Poor White: A Novel
1920
Poor White is a novel by Sherwood Anderson, first published in 1920, that follows the life of Hugh McVey, a young man struggling with poverty and familial dysfunction in a small Mississippi River town. The narrative delves into themes of social class, self-discovery, and the quest for a better life, as Hugh navigates his challenging upbringing and finds guidance from Sarah Shepard, the station master's wife. This work is notable for its exploration of the impact of the Industrial Revolution on individual lives and has influenced later literary figures, including Bertold Brecht.
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“All men lead their lives behind a wall of misunderstanding they have themselves built and most men die in silence and unnoticed behind the walls. Now and then a man, cut off from his fellows by the peculiarities of his nature, becomes absorbed in doing something that is personal, useful and beautiful. Word of his activities is carried over the walls.””
— Sherwood Anderson
“The machines men are so intent on making have carried them very far from the old sweet things.””
— Sherwood Anderson
“came to [a small Midwest town] to speak . . . , and after he had gone the question of the divinity of Christ for months occupied the minds of the citizens.””
— Sherwood Anderson
“Hugh McVey was born in a little hole of a town stuck on a mud bank on the western shore of the Mississippi River in the State of Missouri. It was a miserable place in which to be born.””
— Sherwood Anderson
