A study of dark-light imagery in Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio

Abstract

Wallace A, Bacon explains the importance of imagery by saying that "without image making, the literary experience is impossible. Indeed, language itself cannot function without it." Concentration on the images used by an author in a particular work helps one discover significant meaning in the literature. Just as an author needs to focus his attention sharply on what imagery he chooses, the scholar also needs to study the imagery in order to discern the meaning of a literary work. Likewise, the image clusters in a work may be studied in order to discover insights of additional dimension to the essential meaning of the literature. Bacon emphasizes that "imagery thus becomes a central element of literary structure, a vital component in the experience which literature embodies." Images in Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson will be investigated in this study as a way of gaining insight into this collection of stories.