# Doctor Reefy — Winesburg, Ohio character guide

> Doctor Reefy in Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Reefy, old Doctor Reefy

**First appearance:** 0005-paper-pills

## Snapshot

A tall, shabby old doctor who stuffs his pockets with paper scraps of half-formed truths, and whose strange courtship of a frightened young woman becomes one of Winesburg's twisted, delicious apples.

## Who they are

Doctor Reefy practices medicine from a musty office above the Paris Dry Goods store, wearing one frayed suit for a decade and pelting his only friend with the hard paper balls of his thoughts. He builds little pyramids of truth and knocks them down again, a habit of mind that leaves him lonely and oddly wise. When a tall dark girl comes to him in trouble, their curious courtship offers the town one of its few glimpses of sweetness gathered into a gnarled place.

## In the story

### [Winesburg, Ohio](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/winesburg_ohio_se/chapters/winesburg-ohio)

An old doctor who writes thoughts on paper pills, embodying the theme of failed communication.

### [The Book of the Grotesque](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/winesburg_ohio_se/chapters/the-book-of-the-grotesque)

Another grotesque figure whose story aligns with the theme of truths becoming falsehoods.

### [Paper Pills](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/winesburg_ohio_se/chapters/paper-pills)

An old, solitary doctor who fills his pockets with paper scraps of thoughts and lives in his dusty office after his wife's death.

### [Death](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/winesburg_ohio_se/chapters/death)

Attends Elizabeth in her final moments and sits with her body; shares an intimate connection with her, having been one of her lovers.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/winesburg_ohio_se/characters/doctor_reefy
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/winesburg_ohio_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/winesburg_ohio_se/characters