Dec 31, 2009

Death in the Woods | Introduction

Sherwood Anderson published early versions of ‘‘Death in the Woods’’ as a sketch in A Story- Teller’s Story (1924) and as a chapter in his autobiographical Tar: A Midwest Childhood (1926). He worked on ‘‘Death in the Woods’’ periodically for nine years before publishing it in final form as the title story in his 1933 collection Death in the Woods and Other Stories.

According to many critics, Anderson’s artistic powers were waning at this point in his career; yet ‘‘Death in the Woods’’ stands out as a masterpiece, paralleling the brilliance of the stories collected in his best known work, Winesburg, Ohio.

‘‘Death in the Woods’’ chronicles the deceptively simple story of the life and death of a poor and downtrodden farm woman. The narrator, an adolescent boy at the time of these events, observes her dead body—a formative moment in his development as a man and an artist. He puts together the pieces of her story, which takes on mystery and mythic meaning as he reflects back on it years later.

‘‘Death in the Woods’’ exemplifies Anderson’s pared-down writing style and brooding, bittersweet tone. The story is most notable for the stark simplicity of its subject matter and the contrasting intricacy of its self-conscious narration.

Death in the Woods Summary

The narrator of ‘‘Death in the Woods’’ introduces the central character of the story: an anonymous old woman who periodically comes to town to sell a few eggs and buy a few supplies. The woman is known only by her last name, Grimes.

The story is the narrator’s fictionalized account of her life and death, focusing on one fateful trip into town.

The narrator recounts what he knows of Mrs. Grimes’s background, things that ‘‘must have stuck in my mind from small-town tales when I was a boy.’’ The old woman’s husband, Jake Grimes, was a known horse thief. He came from a family that had once been prosperous, but Jake and his father had squandered their money.

Jake met his wife when she was a young ‘‘bound girl,’’ an orphan working for a German farmer in exchange for her room and board. There were rumors that the farmer sexually harassed and perhaps even raped the girl. Jake came to work for the farmer and began to take the girl out. The farmer caught them, and he and Jake fought. The girl confided in Jake about the farmer’s abuse.

Jake married the girl out of defiance toward the farmer. They had a son and a daughter, but only the son survived. She settled into a life of caring for the animals on their impoverished farmstead and making sure there was food for... » Complete Death in the Woods Summary