“Paper Pills” is a short story written by Sherwood Anderson in his most recognized book, Winesburg, Ohio, which has several related stories (Belasco 859). The story is about an older doctor, named Dr. Reefy, who is distant from society and expresses his thoughts only on pieces of paper, which he sticks in his pocket (Bort). Eventually, he meets a younger woman who he marries and shares those crumbled pieces of paper with for a short time before her death. The story is told by an unknown narrator, who is the same narrator throughout the book, using different examples of imagery and symbolism to describe Doctor Reefy's hands, truths, his courtship, and relationship with the younger woman. hands are a prominent image used in “Paper Pills.” His hands are described as enormous with “extraordinarily large” knuckles and when closed resemble “clusters of unpainted wooden balls the size of walnuts fastened together by steel rods” (Anderson 867). This description implies that his hands have a rough appearance and adds to his appearance as an older, gentler man. Later in the story, the narrator compares Doctor Reefy's hands to "gnarled apples," an image that also symbolizes his courtship with the younger woman (Anderson 867). According to Epifanio San Juan Jr., these images of Dr. Reefy's hands blend together several "figurative patterns" in the story. San Juan states: "The story of his courtship is... compared to 'little twisted apples' which in turn evoke the image of his gnarled knuckles, and thus of the hands that write his thoughts." "Paper Pills" is linked to the first story of Anderson's book, Winesburg, Ohio, when the narrator describes Doctor Reefy working "ceaselessly"......halfway down the paper......on. 861-62.Belasco, Susan and Linck Johnson, eds. The Bedford Anthology of American Literature. vol. 2. Boston: Bedford, 2008. 857-60. Print.Bort, Barry D. “Winesburg, Ohio: Escaping Isolation.” The Midwest Quarterly 11.4 (Summer 1970): 443-456. Rpt. in twentieth-century literary criticism. Ed. Dennis Poupard. vol. 10. Detroit: Gale Research, 1983. Literature Resource Center. Network. April 8, 2011. San Juan, Epifanio, Jr. “Vision and Reality: A Reconsideration of Winesburg, Ohio” by Sherwood Anderson. American Literature 35.2 (May 1963): 137-155. Rpt. in Criticism of Short Stories. Ed. Jessica Bomarito and Jelena O. Krstovic. vol. 91. Detroit: Gale, 2006. Literature Resource Center. Network. April 9, 2011.Phillips, William L. "THE ECLETHIC DR. REEFY." American Notes & Queries 15.1 (1976): 2. Academic research completed. EBSCO. Network. April 8. 2011.