Thursday, November 5, 2015
Why Wash Williams isn't that bad
Okay, hear me out on this one. In Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg Ohio one character in particular stands out as a grotesque and deplorable figure. Wash Williams is a filthy and extremely misogynistic man. It's hard to envision him as a relatable character who one can be sympathetic to. However, when the books main character, George Willard sits down with Wash to hear the story that explains the man's misogyny, I personally found myself feeling very sympathetic to the old man. Now don't get me wrong: I do not condone Wash's views or the despicable things that he says. you know that one ex friend or significant other that you don't actually hate but you force hatred of as a way of coping with their absence in your life? As anyone reading this who's been in our English class knows this mental defense mechanism is known as projection. Wash Williams's misogyny is a textbook example of projection. He treated his wife with respect and affection for years, but was still cuckolded by his spouse's lover. He even gives her a second chance afterward. This shows that he was at one time a man with compassion and respect for women, or at least one woman. I personally do not interpret his misogyny as sincere, rather I view it as Wash's way of coping with the pain that his wife and her mother wrought on him. His actions and views are wrong, but I hold a certain level of sympathy for the old man.
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Wash Williams is a victim. Instead of coping with his trauma in a positive way, he expresses it in a negative way. I would say that it is his fault for projecting his feeling onto other women, rather than expressing his feelings through a more positive outlet.
ReplyDeleteWhile I 100% do not condone Wash's misogynistic views, I see where you are coming from in saying that he deserves some degree of sympathy. As seniors, not many of us understand what it feels like to be cheated on. Wash was once a kind and gentle man who loved a woman with his whole heart but when he was hurt by her he felt betrayed. Even though he claims to have this hateful attitude towards all women, this is just his way of coping with the immense pain he is feeling. Of course, this is not a proper way to cope but projection is subconscious. He doesn't want to hate women but he feels like he can't get through it any other way. Misogyny is something I despise and Wash's views are offensive but he is experiencing heartache and he isn't able to control this defense mechanism he is using so I understand where you are coming from.
ReplyDeleteI guess you can really do this for anybody. I mean Hitler watched his homeland be ravished by the allies after WWI, and was rejected by nearly everyone, whether it be the Vienna School of Art, or his abusive father with a goofy name. While that also doesn't condone his actions, it goes to show that most people who are horrible are horrible for a reason. I guess the lesson to be learned is that when somebody is having a tough time, try and reach out and help. Maybe if someone was able to help Wash cope with his trauma, we would have read a much different story. Full disclosure Adolf Schicklgruber is bad.
ReplyDeleteI can understand your sympathy to a degree for Wash as he seemed to regularly get the shaft from, not only his wife but his mother in law as well. However, I just cant see this as a justifiable reason to condemn the entirety of women for the misdeeds of two. Where he lost it for me especially was when it was described that he tried to convince other men that the women in their lives were untrustworthy because of the trauma that was caused by the women close to him. Wash just needed to move on, as hard as it may be to do so.
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