Response to Respectability

"Respectability" tells the story of Wash Williams and his grotesqueness.  The chapter begins with the description of a caged beast.  The beast is hulking, dirty, and ugly and its ugliness instills emotions of wonderment and disgust in people as they pass by.  Wash Williams is then said to resemble the beast.  This description of Wash serves as the initial characteristics that make him grotesque.  Unlike other residents of Winesburg, Wash is  strongly described as being incredibly grotesque in the physical  sense of the word, which affirms his grotesqueness.  Although physical foulness covers his entire body, his hands are described as "sensitive and shapely".  George Willard also often talks about how he imagines Wash, during their  conversation, as a "comely young man".  This description of his hands as well as George's imaginative description shows the pure thing inside of Wash that still exists under the hard, ugly cover that is his body.  Even the man's name alludes to this, as the word "wash" implies cleanliness and purity.  I think Anderson created this dichotomy between the man's real, physical appearance and the appearance of his hands and George's description to remind the readers that the grotesques, although they are damaged people, were once full of hope and dreams that still reside deep inside of them.  

One of the most prominent characteristic of Wash Williams is his absolute hatred of women.  His description of women is the polar opposite of Wash's character.  It is interesting how Anderson points out that "the sight of a woman sickens" Wash even though he notices their outer beauty, while the sight of Wash sickens others.  He describes them as "trick in Nature", saying how their beauty and "soft hands and blue eyes" were only to veil their inner wretchedness. 

His hatred for women at first seems like unwarranted misogyny but is then later explained with his story.  In his conversation with George Willard, which only happened because Wash pities George, like he does all woman-loving men, Wash told George the story of his marriage.  He talks about his naivety in loving a woman.  His love for his wife and his virginal status gives us a completely different look at Wash as he was before becoming grotesque.  Wash's "religious fervor" to remain a virgin until his marriage as well as the image of Wash planting seeds that his wife gave him in the garden shows the hope that Wash had for his marriage.  His abstinence shows how dedicated Wash was to the pursuit of the correct partner while the seeds show how Wash hoped that his wife and he would grow old together.  His wife handing him the seeds represented a promise that she made to him, assuring him both about the fertility of the seeds as well as the marriage.  It was in a moment of intimacy and lust that he finds out that her promises were empty, and the seeds with which their marriage was planted were destined for failure.  

His final encounter with his wife was what made Wash grotesque.  Like it was for many other characters in the book, it was a moment of sexual confusion that changed Wash.  Wash came to his wife's mother's house with a sliver of hope still left in him.  He wanted his wife to come into the room and somehow convince him to forgive her.  He "ached to forgive and forget" and he wanted the pain that she caused him to disappear.  Instead however, his wife was pushed by her mother to enter the room naked.  Her mother hoped that the sight of her naked daughter and Wash's  primal lust was enough to convince Wash to forgive his wife.  Up to this point, Wash still wanted to reconcile with his wife, but her naked form being presented to him like an offering enraged him  as he tried to kill the mother.