Background knowledge
Sherwood Anderson(1876 ¨C 1941):
Sherwood Anderson was a very famous American writer. Born of a poor family in Camden, Ohio, he had to earn money to help the family from the time he was quite young. At 22, he fought in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, and then worked writing advertisements in Chicago; later, he worked in a factory in Ohio. In 1913, he quit work, and devoted himself to writing. In 1919, he published his outstanding book of stories, Winesburg, Ohio. The book recounts the lives of people in a small town, isolated in their own lives from one another, and deprived of love and creativity.
Sherwood Anderson was also celebrated for his story collections such as The Triumph of the egg(1921) and Horses and Men(1923). His best novels were Poor White (1920) and Dark Laughter (1925). His autobiography, A Story-Teller¡¯s Story, was published in 1924. Anderson died on March 8, 1941, while on a tour of South America.
The text is a short story from A Story -Teller¡¯s Story. The author develops his story around the striking contrast between a humble, talkative, foolish father in the boy¡¯s eyes and a proud, silent, dignified one as the boy expects him to be. Swimming in the pond is the turning point of the story when the boy begins to understand and be proud of his father.
Anderson¡¯s short stories are famous for their ¡° moment of revelation¡± in which the characters either make themselves understood or understand others. Here , in swimming in darkness, the son reached an understanding with his father.
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