This story happened on Winesburg that is fictional place made by Sherwood Anderson, and “Paper pills” is one of twenty-two story of “Winesburg, Ohio”.
Hero of this story was an old man, Reefy who had been a doctor married a girl had money have the curious habits that was he putted paper he wrote thoughts into his pockets and the scraps of paper became little hard round balls, then pockets were filled he dumped them out upon the floor. A girl had two boyfriends. One, the son of a jeweler talked her about virginity, she began to be afraid of something, then she had become the relationship of the family way to the other boy who was a black-haired boy with large ears, said nothing. So she need to went to a doctor Reefy. Reefy took her driving into the country for several weeks, her condition passed in an illness, but she married Reefy who read her all of the odds and ends of thoughts he had scribbled on the bits of paper. She was died one years later after the marriage with Reefy.
The fascinating parts of this story was Doctor Reefy had one friend who ran the orchard, that can took twisted, gnarled apples pickers have rejected was so delicious. The usage of scene at the last scene-for a girl Reefy looks like twisted apples and can’t eat other perfect fruit that is eaten in the city apartments was impressive.
Bibliography
Irving Howe and Ilana Wiener Howe, (1983), Short Shorts: An anthology of the shortest stories, New York: Bantam Books
(鶴見俊輔・安野光雅他、『恋はきまぐれ<新・ちくま文学の森1>』、1994年、筑摩書房)
