"Death in the Woods"

Paper Summary:

The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the short story, "Death in the Woods", by Sherwood Anderson. Specifically, it looks at the unity and beauty of the old woman's life in the story. The old woman's life in "Death in the Woods" is like an unbroken circle, and that is what makes it beautiful and unified. Her life certainly was not beautiful, but the fact that she totally understood her purpose and carried it out all her life is a beautiful thought, and her story, although tragic, is beautiful in its simplicity and function.

From the Paper:

"The old woman's story is sad and seems pointless at first, and at first glance, this short story seems the same. The old woman lives a terrible life, and dies a horrible death. Yet, there is beauty and purpose to her life, and to her story. Her only purpose in life is to feed those who are hungry, and she does this creatively, with little or no help from her husband and son. The author writes, "Starve, eh? Well, things had to be fed. Men had to be fed, and the horses that weren't any good but maybe could be traded off, and the poor thin cow that hadn't given any milk for three months" (Anderson 152). This is the woman's reason for being, and it has been her purpose her entire life."

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