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In the short story ‘Death in the woods’ by Sherwood Anderson the narrator slowly reveals details of the death and life of an old woman who lived near by him in his childhood. He reminisces over the insignificance of the anonymous old woman, saying that every small town has an old woman like her. He also tells us about her daily responsibilities of feeding the animals. The story explores the simplicity of the old woman’s life. Her single purpose in life is to feed animals. ‘Then she settled down to feed stock. That was her job…Horses, cows, pigs, dogs, men.’ (Death in the woods, S. Anderson: 285 & 287). Every aspect of the old woman’s primitive life and death relates to feeding animals: when she was a bound child on a German’s farm, when she was married to Jake her abusive husband, as she grew old and eventually in her death. The author repeats this point many times throughout the story. The repetition of this constantly in the story helps the reader feel something for the old lady, a feeling of sadness and sympathy. The repetition of this point also enhances the monotonous quality of the old woman’s life. Her destiny is to feed animals. A variation of long and short sentence structure is used in the s