LITERARY ANALYSIS OF “The Corn Planting”

Author: Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941) is often called “the mid-American Chekhov”

Title: The title suggests that characters in the story plant corn on a farm.

Setting: A farm on Scratch Gravel Road in spring time.

Point of view: First person point of view.

Central Conflict: The old couple struggle to get over the terrible pain and grief because of the death of their only son.

Plot: A man and a woman have a son late in their life. They are farmers and attached to their land and work of planting. When their son grows up he goes to live in the city and dies at a young age. The couple try to get over their loss through their connection to nature and understanding of the cycles of life and death.

Introduction: Hatch and his attachment to the earth is introduced through his family story. Hatch’s father becomes invalid when Hatch is still a child. At a very young age he had to develop a relationship with nature and the cycles of birth and death.

Inciting incident: It occurs with the death of their son.

Development: Hatch is a very good farmer and he likes his farm very much and he marries a school teacher and they have a son called Will. Will goes to Chicago to study. His parents miss him very much. They become preoccupied with reading their son’s letters. After their son dies in a traffic accident they are able to incorporate their loss in to their perspective of cycles of nature.

Climax: It is when Hall goes to their house to give the bad news.

Resolution: The family gets over the death of their son by connecting to their society bt proceeding what they usually do.

Characterization: Hatch is a very calm and tidy person. He is very sentimental. He is a hardworker and devoted to his land. Will is very social, successful and he is an artist.

Theme: The cycles of life and death. Life goes on although people have great pains. Everybody has his own way to deal with grief in life.

Symbolism. The planting of corn symbolizes the emotions of the characters. Their farm symbolizes their life. It is the symbol of everything they have. The planting of the corn symbolizes the circulation of life.