Through “Paper Pills,” Sherwood Anderson illustrates the importance that appearances play in society in measuring success. The first few paragraphs introduce the two main characters, the doctor and his wife, not by name or even personality, but mainly by their appearance. The narrator remembers the doctor as “an old man with a white beard, a nose, and huge hands” (Anderson 293). Again, as if preoccupied with physical features, the narrator later comments: “the knuckles of the doctor's hands were extraordinarily large. When the hands were closed, they looked like clusters of unpainted wooden balls, as big as walnuts, connected together by steel rods” (294). The reference to the very size of the doctor's nose, hands and knuckles insinuates a physical deformity. The word “unpainted” implies that the knuckles are unpolished imperfections, the hands made hard and inflexible by the metaphorical “steel rods.” The comparison of the doctor's joints to the "gnarled apples" (294) in the orchards of Winesburg, the town where he lives, suggests that his physical imperfections might, like poor quality apples, lead to repudiation. “On the trees, there are only a few gnarled apples that the pickers have rejected. They look like the knuckles of Dr. Reefy’s hands” (294). So it seemed an anomaly, to the people of Winesburg, that such an unattractive man could find a wife of such a pleasing presence. “The girl was quiet, tall and dark-haired, and to many people she seemed very beautiful. Everyone in Winesburg wondered why she had married the doctor” (294). The impressions given by the couple imply different levels of success: the girl seems perfect, the doctor less so. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay In “Paper Pills,” the metaphor of unblemished apples symbolizes perfection. The apples, like the doctor and his wife, were valued on their exterior facade rather than the quality of what was inside: “The apples were plucked from the trees by the pickers. They were barreled and shipped to cities where they would be consumed in apartments filled with books, magazines, furniture, and people” (294). Placing the word “people” at the end of the sentence means that material goods seem more important than the people themselves. Possessions embody their success, making it unnecessary to identify people. As a doctor, the story's main character also had the potential to lead a successful life in terms of material comfort: "Winesburg had forgotten the old man, but in Doctor Reefy there were the seeds of something very beautiful” (294). The character only receives an identity through his role as a doctor. Without it, he seems anonymous, almost irrelevant to society. Having left "a large, fertile farm" (293) upon her father's death, the girl the doctor married also had the potential to lead a successful life. The agricultural image of “seeds” and fertility encapsulates the idea of ​​potential growth and successful yield. The young girl's heritage attracts many suitors eager to share her wealth and the feeling of success that accompanies it: "The death of her father and mother and the rich hectares of land that had come to her had put her kits a succession of suitors” (295). ). The word "train", whether referring to the vehicle or a long accessory, highlights the number of contenders and, associated with the expression "on his heels,” implies their dogged pursuit, much like dogs searching for prey. The image of hungry beasts continues. The young girl dreams that a suitor has “bitten” (295) her body, his jaws “dripping” (295). Another suitor, in his moment of passion, actually bites her, leaving “the marks of his teeth (295)” on her shoulder. The violent images emphasize not only the girl's physical loss, but also an almost inhuman appetite to possess her and her wealth. On the other hand, the doctor does not desire material symbols of success. Despite having the financial means to dress well, the doctor chooses to wear the same suit for ten years, indifferent to its dilapidated state or the negative opinions it elicits from others. Aspiring to live not in a city apartment but "alone in his musty office (294)", even after inheriting his wife's wealth, Doctor Reefy does not share his society's greed for these marks of success . The description of the extraction of a patient's tooth reminds the reader of the tooth marks left on the girl's shoulder by the greedy suitor. By removing the tooth, Doctor Reefy symbolically opposes society's insatiable appetite to possess and possess. When the doctor and the girl marry, they do so willingly, with genuine affection and respect for each other. By choosing to marry, the doctor becomes her “crooked apple” (294) and she his (her loss of virginity makes her incomplete and therefore imperfect). Each looks beyond the other's imperfections and recognizes virtues that have not been detected by others: "Only a few know the sweetness of crooked apples" (294). They blossom in the beauty of genuine affection. Rejecting the superficial values ​​of society, the doctor seeks elsewhere a feeling of fulfillment. Before his marriage, he had already started writing down his thoughts on pieces of paper. “The habit had been formed as he sat in his buggy behind the jaded white horse and moved slowly along the country roads. On the papers were written thoughts, endings of thoughts, beginnings of thoughts” (294). The description of Dr. Reefy traveling "slowly" behind his "jaded" horse to make house calls suggests a weariness or disinterest in his profession as a doctor. He distracts himself by writing snippets of thoughts on pieces of paper during his journey. The syntax of the sentence, “on the papers were written thoughts, ends of thoughts, beginnings of thoughts,” suggests that the ideas still lack clear formation. When the pieces of paper form “hard balls” (294) in his pocket, they literally look like paper pills. Yet the story's title also operates on a deeper level. The description "Paper Pills" not only refers to the round appearance of the crumpled paper, but implies that the thoughts themselves serve as medicines for the benefit of others. Doctor Reefy, dissatisfied with the state of his world, struggles to form and communicate new ideas. to improve their well-being. He “worked tirelessly, building something that he himself destroyed. He erected little pyramids of truth and, after erecting them, he toppled them in order to have the truths to erect other pyramids” (294). The triangular shape of a pyramid suggests that the doctor's search for absolute truth symbolizes a search for the meaning of life. The fact that he continues to destroy and rebuild the pyramids implies either a lack of success, or rather that the truth, being too dynamic or too powerful, intensifies his disillusionment with the world and its need for change. The death of the wife,.