Where Sherwood Anderson succeeds is in his ability to raise the everyday normal experience to a place of beauty. Many readers consider ‘Poor White’ to be a greater achievement than ‘Winesburg, Ohio’. The plot is strongly rooted in the internal struggles of the characters. ‘Poor White’ takes us along on the journey of Hugh McVey as he grows from a dazed social outcast to an unwitting mover and shaker of commerce, from the 1890s into the 20th century.