John Steinbeck's Perseverance

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John Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902 in Salinas California. He grew up on a small farm in California. Steinbeck's father was an accountant, bookkeeper, and also served for several years as the treasurer of Monterey county. However Steinbeck acquired his love for writing from his mother who was a school teacher for several years. It was by age of fourteen that he had his mind set on becoming a writer. He went to college at Stanford more to please his parents than himself. Steinbeck worked as a farm laborer with many migrant workers to support himself through college. This equipped him with many stories that would latter be seen in an abundance of his works particularly Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck sent six years at Stanford and never got …show more content…

Steinbeck was down on his luck when he got out of college and was forced to work odd jobs in hopes of pursuing his dreams of becoming a writer. He grew up in the heart of the roaring twenties and once he got out of college the depression hit. It was hard to go from not having a lot of financial issues to barely getting by. This is a great example when we see Steinbeck's perseverance. Even though the heart of the Great depression hit as Steinbeck was trying to kickstart is writing career he continued to pursue his dreams. He had to overcome many obstacles throughout his life and as a result of that he's become a stronger person. Steinbeck portrays this through his characters in each story. Perseverance is evident in The Grapes of Wrath because the Joads are adamant on making in to California. Throughout their journey they overcame many obstacles and proved many people wrong. One example of this is when their car broke down and they went to get new parts. A man told them how he had went to California to look for work and there was none. As a result of this his wife and children had starved to death. This didn't phase them and they pursued on their way to California. Perseverance can also be seen in The Pearl because Kino is persistent on getting his son a better life and he risks his own life to ensure his son will have opportunities he never did. "My son will read ... and open the books, and my son will write and will know writing. And my son will make numbers, and these things will make us free because he will know – he will know and through him we will know."(Steinbeck 31). This quote shows that Kino what's to improve his sons life which will hopefully improve his. When Kino received what he thought to be a low offer from a man in town he

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