Parrallels in the Life of John Steinbeck and the Characters in his Works

Parrallels in the Life of John Steinbeck and the Characters in his Works

John Steinbeck was perhaps the best author of all time. He was the winner of a Nobel Prize, and among other accomplishments, Steinbeck published nineteen novels and made many movies during his lifetime. All of his experience and knowledge are shown through his novels. A reader can tell, just in reading a novel by Steinbeck, that he had been through a lot throughout his life. Also, Steinbeck worked very hard to accomplish everything that he did during his lifetime. Nothing came very easily to him, and he had to earn everything he owned. This helped him in his writing, because he was able to write about real people and real experiences. John Steinbeck got his inspiration from life experiences, people he knew, and places he had gone.

Steinbeck went through many trials throughout his lifetime (French). He went through a lot of phases in his life that were not easy to deal with (French). Although not all of his life experiences were good, they all helped him to improve his writing. This is comparable to the saying "Whatever does not kill you, makes you stronger." This is the case with Steinbeck, because all of his experiences made him stronger, not only in his life, but in his writing. Several things that improved his writing through life experiences were, when he was a ranch hand, when he was a marine biologist, and when he wrote war transcripts during World War Two. These examples were all used in Steinbeck's writing, thus proving that Steinbeck used his life experiences in his works.

Steinbeck was employed as a ranch hand during part of his life (Lisca). This is easily seen throughout the book The Red Pony. In this novel, a young boy named Jody gets a pony named Gabilan. This pony is described in detail that only a background with horses could give. Also, the story is centered around several characters. One of these characters is Billy Buck, and he is described to look very similar to the way Steinbeck looked as a young man (The Red Pony). This could very well be self-portrayal in his writing.