John Steinbeck and the Recession of the Early 2000's.

In order to sufficiently and accurately analyze how John Steinbeck would react to a current event, I will compare two similar events, one of modern day and one of Steinbeck's time period. Steinbeck has long shown sympathy in his writing for the working class and its struggle against greed, as a result I have chosen the event of the recession of the early 2000's which has been a very prominent issue in recent years, with the Great Depression which Steinbeck lived through and discussed through his writing. Steinbeck most famously responded to the Great Depression through his novel The Grapes of Wrath, based upon this, one could likely predict that he would respond to the recent recession in a similar manner. In The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck focuses on a poor family of sharecroppers who struggle to adapt to the changing economy, the drought, and other hardships to describe the struggles and challenges created by the Great Depression. Steinbeck would likely focus use a modern family with similar circumstance to the one in The Grapes of Wrath as a literary device to describe the recession. For example, it is likely Steinbeck would investigate the life of a blue collar worker who was already struggling and working excessive hours to just support his family. Perhaps the worker's skills would be becoming obsolete due to either the recent changes in technology or maybe even due to the large number of jobs in America being sent to other countries. Such circumstance would be tantamount to those in The Grapes of Wrath as the already struggling family were challenged even further by the transformation of the financial and agricultural industries. Steinbeck's book would likely be very sympathetic to the blue collar workers and very critical of the large corporations and greed which only fueled the hardships caused by the recession. Furthermore Steinbeck even released a famous quote while writing The Grapes of Wrath in which he stated "I want to put a tag of shame on the greedy bastards who are responsible for this [the Great Depression and its effects]." It's not difficult to see Steinbeck making a practically identical statement in modern day towards the recent economical hardships and its effects which were fueled by American greed in the recession of the 2000's.

Literary Analysis of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.

A major novel written by John Steinbeck is Of Mice and Men, which tells of George and his mentally handicapped life-long friend Lennie. It is said in Beach's book that Lennie Small is perhaps the finest expression of writers life-long sympathy for the abused common man (Beach 3377). Just like a lot of his other books, Of Mice and Men is set in Salinas Valley, California. However, unlike his other books, Of Mice and Men isn't a political statement at all. It is a "Universal metaphor" for the cruelty of the "human condition" (Beach 3377). Lennie's "shapeless face, bearlike movements, brute gentles and selective forgetfulness," represents one of the most sympathized sensational figures in all of modern fiction (Gray 3378). He is convincingly childlike in nature, but knows what he can do to strengthen his and George's relationship. George is one of the things Lenny values besides hie love for small, soft animals. Because of his uncontrollable strength, Lenny usually ends up "destroying" those small animals, and in the end must be "destroyed" himself (Magill 1885). George is forced to destroy Lenny due to his love for him, because he realizes that just like Candy's dog, Lenny simply does not fit in a world that does not guard the innocent from the immorality of selfish men (Beach 3378).

George's irrevocable, yet tragic, act is the final gesture in their exceptional relationship that other individuals often fail to comprehend due to the fact that it is based on tenderness and compassion rather than selfishness and greed. George's feelings towards Lenny were tantamount to that of an older brother. George has promised Lenny's family that, no matter what, he would protect and take care of Lenny as long as he lived. Ironically, it is through such a promise that Lenny's demise is further established (Gray 65). For, as it was previously stated, George had to destroy Lenny in the end to protect him from the harshness and inhumanity of others. Through George's irrevocable act, he also sets Lenny and himself free from isolation. For Lenny had been isolated through his mental handicap, and George had been confined as a direct result of Lenny and the trouble he would invoke (Magill 1886). George had now gained the ability to freely interact with others without the burden of Lenny's actions. However, George was still burdened by the emptiness and isolation caused by the missing place of his old friend (Beach 3379). This helps to establish the novels theme of solitude, friendship, and inhumanity versus tenderness.

Works Cited

Beach, Joseph Warren, et al. John Steinbeck Draper, James P., ed.
    World Literature Criticism. Detroit: Gale Research Inc.,
    1992. 3372-3389.

Gray, James. John Steinbeck American Writers: A collection of 
    Literary biographies. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons,
    1961. 49-72.
Magill, Frank N. John Steinbeck Shuman, Baird. R., ed. Magill's 
    Survey of American Literature: Volume 6. New York: Marshall 
    Cavendish Corporation, 1991. 1885-1899

John Steinbeck and the Modernism Literary Movement

Although certain elements of John Steinbeck's writing fit characteristics of a variety of literary movements, he will, without doubt, go down in history as a great modernist. Modernism is viewed as a literary movement based on intelligence, free will, investigation of the human consciousness, and as a stark comparison to realism as well as the values of tradition. One of Steinbeck's most successful and influential and perhaps most relevant in terms of the modernism literary movement, novels was The Grapes of Wrath. The main point made in the story, of man under the conditions of the conditions of the Great Depression, is that no matter how intense the attack on its "existence" may be "the group will defend itself unyieldingly" (Gray 54). Because of the "social injustices" that were depicted so sharply in this book, Steinbeck himself was accused of being a revolutionary. "Certainly he paints the oppressive economic system in bleak colors, but Warren French argues convincingly, however, that Steinbeck was basically a reformer, not a revolutionary" (Gray 55-56). Steinbeck wanted to change the attitudes and behaviors of people, both migrants and economic aristocrats, not to overturn the private enterprise system. The theme that all men belong together, "are a part of one another," and are all part of a "greater whole" that "transcends momentary reality," is what sets The Grapes of Wrath apart from the genre of the "timely proletarian" and make it a symbol for all men in any occurrence (Gray 57). The "wrath" experienced by common man grows throughout the book, but is considered to be better than despair because "wrath" puts things into action, this is, without doubt, an attempt by Steinbeck to investigate the human consciousness through his writing.

Furthermore, this unified human experience which proletariats undergo throughout a multitude of Steinbeck's novels, is a defining trademark of early 20th century modernists such as Steinbeck. "It is a point in which is basic to Steinbeck's art. For to Steinbeck, modern life itself is often the enemy, in which characters find themselves lost in a world they never made and want nothing to do with" (Magill American 1889).  Through such a style, Steinbeck's writing revolts against the conservative principles of realism, thus further securing his place in history as a modernist. Steinbeck left one last message to the world on his poem plaque on which the following was written: "The free exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world" (Magill Long Fiction 3154-3155).

Works Cited

Gray, James. John Steinbeck American Writers: A collection of 
    Literary biographies. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons,
    1961. 49-72.
Magill, Frank N. John Steinbeck. Millichap, Joseph R., ed. Critical 
    Survey of Long Fiction: English Language Series. Pasadera: 
    Salem Press, 1991. 3149-3162.
Magill, Frank N. John Steinbeck Shuman, Baird. R., ed. Magill's 
    Survey of American Literature: Volume 6. New York: Marshall 
    Cavendish Corporation, 1991. 1885-1899