Winesburg, Ohio: 9. Godliness, Part III: Surrender Summary & Analysis

The narrative shifts back to the time period between the events of “Godliness, Part I” and “Godliness, Part II” to focus on Jesse Bentley’s daughter Louise. Her father’s strict demeanor and resentment of her for being female causes her to become a neurotic, moody child who never receives the love she craves. Louise is sent to live with her father’s friend Albert Hardy and his three children so that she can attend Winesburg High School. Albert’s daughters Mary and Harriet resent, mock, and ostracize Louise because she outperforms them in school and earns the praise of their education-obsessed father. Louise is just as unhappy in Winesburg as she was on her father’s farm.

Alienated by the Mary and Harriet, Louise decides she will befriend their brother John Hardy. Louise becomes obsessed with the idea of connecting with the young man, believing that opening herself up to people will revolutionize her life and allow her to find the love and understanding she has always sought. Young women in Winesburg are judged on purity rather than social class—a girl is either “nice” (chaste) or “not nice.” Although she is attracted to John, Louise’s desire to connect with him is not consciously related to sex.

After John acknowledges Louise while dropping off firewood in her room, she calls out to him out her bedroom window and becomes convinced that he is pining for her in the orchard outside. Louise leaves her room and stumbles upon Mary and a young man kissing. She decides to send John a note instead, writing that she wants someone to love her and to love in return and asking him to meet her under her window. After a few weeks pass with no response, Louise goes on a date with a young farmhand but is so distraught over John that she has an angry outburst and steals the farmhand’s buggy.

A few days later, John finally comes to Louise’s window and the two have sex. John and Louise become lovers over the next few months and get married when they fear that Louise might be pregnant. But after the pregnancy turns out to be a false alarm, Louise feels trapped, unsatisfied, and unsure of what she wants. When their son David is born, she is ambivalent toward him and unsure of whether or not she wants to be a mother. When John confronts her about this neglect, Louise tells him that she would have done anything for a daughter but that their son “is a man child and will get what it wants anyway.”