【正文】 owing is how he explains it: “There was the truth of virginity and the truth of passion, the truth of poverty and of wealth, of thrift and of profligacy, of abandon and carelessness. Hundreds and hundreds were the truths and they were all beautiful.And then people came along. Each snatched up one of the truths as he appeared and some who were very strong snatched up dozens of them.It was truths that made the people bee grotesque. It was his notion that the moment one of the people took one of the truths to himself, called it his truth, and tried to live his life by it, he became a grotesque and the truth he embraced became a falsehood”(Anderson, 2004: 56).Although these grotesques long for understanding by others, they fail to step out of the “truth” prison to have normal exchange with other people. What they do is to retreat into isolation as a defense against the outside world. They suppress themselves to express feeling, thought and love, lest the heart get hurt again.In this novel, the grotesques have keen desire for love and understanding, but they rarely get them. In “Hand”, Wing Biddlebaum attempted to express his love for his students through caressing them with his hands. But he was misunderstood and punished by the citizens for they thought he was a homosexual. He was driven out of his hometown losing the courage to express his feeling again. In “The Teacher”, Kate Swift was tortured by lack of love and understanding. She always repressed her inner thought and passion because few people got close to her or really understood and appreciated her. In “Paper Bill”, Doctor Reef met his true love who could understand him. Unfortunately, that woman died one day. From then on, Doctor Reef confined himself into the small clinic and seldom walked out. One thing he had been used to doing was to write down his feelings and thoughts on scrapes of paper. Elmer Cowley in the story of “Queer” tried to gain love and respect from his neighbors but what he got was just contempt, which greatly hurt him and let his courage disappear. The seemingly normal man, Seth Richmond in “The Thinker” even had no courage to show Helen White his love for her and thus lost the possibility of getting love. In the story “Mother”, Elizabeth Willard was a person who was lacking in love. She never got her parents’ care and her husband’s love even if she had struggled for gaining it. She was also a good example of weakening in expressing love, especially to her son George. She wanted George to live the life that he really liked, not the way her husband ever told him. But when they sat together, the words they said were always the same. “I thought you had better go out among the boys. You were too much indoors”。 “I thought I would take a walk” (Anderson, 2004). The conversation between them is just like this. What they say is meaningless. It is not difficult to see that language here loses its municative function. Though Elizabeth Willard has so many words she wants to talk to her son, the utterances are never spoken out. She can not find right words to express her true feelings. If she municates well with her son, maybe she will get released from her painful and miserable life. She will not feel so hopeless, lonely and repressed.Chapter Four The Roads to Salvation of the GrotesquesIn Winesburg, Ohio, Anderson Sherwood pares the grotesques as the twisted but sweetest apples, which signifies he gives a deep sympathy for the lonely and miserable life of the grotesques. But where is the road of the grotesque leading to salvation? Contacting with George WillardIn the novel, George Willard is a reporter contacting different townspeople. He has the chance to know about the grotesques. In these grotesques’ eyes, George is an innocent and promising young man, he can understand them with passion and love, and they are willing to talk with George so as to find some fort and consolation. Their contact with George reflects that they are seeking their roads to salvation. For a long time, the grotesques have suffered many blows from various aspects and their bodies and minds have bee weak and frail. They withdraw from the noisy outside world, healing their broken heart in their small personal world. But at the bottom of their heart, they have the same need of emotion。 even the need is more intense than the normal people. They are desperately eager to municate with people, to get love and care, and they long for the life of ordinary people. Industrialization deforms them but as the persons in society, they still want to adapt to the world. So they make friends with George who will not bring them harm. They want George to be the bridge of munication with other people. Their behaviors indicate their efforts to be a normal man, to seek salvation. In a sense, George Willard brings the grotesques great hope. In the story “The Teacher”, Kate Swift was an indifferent and stern person. She was not very pretty. Everyone in the town felt there was something biting and forbidding in her character. She thought her student George had the gift for writing. Kate Swift was ablaze with thoughts of George Willard. “She thought she had recognized the spark of the genius and wanted to blow on it” (Anderson, 2004). Finally on a snowy night, she found George and talked with him. Her behavior signifies she still holds her dream and never gives up the pursuit of it. In “Hand”, the grotesque Wing Biddlebaum always waited for George’s ing. Through the contact and munication with George, he could get a moment of tranquility and ease. During their conversation, Wing Biddlebaum often acted as the protagonist while George acted as a listener and learner. With the young reporter by the side, he talked excitedly. His low and trembling voice became shrill and loud. Only at this moment, Wing Biddlebaum is happy and free. He finds his dream and shows the true self. “With a kind of winkle, like a fish returned to t