Maturation of George Willard in Term Paper

He'd shout at Turk and Turk would shout at him. They'd both be secretly pleased by what they had said. it's different with me. I don't belong."(Anderson, 157) Nevertheless, his decision to leave the town is not unexpected. He naturally feels the need to expand his views and his personality and incorporate new experiences instead of living a rather dull life in a stale community.

The last passage of the book which describes George's departure is very relevant because it highlights the fact that with his leave the process of maturation is completed. As the author remarks, life in another place will not only constitute a new beginning for George, but would also make his previous experiences in Winesburg appear as a background for the new beginning: "The young man's mind was carried away by his growing passion for dreams. One looking at him would not have thought him particularly sharp. With the recollection of little things occupying his mind he closed his eyes and leaned back in the car seat. He stayed that way for a long time and when he aroused himself and again looked out of the car window the town of Winesburg had disappeared and his life there had become but a background on which to paint the dreams of his manhood."(Anderson, 303) Thus, throughout the novel George is not perceived statically but rather as a character who is caught in the process of transformation. He passes from childhood to adulthood and but his experiences are not focused absolutely as it is usually the case with other main characters in fiction. George is rather an integral and essential part of the small and somewhat grotesque community of Winesburg, which is itself caught in the process of movement and transformation. At the end of the book, George's character is completely formed and he sets out for a new and more exiting life in another place.

Works Cited

Anderson, Sherwood. Winesburg, Ohio. New York: Modern Library, 1919......