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The Winter of Our Discontent, by John Steinbeck, 1996 ed.
Within each action, man places his own self-interest. The morals of this are continuously questioned, and throughout The Winter of Our Discontent, Steinbeck explores both the traditional, Christian view and the natural view of the world and its corruption. He shows how Ethan Allen's life was that of a Christian, when he followed his morals, was very passive and generous, and even suffered and was a victim of betrayal. However, Steinbeck also shows that nature can take hold of a man, when Ethan's animalistic instincts and moral conflicts arise. With these, I feel Steinbeck is saying that although Christianity is the traditional way of moral thought, the natural processes come first in allowing Ethan and every human to make the proper decisions necessary for survival. Both views, the moral and amoral ways of thought, work inside of each person to control their actions and behaviors.
To understand the views Steinbeck explores, we must first understand morality. Morals are beliefs that a person or a society has on the difference between right and wrong. Sometimes, the morals of an individual and the society they live in will clash, and so begins a struggle to survive with an internal conflict. With this in mind, it could be said that morals are simply a belief in an opinion, which leads to a battle of the weak versus the strong. Those with stronger moral judgments or even that of a larger population will most likely win against the beliefs of a smaller group or individual. In cases like these, some people will change their morals to fit those of the majority, or the society. Ethan questions this, and the motives behind each acceptance of a wrongful action. He found that "to most of the world success is never bad
Strength and success they are above morality, above criticism" (187). If this is the case, then morals could change based upon the need to be a part of the winning side. The question then arises, whether morality is truly a battle of beliefs, such as with Christianity, or just of weak versus strong, winner versus loser, with an animalistic approach.
` Even though Steinbecks essay could be considered a dated opinion being written in the 19 hundreds. it goes to show his considerably harsh outlook hasn't sadly strayed from our reality all that much from its original publishment. He makes a statement “We are restless, a dissatisfied, a searching people.” Steinbeck may seem brutal and disappointed. but when reading you get a surprising tone of disapproval that doesn't sound hateful. It’s cruel but almost disapproving in a condescending way. He also makes a statement “We are self-reliant and at the same time completely dependent. We are aggressive, and defenseless.”
The idea of good versus evil is illustrated in several ways in John Steinbeck's East of Eden. This is seen through the external conflicts in the novel, the internal conflicts of the characters, and a universal understanding of the battle between good and evil.
Steinbeck's relationship to the transcendentalists [Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman] was pointed out soon after The Grapes of Wrath appeared by Frederick I. Carpenter, and as the thirties fade into history, Jim Casy with his idea of the holiness of all men and the unreality of sin seems less a product of his own narrowly doctrinaire age than a latter-day wanderer from the green village of Concord to the dry plains of the West.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is considered a classic novel by many in the literary field. The trials and tribulations of the Joad family and other migrants is told throughout this novel. In order to gain a perspective into the lives of "Oakies", Steinbeck uses themes and language of the troubling times of the Great Depression. Some of these aspects are critiqued because of their vulgarity and adult nature. In some places, The Grapes of Wrath has been edited or banned. These challenges undermine Steinbeck's attempts to add reality to the novel and are unjustified.
Even though there is tragedy there-what Steinbeck seems to be saying is that the human spirit can and will endure despite immense privations. The will to live and endure will always overcome defeated hopes.
Would you ever do anything honorably to protect those you love? Well, a man in John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath did just that. The book is about a man and his two kids decide to go to California during the Dust Bowl. The man tries to buy 10 cents worth of bread though Mae, the waitress refuses to sell him the bread due to it costing 15 cents instead of 10. Since he is on a tight budget, he uses his insistent and inflexible humility to change her behavior towards him.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Steinbecks novel, Of Mice and Men portrays the
...e most powerful force in human society. The friendship between George and Lennie gave them the hope to persevere through the most depressing circumstances. Steinbeck’s Idea that society and the injustice of life, specifically in America, is against the working man is extremely pessimistic. This is repeated throughout many his works, from his novella, The Pearl to The Grapes of Wrath. The idea is stated more succinctly by Scarseth, “We all deserve better than we get.” While much of Scarseth’s analysis of Of Mice and Men, accurately examined the Steinbeck’s themes of friendship and the fallen character and nature of man, Scarseth’s and Steinbeck’s view of the injustice of life is simply wrong. “We all deserve better than we get” screams of the Marxist, socialist view that somehow we “deserve” more. The statement begs this question, what better do we all deserve?
A major drought, over-cultivation, and a country suffering from one of the greatest depressions in history are all it took to displace hundreds of thousands of Midwesterners and send them, and everything they had, out west. The Dust Bowl ruined crops all across the Great Plains region, crops that people depended on for survival. When no food could be grown and no money could be made, entire families, sometimes up to 8 people or more, packed up everything they had and began the journey to California, where it was rumored that jobs were in full supply. Without even closing the door behind them in some cases, these families left farms that had been with them for generations, only to end up in a foreign place where they were neither welcomed nor needed in great quantity. This would cause immense problems for their futures. It is these problems that author John Steinbeck spent a great deal of his time studying and documenting so that Americans could better understand the plight of these migrant farmers, otherwise known as "Okies." From touring many of these "Hoovervilles" and "Little Oklahomas" (pg. v) Steinbeck was given a firsthand look at the issues and hardships these migrant workers faced on a daily basis. With the help of Tom Collins, manager of a federal migrant labor camp, Steinbeck began a "personal and literary journey" (pg. v), revealing to the world the painful truth of these "Okies" in his book Harvest Gypsies.
“A mother knows what her child has gone through, even if she didn’t see it herself” Pramoedya Ananta Toer. The relationship between a mother and her child is said to be the strongest bond that two people can have. I asked my mother what it was like to give birth to another human being and she said that “Having the opportunity and privilege to bring another human into this world is the highest honor and gift a person can do” Michele Dieterich. In the book,The Grapes of Wrath, Ma Joad acts as the maternal character throughout the book and relates to the theme of families stick together.
Some runners look only to the finish line, choosing to ignore what they step on or who they pass along the way. In The Winter of Our Discontent, Steinbeck portrays the dawning of a selfish American society concerned solely with winning personal races. Set in a small New England town during the early sixties, the story focuses on the life of Ethan Allen Hawley, an intelligent man with prestigious family history who is employed as a grocer to the dismay of members of his family and the community. At the beginning of the novel, Ethan had not yet adopted the new religion of America, to "look after number one" (26,291) in order to gain money and social standing. However, as the story transpires, Ethan, like other characters, chooses to succumb to temptation and to put himself above others as all costs, as though focusing on a shiny red, white and blue finish. Ethan’s downfall represents America’s loss of family, social, and moral values as individual success becomes all-important.
Another example of a contradiction Steinbeck uses in his essay that I have personally witnessed is, "We spend our lives in motor cars, yet most of us - a great many of us at least - do not know enough about a car to look in the gas tank when the motor fails." I observed this when my grandma's car "broke down" once. She had her car towed to the mechanic, and after about a week of it being examined, the mechanic called my grandma and told her that the only problem with the car was that it was out of gas. If we were living the American dream, would my grandma be so lazy as to have her car stop running and never look at the gas gauge? Would she have spent hundreds of dollars getting her car "fixed" when five dollars would have been suitable for gas? The answer to both questions is no.
In John Steinbeck’s classic novel The Winter of Our Discontent, one can find many general truths and principles, also known as aphorisms. Ethan Allen Hawley, the main character, seems to gift the reader with another aphorism at the turn of every page, but some of these sayings may be considered more remarkable than others. One of the more noteworthy aphorisms is a statement made by Ethan at the end of chapter 6: “To be alive at all is to have scars”.
When you look back, no American author is more influencing then Walt Whitman. He is celebrated as the father of free verse.
Walt Whitman is arguably America’s most influential poet in history. Born Walter Whitman in May 31st, 1819 to Walter Whitman and Louisa van Velsor, he was immediately nicknamed ‘Walt’ to distinguish him from his father. He came to life in West Hills on the famous Long Island, the second of nine children that grew up in Brooklyn. He came to be fondly known as ‘the Bard of Democracy’, mainly because that was a main message in his work. He is also celebrated as ‘the father of the free verse’. He was a liberal thinker and was vehemently against slavery, although later on he was against the abolitionists because, according to him, they were anti-democracy. He managed to marry transcendentalism with realism in his works. His occupation was a printer school teacher and editor.