Whinesburg, Ohio begins with the narration of an old writer who delves into the meaning of the word grotesque. To most people, the word grotesque can mean many things. According to Merriam-Webster, the meaning of grotesque is “very strange or ugly in a way that is not normal or natural.” Even if this is true, it is not what the old writer gives as the definition of grotesque in the Book of the Grotesque. The old writer's definition of what is grotesque will shape the rest of the stories of Winesburg, Ohio. This definition is completely unique to the old writer and embodies every character in the book. The old writer believed that “it was the truth that made people grotesque. … It was his belief that the moment one of the people took one of the truths for 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. This idea of ​​what it means to become a grotesque is layered throughout the different stories. The narrator's theory of the grotesque remains the same throughout the story. The most notable grotesques can be seen in the stories, Hands, The Strength of God and Paper Pills. These stories show what makes characters grotesque, and no two people are grotesque in the same way. Sherwood Anderson describes all the characters in his 24 stories as grotesque. He prefaces most of the stories with the old writer's definition of what it means to be a grotesque. This definition frames how the book should be interpreted in different stories. Anderson paints every character as grotesque. However, it doesn't paint them in the same light. What may make one person grotesque may not make another person grotesque... middle of paper... good thing, however, in the case of the old writer, it is something very unique. For the old writer, to be grotesque is not to be strange and ugly, but to let one truth govern one's life and create falsehoods from all other parts of life. This bizarre definition, given by the old writer, shapes Winesburg, Ohio and every single story contained in the books. As the book is read, more characters are revealed. However, the level of difficulty in revealing the grotesqueness of the characters becomes more difficult. This is due to the fact that each character is grotesque in their own way. There is no one way to be grotesque. The fact that every character is grotesque allows the old writer's definition or theory to shape every story in the book. Not a page goes by where Anderson doesn't allude to a truth a character holds or why that truth makes him grotesque..