The Life and Works of John Steinbeck Essay Example

Introduction

“Too often Steinbeck’s work has been viewed piecemeal, even when the critical intention has been rounded view” (Levant 1). In the 1960s is when English scholars started diving deep into the work of literature and finding new ideas for each story. These English scholars while looking at American literature took a deep dive into the works of Steinbeck. One reading the works of Steinbeck can connect his work on the pages to his own actual life as a kid. 

Background 

Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902, the son of John Ernst Steinbeck Sr. and Olive Steinbeck. His parents both went to California after the Civil War (Lisca 22). Steinbeck was born and raised in the Salinas Valley in California. This is where Steinbeck got most of his settings in his novels. In most of Steinbeck’s novels, he has certain connections between his parents to his characters in his novels (Lisca 21-22). Steinbeck had a great connection to nature as a kid. He loved the Gabilan Mountains and the coast of California. (Lisca 22) Since Steinbeck’s mother was a schoolteacher, Steinbeck would see the books at his home from the classroom and it interested him at an early age (Lisca 23). Steinbeck, during high school, was very successful, and he was at the top of his class. He was also the president of his senior class (Lisca 24).

Steinbeck got a scholarship to go to Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. He was an English major and was there for five years. He could not get his degree because he finished with less than half a unit to earn a degree (Lisca 24). While at Stanford, he wrote for them, writing two stories for The Stanford Spectator and writing three poems for the Stanford Lit (Lisca 24).  In 1925, he left Stanford to go to New York City, planning to become a writer. There he wrote an autobiography talking about his life and college writing (Lisca 25). After, his move to New York failed, he moved back to California to work as a caretaker on an estate on Lake Tahoe. There he would start his career writing Cup of Gold (Lisca 25). 

Cup of Gold 

Cup of Gold is one of the first works Steinbeck did, also his first big breakthrough with writing. It was released in 1929, just two months before the stock market crash (Moore 11). The novel was rewritten 6 times. Steinbeck liked to listen to music while writing and had certain music on to help him, for this book he took time finding the right music (Moore 12). Many book critics at the time said the book has flaws with overwriting, but it gains strength with overwriting because of shows a lack of self-consciousness (Moore 11). Steinbeck’s first novel is noted to have a recurrence of symbols of concavity and roundness (Moore 13). The book follows a pirate named Henry Morgan, he starts as a farmer who hears stories of pirates who sail in the Caribbean, this encourages him to become a pirate (Moore 12). Throughout the book, Henry becomes a famous pirate along with the book and establishes two goals: to capture Panama from the Spanish and win the heart of Red Saint (Moore 12). Cup of Gold was adopted from an earlier story, “A Lady in Infra-Red”, which Steinbeck wrote in his college days (Moore 12). Cup of Gold at the time of the release released about 1,500 copies, this was more than the combined sales of Steinbeck's next two books (Moore 17)

The Grapes of Wrath 

The Grapes of Wrath is remembered as one of the most influential books by Steinbeck, but many works from him also have a deep style, theme, and symbols (Levant 7). Steinbeck worked on Grapes of Wrath in 1938, first, he thought the book wasn't on par as much, and that he wouldn't have liked it. He wanted to connect his books better, each has a certain element to the other (French 92). Later that year in autumn, Steinbeck revised it and called it Grapes of Wrath. During the revision, Steinbeck pushed himself like no other book (French 92). 

The book enters by talking about the effects of dust storms. In Steinbeck's work, one sees a pattern of naturalistic works (French 92). As the story shifts, the readers see how the narrative becomes something different, Steinbeck shows a story of the awakening of his conscience (French 92). “This you may say of man-when theories change and crash, when schools, philosophies, when narrow dark alleys of thought, national, religious, economic, grow and disintegrate, man reaches, stumstepped forward, he may slip back, but only half a step, never the full step back” (French 92). Grapes of Wrath at first was not looked at as a piece of fiction, but rather looked at as a substantial fact (French 94). The Grapes of Wrath was more pertinent to sociology and psychology than to history at the time of the release (French 94). No American novel has created such an immediate reaction since Uncle Tom's Cabin (French 94). Steinbeck in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech talked about his work on Grapes of Wrath: “I hold that a writer who does not passionately believe in the perfectibility of man has no dedication nor or any membership in Literature” (French 93).

The Red Pony

Another significant novel made by the connective mind of Steinbeck is The Red Pony. The Red Pony is about a boy named Jody, the book is divided into four sections; The Gift, The Great Mountains, The Promise, and The Leader of the People (Johnson 1). “The Ranch” throughout the story is the setting, showing Steinbeck’s recurrence of western ranches in California (Johnson 1). The first story, The Gift, centers around a horse that’s owned by Jody, given by his father. Jody names the horse Gabilan. Jody thinks Gabilan is able to be ridden, he gets sick after being left in the rain. One of the employees on the ranch has to resort to cutting the horse's throat and inserting a breathing hold. After Gabilan recovers he runs away, Jody finds him dead being fed on by vultures (Johnson 3-4). “The Great Mountains”, the next story talks about a visitor named Gitano, Gitano is an old Mexican who exclaims to the family that he was raised on the ranch. He tells that he wishes to stay on the ranch until he dies. At night Jody talks to Gitano. He asks him if he has ever been to The Great Mountains. Gitano recalls that he has but does not remember much about it. Something about the conversation fuels him to go back to The Great Mountains one last time (Johnson 8-10). “The Promise” is the third section, it talks about how Jody wants the opportunity to raise a colt from birth. Jody is given a horse named Nellie to breed, because of this Jody has to start doing chores to earn money to take care of the horse. After remembering about Gabilan he worries something bad will happen. When the birth of a colt comes problems arise. Nellie becomes ill and Nellie has to be killed in the process of the birth (Johnson 11-14). The last story, The Leader of the People, talks about Jody’s grandfather who is coming to visit him. Jody’s grandfather is known for saying the same story over and over, talking about the great plains. Jody listens to his grandfather and is inspired by his stories of leading people across the Great Plains. Jody’s grandfather tells him he can’t because the days of exploration are over (Johnson 14-15). 

The Red Pony is a story about a child with a unique childhood, revolving around the ranch and life lessons. Steinbeck uses the ranch as a setting because as a young boy like Jody, Steinbeck loved the ranch as a kid (Johnson 15-16). 

Of Mice and Men

Steinbeck wrote Of Mice and Men in 1937, it became popular when released, and also shares themes with The Red Pony (Davis 15). Steinbeck talks about Of Mice and Men in an interesting way saying; “This is at once the sadness, the greatness, and the triumph of our species” (Davis 15).  There are three main topics that establish the theme, the animal identities and animal-like traits of the characters, the dreams of rising above the animal level, and the society whose animalistic drive for survival crushes the human spirit (Davis 15). Of Mice and Men talks about a ranch like The Red pony, showing Steinbeck’s love of western ranches (Davis 16).  The book talks about George and Lennie who are migrant workers in California. Their dream is to own their own ranch (Davis 17). The book talks about how Lennie as a character is like an animal, looking as big as a bear, but is also compared to acting like a small dog (Davis 16). Another character that is animal-like is Curly, Curly is described as an undersized tomcat who likes to challenge everyone he sees to a fight (Davis 16). While talking to Lennie, George can tell that Lennie has a learning disability, and finds out that Lennie, who likes to pet animals, kills a mouse and has been carrying it to the ranch (Davis 17). Again one can see Steinbeck talking about a thing he remembered as a child, he talks about the Salinas River (Davis 17). 

Critics of Steinbeck

 Looking back at it, Author Peter Lisca announced he had wished he explored the work of Steinbeck better, saying the short stories and the novels created techniques (Levant 4). While Lisca studies Steinbeck’s work in one of his books, The Grapes of Wrath, he sees the different styles, themes, and symbols (Levant 6). The three thematic patterns from Steinbeck are a man being a religious creature and providing for personal needs, a view of a man being a “group animal”, and a man who is unaware of his existence (Lavant 9). Many critics of the book state that Steinbeck’s theory of society is not clear, but the Levant looks at Steinbeck’s lack of faith in any fixed political system and knows a man's job in society (Lavant 11). Levant talks about how the audience from when Steinbeck’s work came out differs ‌from now, and he wanted readers to understand that (Levant 8). Howard Levant states ‌he wishes to push the “useful analytical method”, wanting to push for an even bigger idea (Levant 10).