SOURCE: "Sherwood Anderson's Fear of Sexuality: Horses, Men, and Homosexuality," in Studies in Short Fiction, Vol. 30, No. 4, Fall, 1993, pp. 595-601.

In the following essay, Ellis discusses the theme of spiritualized relationships debased by "the intrusions of the brutishly sexual" in Sherwood Anderson's stories "The Man Who Became a Woman" and "1 Want to Know Why. "

In discussing Sherwood Anderson's treatment of sexuality, Ray White argues that it is Anderson's short stories, not his novels, that deserve high praise for helping to bring the "honest use of sex into American literature" (40). But to say "honest" is not necessarily to say "forth-right," for Anderson sensed a mystery in human sexuality that defies an easy reduction.

Two of Anderson's most complex stories—"The Man Who Became a Woman" and "I Want to Know Why"—treat this mystery with great subtlety. Of the two, "The Man Who Became a Woman" is usually considered...