And in constructing the novella this way Steinbeck wants to draw the readers attention to what he sees as certain urgent and widespread social problems." (Attell) The workers at the farm do not own either the means of production nor the product, and so they are essentially operating as nothing more or less than humanoid farming implements
Steinbeck's strongest convictions and passions appear in his fundamental belief in humanity, in his expectation that man will endure, and that the creative forces of the human spirit will prevail." (McCarthy, p
What is sad, what is tragic, what is horrible, is that the Dream may not come true because we are -- each and all of us -- too limited, too selfish, too much in conflict with one another." (Scarseth p
They get wantin' to fight all the time." (Steinbeck, 827) It is precisely because of this tendency that the central characters, Lennie and George, travel together
The authors' different outlooks are probably due to their different backgrounds. Steinbeck was a 20th Century Californian, raised as an Episcopalian (Benson
Hester Prynne, the beautiful adulteress who bears a child and a scarlet letter "A" for adultery, shows complexity, for example, in her shame and defiance: "[I]t seemed to be her first impulse to clasp the infant closely to her bosom; not so much by an impulse of motherly affection, as that she might thereby conceal a certain token, which was wrought or fastened into her dress. In a moment, however, wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another, she took the baby on her arm, and, with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed, looked around at her townspeople and neighbours" (Hawthorne 37)
(This should be somewhat qualified about Steinbeck himself, as Steinbeck does consider divinity, sin, guilt, alienation and redemption in East of Eden, with the empowering "thou mayest rule over sin," but that must be left to another paper.) Hawthorne, on the other hand, was a 19th Century Puritan from Salem, Massachusetts (Miller
Both authors use paradox to describe their characters, giving their views of humanity's complexity. As Brian Railsback wrote, "[Cannery Row's] humor, its satire, and even its tragedy derive from paradox, and most of the characters are defined by paradox" (Railsback 228)
Steinbeck's main characters of Doc, Mac and Nora are all drawn in paradox. Doc is a complex character who has conflicting traits on multiple levels: he "can kill anything for need but he could not even hurt a feeling for pleasure" (Steinbeck
Naturalism The term "naturalism" can refer to many different things, but in the world of literature the label applies to a certain philosophical perspective and set of stylistic choices and symbolic images that imply both a scientific objectivity and yet a close connection with human impulses and motives (Cutajar 2010; Campbell 2010). That is, naturalist writers are concerned with developing a system for understanding human behavior, and believe that rational and logical explanations for this behavior could be developed if the forces influencing behavior could be sufficiently understood (Campbell 2010)
This is where a certain starkness in style that is evocative of the period itself begins to emerge. Naturalism The term "naturalism" can refer to many different things, but in the world of literature the label applies to a certain philosophical perspective and set of stylistic choices and symbolic images that imply both a scientific objectivity and yet a close connection with human impulses and motives (Cutajar 2010; Campbell 2010)
The Great Depression Like most major economic events in modern history, the Great Depression is a highly simplistic way of referring to a time period created by fairly complex and ongoing economic forces. Throughout the 1920s, the newly created Federal Reserve system gave investors a great deal of confidence that the economy would be stabilized, and when the Fed tried raising interest rates in 1928 and 1929 to discourage stock market speculation, business reacted by shrinking back hugely in a succession of mutually harmful protectionist practices (DeLong 1997)
Though The Grapes of Wrath is not directly concerned with the machinations of the economic system that had been created in contemporary American society (the subject is addressed in a symbolic and decidedly non-economic manner, as will be detailed below), it is important to understand the failures of the financial institutions in the country during the 1930s in order to understand the totality of the Joad family's plight. The recession did not occur only in the United States, but took place on a global level; investors were left without money to invest from companies failing, companies failed due to a lack of investment, and the entire global system of finance and trade essentially ground down to an excruciating snail's (or turtle's) pace (Smiley 2008)
The chapter describes a turtle attempting to cross a hot and dusty highway, and its encounters with two different vehicles -- one driven by a woman that swerves to avoid the creature, and a larger truck driven by a man that swerves to hit it. The turtle is flipped onto the other side of the highway, struggles to get back on its feet, and continues plodding on its way (Steinbeck 1939)
From 1919 to 1925, when he finally left Stanford without taking a degree, Steinbeck dropped in and out of the University, sometimes to work closely with migrants and bindlestiffs on California ranches. Those relationships, coupled with an early sympathy for the weak and defenseless, deepened his empathy for workers, the disenfranchised, the lonely and dislocated, an empathy that is characteristic in his work" (Shillinglaw 1)
"Why soldiers won't talk:" John Steinbeck's imaginative essay on the psychological impact of war One of the most interesting aspects of John Steinbeck's essay "Why Soldiers Won't Talk" is the way in which he subtly shifts from the first person to the second person in the essay. He begins the essay stating that he himself is not a soldier: "During the years between the last war and this one, I was always puzzled by the reticence of ex-soldiers about their experiences in battle" (Steinbeck 1)
"Why soldiers won't talk:" John Steinbeck's imaginative essay on the psychological impact of war One of the most interesting aspects of John Steinbeck's essay "Why Soldiers Won't Talk" is the way in which he subtly shifts from the first person to the second person in the essay. He begins the essay stating that he himself is not a soldier: "During the years between the last war and this one, I was always puzzled by the reticence of ex-soldiers about their experiences in battle" (Steinbeck 1)
"Why soldiers won't talk:" John Steinbeck's imaginative essay on the psychological impact of war One of the most interesting aspects of John Steinbeck's essay "Why Soldiers Won't Talk" is the way in which he subtly shifts from the first person to the second person in the essay. He begins the essay stating that he himself is not a soldier: "During the years between the last war and this one, I was always puzzled by the reticence of ex-soldiers about their experiences in battle" (Steinbeck 1)
intervention in the conflict. "Those who knew Steinbeck say he was a personally conservative man, holding strictly to many old-fashioned values" and in fact he opposed the Vietnam War demonstrations later in his life (Sullivan 17)
For instance, when Steinbeck accepted the Nobel Prize for Literature, in his acceptance speech he said, "The ancient commission of the writer has not changed. He is charged with exposing many of our grievious faults and failures, with dreding up to the light our dark and dangerous dreams for the purpose of improvement" (George, 83)