"Steinbeck the Common Man"
John Steinbeck's use of his experiences to illustrate the common man in his novels.
"Write what you know"; it is a phrase that makes a lot of sense, but is not always followed. However, in the case of John Steinbeck the phrase rings true. Steinbeck uses experiences from his life in Salinas, California, to influence his writings about the common man. Steinbeck does not write in a high lofty voice or write about the rich and powerful. Although Steinbeck did come from wealth, his mother?s family the Hamilton?s were a part of high society, he chose to work and tell the stories of the people he met along the way. Steinbeck used his experiences in Salinas, California, to write novels about the common man and how different every common man truly is, through his novels he wedged Salinas into the hearts of all readers. He uses the setting to describe the characters that typically do not get their stories told. Steinbeck's own life would not have been the topic for a book, but that is what makes his writing unique. It does not deal with someone necessarily considered important at first glance, but he brings the importance and life into these atypical characters.
Steinbeck was born in the Salinas Valley in 1902. He lived in the very setting that many of his characters inhabited. The Salinas Valley was known for producing lettuce, broccoli, and celery. It has many small towns stretching up and down a span of eighty miles (O'loughlin, 1). Steinbeck was born to John Sr. and Olive Steinbeck. His father was the treasurer of Monterey County after failed business attempts. His mother was a schoolteacher in the local Salinas Valley public school system. They were not extraordinary people, but they both encouraged Steinbeck to read and write, which was the basis for his love of literature (Steinbeck Country, 1). As a child Steinbeck?s aunt first sparked his love of literature when she gave him Morte d? Arthur. This book would become a good base for Steinbeck?s literary knowledge. He learned the difference between right and wrong and good and evil (Potter, 1).
This very idea of good and evil comes into play greatly in his novel East of Eden. He parallels the stories of his own characters to those of Adam and Eve, and Cain and Able. He illustrates his point particularly through symbolic characters. The "A" characters, Adam, Alice, Aaron, Abra, and Abel, are the good people, while the "C" characters, Cathy, Cyrus, Charles, Caleb, and Cain, are the evil people. He demonstrates that evil can be present at birth, like original sin, or it can form over time, like through jealousy (Potter, 3).
When Steinbeck began college at Stanford University, he did not attend for very long or graduate, but he lasted long enough to learn a valuable stylistic lesson that he would keep with him for the rest of his career. That lesson was that he would need to shorten his writing and not make it so inflated. With this information and the fact that he had always been somewhat of a loner, his style of writing about the outcasts and the not so extraordinary was born (Potter, 1).
In Of Mice and Men Lennie and George are both outcasts from the group. George is outcast because he is not as physically able as the other men are. He is short and he is weaker than the other men are. Lennie is outcast from the crowd in a different sort of way. He is mentally challenged, which keeps him intellectually separated from the other ranch hands. He also has a secret from the past that he knows could ruin him if it gets out. He grabbed a girl in Weed, the last town they worked in, and the two men were forced to leave (Of Mice and Men, 4-6). The men are separated from the rest of the ranch because of their differences and troubles, but even with their differences Steinbeck has a story to tell which is far more real than hearing a stereotyped ranch tale (Of Mice and Men, 10-12).
Steinbeck fills the pages of Cannery Row with stories of loners and outcasts. Almost every inhabitant of the row is separated from what is considered normal. Doc may seem typical, but he does not exactly lead the typical life for a nice marine biologist. He is almost the definition of a loner, and he chooses this path. He has the respect and love of the entire community, but he has no steady person to share his happiness with. He lives alone and longs for the evenings of solitude where he can just be alone and listen to his records. Doc could have his choice of almost anyone for companionship, but his true passion is his work and he chooses to live his life alone (Cannery Row, 21-24).
Mack and the boys who live in the palace flophouse are definitely what you would call unusual. None of the boys hold a steady job. They are all grown men who live on Lee Chong?s property without paying rent (Cannery Row, 33). And although they mean well with their plans to throw Doc a party to show their appreciation for everything he has done for them, the party is a disaster and they end up damaging Doc?s house. The boys will take odd jobs for short periods of time, and then use their money to go buy alcohol. The boys who live in The Palace are anything, but respectable and yet Steinbeck shows an endearing side of the boys and illustrates a community that embraces them even with their flaws (Cannery Row, 33-37).
Dora and the girls who occupy the Bear Flag Restaurant are definitely not typical waitresses. The women who occupy this place would typically be considered social outcasts for their profession. They work at a gentleman's club, and Steinbeck manages to bring life to these outcasts (Cannery Row, 13). He shows how kind some of the girls are and how they have dreams of doing bigger and better things. They have dreams of leaving and Steinbeck even shows that some of them achieve this dream and leave this place. Dora and the girls are shown in a light which gives them intellect and class, they are not seen through the stereotype of their profession, but through each individual personality with a spirit all their own (Cannery Row, 15-17).
Steinbeck tells the story of a Chinese man who walks the streets every morning before the sun comes up. He tells of how this man walks everyday, but no one knows him or sees him. Steinbeck takes the time to point out the character that no one else would notice. He shows this man as a lonely soul who does not want to be seen or followed. Steinbeck illustrates how there are even different types of loners because this man is quite different compared to Doc. He does not speak to anyone in the community; he does not even come out when other people are around. Loners and outcasts, just like any other type of people, vary greatly person to person, which is clearly seen through the image of the Chinese man (Cannery Row, 18-20).
Steinbeck was married a total of three times. His first marriage was to Carol Henning; the couple lived in Pacific Grove. While he was married to her he gathered most of the material for Cannery Row, which was the ultimate story of the working man. Cannery Row is clearly influenced greatly by location. The story takes place in the very area that Steinbeck and his wife were living. It is a story of a community and how that community interacts. Steinbeck received a lot of flack from his first wife for spending too much time on his work and not enough time with her (Working Days, xlvii). It would seem that in this novel he reflects his own love of being independent by creating a community full of loners. While they all have an understanding of each other many of the characters choose to be alone. They choose to follow what makes them happy and not to be tied down to what society tells them they should do or be. They do not have typical family lives or jobs (Cannery Row, 91).
His second wife was Gwyn Conger. This marriage resulted in two sons and the inspiration for East of Eden. Much of this book focuses on relationships between father and sons, and siblings. It demonstrates how a parent favoring one child can cause so much jealousy that one man could kill his own brother. Steinbeck brings the story of Cain and Abel to life through his very real brothers. He shows how dark relationships can become if they are not treated properly (Mc Elrath, 5).
His first two marriages failed because he spent too much time on his writing and not enough time with his family. His third and final marriage was to Elaine Scott. This was finally a stable marriage. Steinbeck became internationally recognized as an important author during this time (Working Days, xlvii). Steinbeck was a secluded man who enjoyed solitude, but as a writer the events, people and conditions of his life greatly influenced his writings (Working Days, 131). Steinbeck said, "I think that I would like to write the story of this whole valley, of all the little towns and all the farms and the ranches in the wilder hills. I can see how I would like to do it so that it would be the valley of the world" (Working Days, 130).
Steinbeck learned about the people of the valley through working a variety of jobs; he was a ranch hand, laboratory assistant, a caretaker, and worked hard labor at some other jobs. He would even take jobs at companies to see what was going wrong. He used these experiences in his novels (O'loughlin, 1). During high school he worked on cattle ranches. Steinbeck worked on farms picking fruit while attending Stanford. Through these jobs he paid for his schooling and got most of his background information for the book Of Mice and Men (Potter, 1).
Of Mice and Men spotlights a ranch. The requirements to work on a ranch are simply to be physically able. This is the very reason why Lennie does such a good job working on a ranch. He is stronger than any of the other men there (Of Mice and Men, 4). However, he does encounter social problems. Steinbeck shows that a ranch is a community with people at the heart. And with any community conflicts can arise. Lennie is very strong and would appear like a good ranch hand, but he is mentally slow and does not realize his own strength (Of Mice and Men, 5). He runs into social problems particularly whenever his superior Curly gets involved. Curly becomes jealous of Lennie when he beats a machine. But the real problem occurs when Lennie goes off with Curly?s wife. She is somewhat of a tart and encourages flirting, but Lennie does not understand when his actions are too much. Lennie is caressing her head and he breaks her neck (Of Mice and Men, 58-60). Obviously this is a problem and on a ranch they would take care of a problem like this with a shotgun (Of Mice and Men, 64).
The ranch is seen as a somewhat primitive place, but the thing that shines through more than the setting is the relationship between Lennie and George. George protects Lennie and the two are a team. Even in the rough world of ranches people build relationships that are strong and built on love. Steinbeck shows how a stereotypical ranch can still contain people who have a bond so tight that each man would do anything to protect the other. In the case of this book that means that George has to kill Lennie (Of Mice and Men, 96). He knows that no matter what Lennie will die, so he tells Lennie about their dream of owning their own farm filled with bunnies. He tells Lennie that they are leaving to finally fulfill the dream that kept them working all this time on the ranch, but then he kills Lennie. It had to be done, so George did it in a way that let Lennie leave happy and as painlessly as possible. A ranch is seen as a rough and uncaring place in this book, but it is also seen as a place filled with relationships and heart (Of Mice and Men, 98).
Steinbeck also worked for the Spreckels Sugar Company. He worked there for six years as an assistant chemist and at the Manteca facility as a night chemist. He drew inspiration for many characters from these experiences (Steinbeck Country, 1). Doc owns Western Biological, which specializes in distributing different animals to other companies and locations. Mack and the boys on many occasions help Doc out by going out to the coast of Monterey Bay and finding sea creatures and frogs for Doc. The members of the Row become Doc?s assistants. Steinbeck worked for Spreckles for a large portion of his adolescence and through his experiences he felt it necessary to include Doc and his company. He needed to tell the story of working as a chemist. Doc clearly loved his work and took a great deal of pride in helping people. Throughout his work at Spreckles Steinbeck would have come in contact with many chemists who loved to help people just the way that Doc did (Cannery Row, 21-24).
Steinbeck knew that people wanted to read about the truth. He wrote the truth because he experienced all that he wrote about. He took the time to listen to the people he met along the way no matter how small they may have seemed. Since he did this he was able to bring life to the hobos, migrants, drifters and dreamers. He listened to all of their stories and was able to bring them to life through his writing (Potter, 1). Cannery Row is filled with drifters and dreamers. Mack is probably the biggest dreamer in the book. He dreams up a plan to show Doc how much he means to the whole community; his plan is to throw Doc a party (Cannery Row, 38-40). Mack dreams up schemes that are typically good intentioned, but oftentimes his schemes do not work out so well. When Mack attempts to throw this party he ends up making Doc angry not happy. He destroys much of Docs prized album collection and house. And the worst part is Doc does not even make it to the party that Mack is throwing for him in his own house. With most dreamers they are filled with good intent and mean well with their plans, but the plans and dreams never seem to go quite as well as they did in the dream (Cannery Row, 110-115).
Steinbeck saw first hand a dispute between workers and growers in a lettuce strike. But this was more than a dispute, it was a riot. People were killing each other in his hometown. Steinbeck became angry over the bully tactics used. He wrote "L'Affaire Lettuceberg" which was a vulgar attack on the leaders of the problems in Salinas. After he finished the first draft he knew he could not publish this book. After this he decided The Grapes of Wrath would be how he addressed the problem facing his home (Working Days, xxxviii). Steinbeck went to Visalia and worked for two weeks. Everything he saw there changed him. He saw the suffering migrants faced with no food, no fire, and no nurses to help the people. This was what Steinbeck needed to go from "The Harvest Gypsies" which explained the situation facing migrants, but had no real heart and no real personal story, to The Grapes of Wrath, which brought the reader into the emotional side of the issue (Working Days, xlii). Steinbeck worked with other actual migrants in the fields of Visalia. He used the experiences of actually talking, working, and listening to the migrant workers. It was not until he went there that Steinbeck truly gained what he needed to write a great novel (Working Days, xli).
The Grapes of Wrath was meant to show the corrupt side of a powerful, wealthy, and tyrannical California Industrialized Agricultural System, Associated Farmers Inc. It violated migrant workers rights and ensured their loss of dignity. It also showed the powerlessness, poverty, victimization and fear of the nomadic migrants who stayed alive through their will, resourcefulness, and innate resilience (Working Days, xxxiii). It is a historical look at the California tyrannical farm and the labor conditions people faced (Working Days, xxiii). The Grapes of Wrath is about the "common people" and how to make equitable social conditions (Working Days, xxii). Parts of The Grapes of Wrath are very biographical. In the middle of the book, Steinbeck writes about how the western states socioeconomic basis was changing. It was very heartfelt and filled with concern for families who were losing their farms (The Grapes of Wrath, 163-166). It was this point in time that Steinbeck was about to purchase a large amount of land. This chapter should have been placed later on in the novel, but Steinbeck's experience prompted him to write it and pushed him to place it where it is (Working Days, 14-15).
Steinbeck did more than let the landscape fill the pages of his stories. He knew the people and let their stories shine through (O'loughlin, 1). He created the Joads from what he had seen. It wasn't just a situation, now it was personal. He used the Joads to bring the struggles of migrants to life in such a real way. The way that Steinbeck himself had seen it in Visalia (Working Days, xliii). The Joads were just a typical farming family in Oklahoma when the Great Depression hit and forced them off of their land. They lost their farm and it seemed like their only hope was to travel to California and make a new start (The Grapes of Wrath, 1-4). The only hope any of the families had was to keep the dream of something being better than what they had. Steinbeck showed this hope in the Joads through their will and determination to make it to his own homeland. Steinbeck had experienced the hardships that families such as the Joads must have faced and he knew that his own home was a much better place to be. He kept this dream alive in the Joads throughout the book to give them a goal so they would not give up.
Steinbeck brought a huge problem in America to light in this novel. He showed the lives of a group of people who were forced out of their home due to the Great Depression. He looked at a group of people who the rest of the country wanted to ignore. He brought the migrant workers struggles to life through this novel and showed America what they had been trying to ignore was actually in fact quite real. Steinbeck experienced the horror that faced these people and felt it was necessary to share their struggle. He was influenced so heavily by the people he met he could not ignore the situation.
Ed Ricketts, whom he met during the Great Depression in Salinas, influenced Steinbeck?s works greatly as well. Ricketts taught Steinbeck about the "phalanx" concept, which deals with an individual within a group (Mc Elrath, 2). Steinbeck uses this theory in many books. In Cannery Row, he dissects an entire community using this very concept. He starts out with a little street near Monterey, California, and from there each chapter is a look into a different character?s life. He takes individuals out of little groups on the street. The Palace Flophouse Boys have their own set of adventures separate from the rest of Cannery Row, but also each boy inside the Palace Flophouse also has adventures separate from the other Flophouse boys. The characters in this book are not extraordinary people; in fact most of the characters are quite common (Cannery Row, 33-37).
In the book Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck again uses this concept, but he does alter the concept slightly. Steinbeck places this book on a ranch in California, but the focus of the book is on two ranch hands that are quite atypical from all the rest. He takes a type of person and shows two individuals, within that group of people, who defy the typical stereotype. One of the men is "slow" and yet stronger than any other man out there. The other man is incredibly smart, but very weak in typical ranch hand standards (Of Mice and Men, 4-6). The interesting thing about the two men is that they realize their weaknesses, and they also realize that together they are an unstoppable team. They are the strongest and smartest man when they are combined. But apart they are doomed to fail. Steinbeck focuses on just how strong their connection becomes. Each man would do anything for the other. Steinbeck dissects the group and finds individuals within that are not the stereotype at all (Of Mice and Men, 4-6).
Ricketts also influenced Steinbeck by becoming his business partner. Ricketts was a marine zoologist and the two men co-owned Pacific Biological in Monterey California (Mc Elrath, 3). This information sounds nearly identical to Cannery Row. In Cannery Row, Doc is the owner of Western Biological. Doc is the most highly respected man in the community; everyone in Cannery Row loves him. He is extremely concerned with animals, but he is always willing to help out his neighbors, especially the boys from the palace flophouse (Cannery Row, 21-23). Doc is clearly the character that everyone respects in the community, even Lee Chong, the crabby grocery store owner. The community attempted to thank doc many times, but somehow it always turned out bad. Yet Doc never got mad, actually he appreciated the attempt, Doc was a good guy who had a positive influence on everyone he met on Cannery Row (Cannery Row, 38-40). It would seem that Ricketts also had a positive effect on Steinbeck, he inspired him to write an amazing character, and he showed him a concept that Steinbeck uses in nearly all of his writing (Astro, 4).
Ricketts also taught Steinbeck how to observe as a scientist in everything. Scientists gather all data and then they analyze it to form a conclusion in the end. So also, Steinbeck would observe people and gather information to analyze these people and in the end share their stories with the world (Astro, 1). The novel Cannery Row is like a slice of life. It is almost entirely an observation of a place. Ricketts seemed to influence this novel in many ways. Steinbeck could be described as observing the inhabitants of Cannery Row as a scientist would observe his subjects. He does not show judgment on any of the people in fact he shows the truth. Typically an author would stereotype prostitutes and jobless people as bad, but in this novel Steinbeck simply shows them as what they are, people. Steinbeck has a way of showing the most stereotypically horrible person, as a human just like everyone else. The prostitutes make as many mistakes as Doc does. And they also show just as much or even more love. The women that typically would be scoffed at, are depicted as lovingly slaving over a quilt to show their appreciation for Doc. Steinbeck shows an unbiased view of people (Cannery Row, 154-157).
In, Of Mice and Men, most people would consider Lennie to be a monster. He practically raped a girl in Weed, he killed rabbits, and he broke a woman?s neck. However, Steinbeck shows him for what he really is, a man who does not understand his own strength or what is socially acceptable. He shows the loving side of Lennie, who loved the rabbits so much that he got excited to hold one and smashed it to death (Of Mice and Men, 46). Steinbeck shows the truth about Lennie and all of his characters. Steinbeck does not take a side and show what a good person is. He looks at people as a scientist would; he shows their good and bad sides. He looks for the truth and shares that truth with the world.
Steinbeck through the concept learned by Ricketts can truly show a common man. He starts with a group and picks out someone that seems typical. The character appears quite normal, but Steinbeck shows that a common man can do the same things as a seemingly heroic character in other books. Steinbeck was born into a seemingly typical family himself. His father was anything but successful. His father, John Ernst, was an unsuccessful businessman and his mother, Olive Hamilton, was a teacher for most of her life and was extremely well educated (Mc Elrath, 3). Although his mother was well educated and could hold a job, a teaching career was not exactly considered a high-class job. John himself seemed to be a great success when he began his education; he was even accepted into Stanford University. But he did not last long at Stanford. He took a break to work on a ranch (Mc Elrath, 4). This experience on a ranch ended up showing through a lot of his novels.
Steinbeck did not spend his time writing about the university that he attended and the characters he had met there. Instead, he spent his time writing about the people he met while working on a ranch. Again Steinbeck does not do the typical thing, he does not write about the wealthy and the intellectual. He writes about the poor and the hard working people he met along the way. Of Mice and Men, is a story about life on a ranch. It is about the migrant workers during the Great Depression. Times were hard for these California ranch hands, but George and Lennie were a team that would not be broken. Steinbeck again drew out the person in a story. He used his experiences with migrants to author this out of the ordinary pair that would stick together through anything and everything.
Steinbeck bases nearly all of his books in California?s Central Valley. He grew up in Salinas (Mc Elrath, 2). Steinbeck was quoted as saying "I am on my marathon book, which is called ?Salinas Valley.? It is what I have been practicing to write all of my life. Everything else has been training" (Steinbeck & Salinas, 2). Originally Steinbeck thought of titling the book Salinas Valley or My Valley, he said "I want to write this book as though it were my last book...It must contain all in the world I know" (Journal of a novel, 8). Steinbeck actually titled this book East of Eden. This nocel was to be a history of the Salinas Valley. Steinbeck says he has been practicing his whole life for this book, implying that everything that he has experienced up to this point was practice for this book. Every experience was leading him to this point. He let his life influence his other books, but not to the extent that this book was influenced (Journal of a novel, 9).
Steinbeck?s second marriage to Gwyn Conger was the basis for East of Eden. Together they had two sons (Working Days, xlvii). When Steinbeck found his journal from The Grapes of Wrath it prompted him to write East of Eden. He had a rush of paternal feelings. Steinbeck could not shake his earlier life. Even though he was now in New York the novel would move back to his roots, the place he truly knew (Working Days, xlviii). Although it is located in Salinas the books primary focus is on the story of Cain and Able from Genesis. It is about original sin. It teaches a lesson through three generations (Journal of a novel, 90).
Steinbeck began East of Eden describing Salinas. He wanted to give an impression of the location. "But this book is not about geography but about the people and I do not want to give the place undue importance" (Journal of a novel, 15). The Hamiltons were based on real people. Steinbeck says he can tell the truth because they are all dead now and will not resent hearing the truth (Journal of a novel, 14). Steinbeck wrote the Hamilton family to show how people from the Valley think. He wanted to show the hopes of the people and how they can influence Adam Trask "with the flavor of the Valley" (Journal of a novel, 62). The Hamilton chapters are light. They parallel the life and history of his mother?s family. While the Trask chapters are heavy and full of reality. They are full of Cathy who is a monster. Typically people do not show monsters the way Steinbeck did. He wanted to show that to a monster everyone else was actually a monster, their perspective is just skewed (Journal of a novel, 42).
Steinbeck plays with a theory about how evil can just be innate. Someone could simply be born evil. In the case of, East of Eden, Cathy is the evil person. "I believe there are monsters born in the world to human parents. Some you can see misshapen and horrible, with huge heads or tiny bodies...And just as there are physical monsters, can there not be mental or psychic monsters born? The face and body may be perfect but if a twisted gene or a malformed egg can produce physical monsters, may not the same process produce a malformed soul?" (East of Eden, 95). Cathy never really has a motive or reason for being evil, she just is. "It is my belief that Cathy Ames was born with the tendencies, or lack of them, which drove and forced her all her life" (East of Eden, 96). Cathy simply was born evil, and as hard as Adam tried to give her perfection, her evil ways would always poison everything.
In November, 1871, the Southern Pacific Railroad began to service Watsonville to San Francisco, which connected Salinas to the world. In Steinbeck?s novel East of Eden Adam and Cathy take the train from New York to Salinas. Salinas is Eden until Cathy?s evil ways pollute Adam?s so called Eden and turn it into a place much like the rest of the world, full of hate (Steinbeck Country, 7). East of Eden lacks action. It is not filled with tension. Steinbeck expected this book to be received poorly because no one wants to listen anymore. They want to go see movies full of death and suspense, and constant action. They do not want to hear the story of a place and a people, especially a common place filled with common people (Journal of a novel, 29).
The plot in Cannery Row has nearly no action at all. While some small adventures do occur usually focusing on Mack and Doc, for the most part the book is just a picture of a place and the people there. The book has no overriding theme or storyline it simply shows the life in a not so typical place. It follows the normal days of all the people who live on Cannery Row. The book does not have a big climactic turning point, the people do not have life changing experiences, they just kind of are and Steinbeck takes us into their very being.
Steinbeck believed that long novels made more of an impact on a person because they stayed with the person longer. They wedged their way into the person through the longer time and left a mark. While an excellent short book may leave a mark it does not take the time to wedge in deep the way that a long book can and can never truly leave the same impression. Steinbeck knew that the more his readers knew and understood his characters and stories the greater an impact they would have on the readers (Journal of a novel, 66).
Steinbeck?s theory relates well to his writing style. Since Steinbeck based so many of his novels in Salinas with characters that were anything but the characters that typically populate fiction, he was leaving a deeper mark with his readers with each new addition. Through sharing his experiences and the experiences of anyone and everyone around him he was allowing his novels to affect people in the same way the experiences had affected him. Although the plots may differ, the end conclusion remains; Steinbeck?s books are about the people he met along his journey through life. And with each new character comes new choices that we can learn from just like Steinbeck did. He wanted to leave the mark of Salinas on all that read his works.
Most of Steinbeck?s novels focused on individuals and the choices they made (Working Days, xlvi). Steinbeck himself did not always take the beaten path, and his novels reflect this. He does not tell the same story that most others tell. Steinbeck takes people who do not have a typical nine to five job and people who may not be considered great and he shows just how great they can be. Steinbeck brings life to a people and a place that he knew and loved dearly. Steinbeck did not just write what he knew. He took what he knew and created a legend in the eyes of the people. He showed that normal people could be great. He memorialized a place and its inhabitants in a way, which only a member of this place could. He wedged Salinas into the hearts of all who read his novels and truly left a mark with his many tales of the common man and how different every common man truly is. He truly was what he wrote.
