"Death In the Woods" Cultural Context

"Death in the Woods" by Sherwood Anderson is a tale of the plight of man just to work to survive. This story was written just when Marxism was becoming popular and the story represents the plight of man in a Capitalistic society. It shows how this woman is exploited for gain. She began as a slave for the German (as Marx said "Everywhere man is in chains") and ends up being a slave to her husband Jake Grimes and thier son. The woman has to walk and carry heavy loads just so she has something to eat and so that she can feed her animals so that they can produce food for her and her family. She struggles everyday just to do this. The story is clear that she has to work hard just to survive in terrible living conditions. In modern times, this is just like people living paycheck to paycheck in order to produce a livelihood. People today have to work to produce a profit for the company that they work for. This story tries to show that if we stop working to the point where we are breaking our backs, we will die.

When Karl Marx wrote his "Communist Manifesto", his fear and anxiety was that the workers of the world were being exploited for the good of the elite. The woman in this story is being exploited first by her German owner, when she is a slave to him, and secondly to her husband and son. This story takes place during the Industrial Revolution. The Proletariat (the woman) were in terrible working conditions so that the Bourgeoisie (the German, her family) could live better lives. The Proletariat had to do back-breaking work just as the woman does.

The perspective of this story is that the plight of the woman in trying to survive ultimatley leads to her death. In Capitalism, if you stop working you will die. When the woman stopped to rest, she died. According to Marx, the Proletariat was being treated poorly and unjustly just as the way that the German and her husband and son treated her. Anderson is trying to depict the horrors that Capitalism can bring. She struggles everyday just so she and her family can continue to eat and to live. It is the story of the plight of man in a society that is based on exploitation.


"Nevermore" -the Ravin