Central idea and important character aspects of the narrator in Sherwood Anderson's "I Want To Know Why"
Sherwood Anderson's coming of age "I Want To Know Why" is the narrative of an adolescent boy whose world revolves around racehorses and the perplexing emotions that surface when he meets the trainer of his favorite horse. In this tale, our narrator painfully learns the disappointment of upholding our idols to unrealistic standards and, more importantly, after the loss of innocence, the realities of the world are not always as idealistic as once envisioned.
Sherwood Anderson takes us to the southern town of Beckersville, Kentucky during a time where slavery is abolished but black people still do menial work. There is nothing else extraordinary about the town except for in the spring; Beckersville becomes somewhat of a stay over for all of those involved in horses and horseracing. For about a week all of the prominent horsemen are in Beckersville and "horse racing is in every breathe of air you breathe."
Our narrator, 15 and simple minded (or perhaps merely innocent), has a passion for racehorses, so this is undoubtedly his favorite time of year. Once all of the prominent horsemen leave town, he and three of his friends decide on a whim to take a trip to Saratoga in upstate New York to see a horse race. While there, the narrator sees his favorite race horse Sunstreak and has the opportunity to meet the trainer. He encounters the horse trainer twice. The first time he meets the trainer is alongside Sunstreak right before the race. During this encounter, he is enamored with the trainer, claiming to love him even more than his father. He identifies with the trainer as a man who shares the same ideals and passions as him and in our narrator's eyes and heart, this undeniably makes the trainer a man of great admiration. Sunstreak, breaking a world record, wins the race and for our narrator, this justifies his fondness of the trainer even more.
The second time the narrator meets the horse trainer occurs later that night when he unknowingly follows him to a brothel and
Sherwood Anderson takes us to the southern town of Beckersville, Kentucky during a time where slavery is abolished but black people still do menial work. There is nothing else extraordinary about the town except for in the spring; Beckersville becomes somewhat of a stay over for all of those involved in horses and horseracing. For about a week all of the prominent horsemen are in Beckersville and "horse racing is in every breathe of air you breathe."
Our narrator, 15 and simple minded (or perhaps merely innocent), has a passion for racehorses, so this is undoubtedly his favorite time of year. Once all of the prominent horsemen leave town, he and three of his friends decide on a whim to take a trip to Saratoga in upstate New York to see a horse race. While there, the narrator sees his favorite race horse Sunstreak and has the opportunity to meet the trainer. He encounters the horse trainer twice. The first time he meets the trainer is alongside Sunstreak right before the race. During this encounter, he is enamored with the trainer, claiming to love him even more than his father. He identifies with the trainer as a man who shares the same ideals and passions as him and in our narrator's eyes and heart, this undeniably makes the trainer a man of great admiration. Sunstreak, breaking a world record, wins the race and for our narrator, this justifies his fondness of the trainer even more.
The second time the narrator meets the horse trainer occurs later that night when he unknowingly follows him to a brothel and