Anderson's "Sophistication" reflects almost none of the modern culture into which the United States was moving during the time of the story— the 1890s. During this time, the nation's cities were rapidly industrializing— railroads and steel mills dominated the landscape of the Eastern United States. In a few years, automobiles would begin to irrevocably fracture community life by allowing people to live and work in vastly wider areas. But in Winesburg, Ohio, modeled on the town of Clyde, Ohio, where Anderson lived as a child, life had not yet succumbed wholly to the modern age. Nevertheless, young people of the day, like George and Helen, felt the pull of the cities and longed to break free of the "old-fashioned" world of their parents, in which county fairs and horse races figured prominently. George longs for city life, where he can immerse himself...