Anderson has done many different jobs so he could see through life of people at the bottom of society clearly and his rich experience accumulated rich real material for his novels。 Most his novels are about the people who live in the town。 His writing style is very delicate and he could write deep into the inner world of people and describe their subtle emotional changes for us。 It is said that Anderson was influenced by Freudian psychoanalysis。 He clings to reveals the human’s psychological state behind the appearance; he exposes the restrained desires and some realistic element。 His writing techniques include keen observation of the realism, sober analysis naturalism and concise description of the impressionism and so on。 Thus forms his unique writing style。

At that time, the United States is under the background of the Industrialization。 With the detestation of the impact of industrial civilization on rural culture, many writers expressed their desire to restore human’s creativity and imagination through the return of the tradition of industrial civilization by depicting the survival status of small towns under the impact of the industrial revolution。 Anderson is just a poetic modern novelist longing for the traditional virtues or a romantic person having a master of the modernist novel techniques。

2。 Literature Review

Winesburg, Ohio was published in 1919, which is most widely studied among all his works。 Critics hold different opinions trying to measure the accomplishment of this novel。 At the beginning, some critics generally considered “sex depression” as the theme。 Malcolm Cowley remarked his achievement: “Anderson made a great noise when he published Winesburg, Ohio。 There are some scolded him, the other ones praised him, yet he managed in that early work。 Through his efforts, he became the only storyteller of his generation。” Malcom Cowly considers Anderson to be of realism, meanwhile, Charles Child Walcutt and other professionals conclude Anderson of naturalism。 And from the majority of psychoanalysts, Anderson is regarded as “American Freud”。 Actually, Anderson’s work is a combination of naturalism, realism, romanticism and modernism。 John W。 Crowley's statement is quite precise: “Anderson gave proof of what American fiction can be when an artist with vision and sensibility, with comprehension and the capacity to test reality with imagination, deals with the infinities that lie beneath the commonplace materials of American life。” David D。 Anderson pointed out that the theme of Winesburg, Ohio is an exploration of human isolation。 Among the Chinese scholars, Wang Ning’s view in Freudianism is that  Anderson accepted and absorbed Freudian main ideas which he also applied to his literary writing。

“Anderson had a gambler’s passion for literature; that along with the candor of his fiction, made him a model for younger writers。”(Peter Conn 344) He is most remembered for his extremely influential effect on the next generation of young writers especially in America。 Writers he has influenced include William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, and Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald et al。

The purpose of this thesis is to discuss the personalities and behaviors of the grotesques in Winesburg, Ohio by analyzing their psychological activities and the reasons of formation from the perspective of Freud’s theories。 The main point of this thesis is to reveal the psychological activities and the inner world of grotesques to make people think about the topics of humanity, morality and society through grotesques’ tragic fates。文献综述

3。 Grotesques’features and behaviors in this Novel 

In the 25 independent but interrelated stories of this novel, Anderson created many vivid images。 He has selected all kinds of people: doctors, teachers, priests, farmers, housewives, etc。 Young reporter George Willard is the main character in this novel。 The problems which afflict these inpiduals exist indiscriminately despite their difference in status, gender or age。 Their main activities and experiences constitute the picture of the life of the small town, Winesburg, Ohio。