Purpose and Significance of the Study Sherwood Anderson is renowned as one of the pioneers in American modernist literature. He was born on September 13, 1876. Brought up in an impoverished family in Ohio, he didn#8217;t receive much education. In his teens, he started to do odd jobs such as selling newspapers, painting house and so on. Although he experienced various tribulations during his whole life, he always devoted himself to exploring the basic situations of American society through his rich experience as well as keen observations. Sherwood Anderson witnessed the social transition from handicraft stage to industrial stage. The capitalist economy was booming in the American society. Capitalism not only revolutionized the self-sufficient mode of small-peasant economy, but also gradually formed townsfolk#8217;s cultural awareness which is quite different from any other time in the past. When the machine mercilessly replaced pastoral life, people lived lonely. At the same time something new is appearing. And those who refused to abandon old values, beliefs and ways of life, were eventually isolated from society and become the exiles of industrial civilization. Anderson, who witnessed the great changes of society, has made a deep probe of the American people#8217;s psychology in the special period. He also discovered a modern sense of alienation. Winesburg, Ohio is one of Anderson's most significant works aimed at discussing American people#8217;s living condition and showing their estrangement in the alienated world. This paper tends to explore typical character images in Winesburg, Ohio through the analysis of their existing environment and the causes of grotesquery. It is widely accepted that the book is a discussion of the problems of human alienation. But alienation is not merely a product of social transition, it is also caused by people#8217;s narrow insight and unwillingness to understand others. Thus they couldn#8217;t find the meaning of life. These behaviors made people become self-centered and refused to communicate with others. In light of this, the purpose of thesis is to fill the gap by finding out the causes of grotesquery. In a word, the thesis is mainly aimed at analyze typical images, the psychological features of the grotesque, and reveal inner thoughts of main characters. Literature Review Winesburg,Ohio is popular among readers and critics. Many researchers have studied the novel from such perspectives as existentialism, Freudian Psychoanalysis, theme and so on. Ni found alienation is the social origin of grotesques. She used Freudian psychoanalysis to study the internal and external factors of the formation of grotesques. She analyzed the theory of Oedipus Complex and sex, and discussed the influence of Freudianism psychoanalytic method on Sherwood Anderson's works. Ni also pointed out the book is the microcosm of the people's life in the small town of the transition period in the United States. Meanwhile, it also clarified the psychological factors causing loneliness. (Ni， 2009) The absurdity of the people's existence in the work was analyzed by Yang. It is discussed that the grotesques seek their own way of life with free choice. Yang used Sartre theory, ”The world is absurd and life is meaningless”. What#8217;s more, she illustrated the existential theme in Anderson's novels and the practical significance of the work. In the end, she claimed that living dilemma that those grotesques faced is actually what people must face with in modern society. From this point of view, all of the existential ideas obey a universal rule. (Yang， 2014) Some researchers focus on discussing the representative grotesques. But in those articles, the author only discussed less than 4 characters in each article. Zhu claimed that the formation and development of Doctor Reefy's life character is divided into three stages: the psychological inhibition in the celibate stage, the pursuit of changing, the short period of happiness and satisfaction in the marriage stage, and the deeper degeneration after losing widows. He worked day and night for escaping society, and regarded clinic as a refuge. He isolated himself completely for decades or even closed the doors and windows. His paper piled up. No one really understood his ideas. Because he was unable to find a satisfied means of communication. The paper pills represented the barriers of communication when his mind was filled with thoughts. (Zhu， 2007) Specifically, many researchers focus on exploring female characters. Gong depicted the image of Elizabeth. In her girlhood, Elizabeth was full of enthusiasm and fancied beautiful dreams. In order to escape her miserable life and to realize her dreams, she eagerly pursued some kind of passion. Gong stated that hedge of language set apart she and her son. Women had low status in men-oriented society. Due to long-term silence, Elizabeth didn#8217;t know how to express herself. The unreleased depression finally turned the enthusiastic beautiful dreamer into a grotesque. (Gong， 2004) As for the themes，much research has been done on spiritual problems people confronted under the background of industrialization．Liu made an analysis of the social background under which the author lived. Based on the analysis of typical images of grotesques, she revealed that human soul suffered repression and loneliness. She expounded implications of the theme is ”absence of love#8217; and its manifestations in small town. The suffering and distortion of the human spiritual world reflected deeply by the theme in the novel. (Liu， 2012) Guo analyzed the novel from three aspects: show the alienation between society and human beings, alienation between people and people, alienation between human beings themselves. Marxism theory and existentialism theory are applied to the thesis about the root and developing trend of alienation. The research also involve in the illustration of the estrangement and distortion of love. (Guo， 2012) Conclusion As we can see that many researchers have studied the novel from various perspectives. This thesis analyzes the novel mainly from the discussion on typical images and presents more points of view in exploring the people in this small town including their appearance, strange behaviors and mind so as to reveal the profound significance and find out new values of research. The analysis of grotesques plays an important role in the discussion of the literary works. With Anderson's high sensitivity to the taste and feel of the small-town life, he depicts a group of men and women who are spiritually tortured at the transitional period of the society. The problems which afflict these individuals are indiscriminate despite their difference in status, wealth, gender and age. The essence of the characters can be revealed in a phrase or an accident does not mean that the characters in the stories are slight or simple. Delving into the inner hearts of characters, we have found out the basic causes for soul distortion. Winesburg, Ohio laid its emphasis on people's torment by modern industrial changes and penetrated below surface appearance to reveal the essence of repressed humanity.