These two stories are my favorite so far in Winesburg.
There's something about each of the characters of Enoch Robinson and Kate Swift that is severely repressed; actually, the entire town of Winesburg seems to be repressing things. In the teacher and artist's case, this seems to be self-expression. Kate is a passionate woman whose thoughts only sometimes come to fruition (not unlike in "The Man of Ideas," though her stories are anecdotes, not lectures) and Enoch is a childlike man who has trouble expressing himself outside of his own mind. Though Kate is very mature and Enoch very naive and childlike, both of them have difficulty connecting with other people while expressing their inner passions.
Is something lost when thoughts are translated to words? Enoch loses his imaginary people once he begins to be close to the violinist, who leaves. Kate tries to connect with George Willard, who can't seem to equate her physical wants for him with her mental wants for him. Like a good teacher, she wants him to develop the "genius" he has, but struggles with loneliness just as much as Enoch does.
Enoch's story is interesting too, because he tries for a period of his life to completely subscribe to mundane, "normal" activities; he has a wife and children, has the newspaper delivered, talks politics... but it's still not enough for him, so he relapses back into his imaginary inner world. Some things are precious inside the mind to him. Why can't they be as precious outside?
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