"Dare to Dream" is a common poster that you find plastered around the hallways of most educational institutions, it hangs there in the open as a message for bypassers to see as they stroll about the building. A simple phrase, that has been used countless of times by instructors to inspire youth to dream and have goals. Dreaming is not an uncommon action nor is it uncommon to want to welcome others to the visions in your head, most times with the sound of excitement in your voice or the gentle movement of your hands. Wing Biddlebaum too, had a vision playing in his head, he dreamt of living in a pastoral golden age as a kind of Socrates to the youth. However, his dream was never realized, instead it was misunderstood and trampled afoot by angry villagers that could not understand his unique method of instruction, let alone the expressions he used in his teaching. Wing Biddlebaum is our medium to change, he is the symbol of all individuals that live in fear of being different and the image of those of us that seek to actualize change in a society that does not want or understand it. Sherwood Anderson shows this social resistance by employing the character of George Willard, using the simile of Wing's life as being "like unto the beating of the wings of an imprisoned bird," and using the his hands as a symbol of his powerless in an overbearing society. Anderson seeks to show through Biddlebaum how social opposition to change in American communities imprison innocent people from living a full rich life.
Believe it or but it was actually longer than this and I cut out about 2-3 sentences.
Believe it or but it was actually longer than this and I cut out about 2-3 sentences.