In the following essay, Sister Mary Joselyn examines the themes of transformation that are interwoven in the thematic and structural elements of the story.
Although Sherwood Anderson's "Death in the Woods" is widely regarded as the author's masterpiece and has been closely studied by at least two critics, its depths have not yet been plumbed. It is not the claim of this short paper to do so, either, but rather to indicate some dimensions of the story that so far have scarcely been identified but which in fact have both structural and thematic importance. An appreciative reader of the modern short narrative marvels at Anderson's skill in this story—the "circling," resonating effect created by the several retellings of the events, the deft but strong and pointed ironies thrown off as it were in passing, a time.....
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