Hands
by Sherwood Anderson
Psychological Analysis
The story is about a middle-aged man who suffers from a psychological trauma because of his past. He is Wing Biddlebaum, a former school teacher who lived in the outskirts of Winesburg, Ohio.
Wing is a quiet man. But when he speaks, he talks with his hands. His shyness eases whenever he is around with his friend, George. George Willard is a reporter from Winesburg Eagle and he is the only friend of Wing. A lot of times did George wanted to ask him about his hands' movements and why does he always intend to keep them, which made Wing to recall his past.
Wing's actual name is Adolf Myers, taught in a school in Pennsylvania. He was driven out of town and was forced to transfer in Winesburg because of being accused that he fondles his male students at school, making him to hide his real identity.
Biddlebaum is innocent, and tousling the hair of his students is just his way of expressing his kindness and concern to them. His hands help him to emphasize what he is trying to say. But instead of believing him, people in the town severely beat him, leaving Wing to be psychologically traumatized. The experience made him to live in isolation, and his hands are kept hidden every time he is surrounded by everyone because he has this fear that he might get again into trouble because of his hands.
* Id:
> He would often caress the shoulders and heads of his pupils every time he does some lectures.
> His hands slowly stole forth and lay upon George Willard's shoulders.
- Caressing, or even just touching someone, could already be interpreted by others as a sexual act, because it expresses desire by getting a physical contact with other people. It can be referred to as id because it focuses on the person's pleasure-seeking part; the person gets satisfaction every time he does some physical contact with other people.
* Ego:
> Wing Biddlebaum talked much with his hands. The slender expressive fingers, forever active, forever striving to conceal themselves in his pockets or behind his back, came forth and became the piston rods of his machinery of expression.
-- In reality, there are people who are really kinesthetic. They cannot fully express themselves if they do not perform several actions. Just like Wing, his hands are active because it is his way of expressing himself. Talking with his hands is his source of confidence and it makes him feel good every time he shows what he is trying to say and whenever he makes some physical contact with other people.
> In the presence of George Willard, Wing Biddlebaum, who for twenty years had been the town mystery, lost something of his timidity, and his shadowy personality, submerged in a sea of doubts, came forth to look at the world.
-- Sometimes, we have this attitude that we simply do not trust anyone and that we only choose whom are we going to trust. We select our friends because we have these instincts to choose whom we are comfortable with.
> He thinks his hands are responsible for his timidity, his fear of everyone. George is right, and the narrator tells the story of Wing's hands.
-- We all have perceptions about other people. We have lots of questions and mostly, we are the ones who investigate to find out the answers behind them. Just like George, he wanted to ask Wing about his hands and it only tells us that in every person, there is really a story behind his/her actions so we cannot just freely judge until we found out what is really the truth.
* Superego:
> only a growing respect for Wing kept him from blurting out the questions that were often in his mind.
* Id:
> He would often caress the shoulders and heads of his pupils every time he does some lectures.
> His hands slowly stole forth and lay upon George Willard's shoulders.
- Caressing, or even just touching someone, could already be interpreted by others as a sexual act, because it expresses desire by getting a physical contact with other people. It can be referred to as id because it focuses on the person's pleasure-seeking part; the person gets satisfaction every time he does some physical contact with other people.
* Ego:
> Wing Biddlebaum talked much with his hands. The slender expressive fingers, forever active, forever striving to conceal themselves in his pockets or behind his back, came forth and became the piston rods of his machinery of expression.
-- In reality, there are people who are really kinesthetic. They cannot fully express themselves if they do not perform several actions. Just like Wing, his hands are active because it is his way of expressing himself. Talking with his hands is his source of confidence and it makes him feel good every time he shows what he is trying to say and whenever he makes some physical contact with other people.
> In the presence of George Willard, Wing Biddlebaum, who for twenty years had been the town mystery, lost something of his timidity, and his shadowy personality, submerged in a sea of doubts, came forth to look at the world.
-- Sometimes, we have this attitude that we simply do not trust anyone and that we only choose whom are we going to trust. We select our friends because we have these instincts to choose whom we are comfortable with.
> He thinks his hands are responsible for his timidity, his fear of everyone. George is right, and the narrator tells the story of Wing's hands.
-- We all have perceptions about other people. We have lots of questions and mostly, we are the ones who investigate to find out the answers behind them. Just like George, he wanted to ask Wing about his hands and it only tells us that in every person, there is really a story behind his/her actions so we cannot just freely judge until we found out what is really the truth.
* Superego:
> only a growing respect for Wing kept him from blurting out the questions that were often in his mind.
-- George had several questions, and for how many times he wanted to ask Wing about his hands but he hesitated to do it because his mind is telling him that Wing might get offended if he continued asking about something he didn't even want to talk about with.
> He would rather hide his hands, and he looks with envy upon those who have them under control.
-- How great is it for those who can freely show their hands, but for Wing, keeping them them is the right thing to do avoid misinterpretation again from other people.
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