roundly shaped. Soon after their formed, the paper pills (balls) are thrown away and laughed at. The paper balls are seen as a sort of drug, a metaphor. Like most druggies who rely on drugs, Doctor Reefy relies on his thoughts. It’s the way he expresses himself on paper then stuffs the paper in his pockets and as soon as his pockets are full, he reads what he has written and laughs. I interpret this as his way of getting "high".
In paragraph four we learn in greater depth about Doctor Reefy and the tall dark girl's romance. The narrator starts by stating ".. became his wife and left her money to him was a very curious story." The narrator's tone is curiosity. The narrator seems to have its own remarks about how their relationship began and has its personal opinion of their romance. The narrator describes their romance as "delicious, like the twisted little apples that grow in the orchards of Winesburg." Then continues saying, "On the trees are only a few gnarled apples that the pickers have rejected. They look like the knuckles of Doctor Reefy's hands." The narrator has its way with words and symbols describing Doctor Reefy's romance and also his appearance. Symbols such as apples, hand, and paper balls are seen throughout the story. The twisted apples metaphors the truth written by Doctor Reefy, his thoughts become distorted and he hides the sweetness by putting it in his pockets. He then dumps out the paper balls as the truth becomes overwhelming and paper fills his pockets. As the chapter ends the narrator says, "Only the few know the sweetness of the twisted apples.” I interpret this as foreshadow of how their romance began. This means that the narrator describes their romance as kept discreet amongst the town of Winesburg, of how they met because of her visit to his office for an abortion.
Doctor Reefy and the tall dark girl met on a summer afternoon in his office. The tall dark girl walked in for an abortion. After her family's death, several of gentlemen approached her. However, only two remained in her life. One always spoke to her about virginity and the other was often quiet and would sneak her into the dark to kiss her. It was the quiet one who impregnated her. Doctor Reefy was forty-five at the time and had already started his habit of filling his pockets with paper. The day she met him, she knew she wanted to be by his side forever. As she walked in his office, Doctor Reefy had already known what she was in for. After seeing her he said to her "I will take you driving into the country with me." And he did, for weeks they spent almost every day together. He married her in the fall. During the winter he read to her all his thoughts that he had written in the scraps of paper. After reading to her he inserted them in his pockets. That following spring she died.
Overall, this short story was a distressed sad love story. I believe Sherwood Anderson did not want to write a cliché love story about having a happy ending and living happily ever after with your loved one. So he created two different characters, a doctor and a rich girl. Anderson writes coherently about Doctor Reefy’s life in a narrative perspective. The short story “Paper Pills” is written to explore the influence of the unconscious on human behavior, to better see beneath the surface of lives. For example, the way their relationship was built and how Doctor Reefy read to her his thoughts that he wrote in scraps of paper show us how Anderson reflects the beauty of finding love with despair over its tragic aspects by then having Doctor Reefy’s wife die.
Works cite:
- http://www.gradesaver.com/winesburg-ohio/study-guide/section2/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_unconscious
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archetypal_literary_criticism
- http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/symbolismproject/symbolism.html/index.html
- http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/winesburgohio/section1.rhtml
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherwood_Anderson
- http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/265663/symbolism_of_doors_and_windows_in_modern_pg2.html?cat=38
Image link:
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/theartofdang/4676832237/in/pool-penandmarkers
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