In the story called “Paper Pills” from the book Winesburg, Ohio, we learn the sad backstory of Doctor Reefy and how he briefly married a woman before she died, from what, it never explicitly says but we are lead to believe that it was the truths that the doctor would read to her during the winter that killed her in the spring. However, through the story of Doctor Reefy, we learn a lot about his wife, who is only referred to as the “tall dark girl” who inherited her father's large farm. In this short story we learn that the tall dark girl had two suitors who stood out, both being polar opposites of the other. One who only talks of being a virgin and the other who barely talks and tries to kiss her a lot. With the “pure one” she has dreams where he would hold her in his hands and where he bit her, so she quickly abandoned that one, however, the other suitor the “black-haired boy” in real life gets her pregnant and bites her in the moment.
In literature, an apple is used to symbolize purity and when one is bitten it shows tainted innocence. In the tall dark girl’s dream, the jeweler’s son holds her in his hands like one would hold an apple and bites her, to show her fear of becoming impure from his lust. On the contrary, the dark-haired boy actually bit her and got her pregnant, these two event happens happen at the same time to show that she has become impure by getting pregnant before marriage while the bite mark left on her shoulder shows the world what she has done.
In Winesburg, Ohio a gnarled or disfigured apple is said to have a sweeter taste than the regular apples. The comparison to this is Doctor Reefy himself, while not being physically the most attractive man , he is described as having extraordinarily large knuckles which make the hands look disfigured like the apples that no one wants to eat. Just like these apples Doctor Reefy has a very true inner beauty, which only the tall dark girl can see after going into see him for a checkup. She could then not go back to the regular suitors just as those who eat the misshapen fruits cannot go back to eating the perfectly round apples. This story provides two different meanings to what an apple can symbolize, one of true inner beauty and one meaning to be unclean.
“Winesburg, Ohio” is very particular on the appearances of people and what they are truly like on the inside. In “Paper Pills”, there is a great deal of concentration on the physical ugliness of Doctor Reefy, similar to the gnarled and disfigured apples. However, despite being so grotesque in appearance, both Doctor Reefy and the gnarled apples are sweet on the inside (in terms of manner and taste, respectively). In spite of this, Doctor Reefy and the apples are shunned due to their appearances and not for what they are, leaving them abandoned – in Winesburg, Ohio. As stated in the book, the citizens of Winesburg are the grotesque but some know the true sweetness that lie beneath.
ReplyDeleteI also thought the apple imagery from "Paper Pills" was both fascinating and complex. I enjoyed the fact that many parts of the story connected apples and biting to the imagery of innocence verses sin. Many of the girls' dreams and life events involve biting, which can be tied to her loss of innocence and impregnation. This can also tie into the apple theme, where she is the pure apple that is corrupted with a bite.
ReplyDeleteI especially liked your connection between the old, rotten apples being the sweetest and Doctor Reefy. The more I think about this, it has made me realize that the girl sought comfort in Reefy because he was never bitten into (never turned sinful). In her eyes, he is somewhat angelic.