The American Novelist, John Steinbeck was a
powerful writer of dramatic stories about good versus bad. His own views on writing were that not only
should a writer make the story sound good but also the story written should
teach a lesson. In fact, Steinbeck
focused many of his novels, not on average literary themes rather he tended to
relay messages about the many hard truths of life in The United States. Upon winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962
the Swedish academy introduced him by saying "He had no mind to be an
unoffending comforter and entertainer.
Instead, the topics he chose were serious and denunciatory..." This serious focus was not exempt from his
two works "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Of Mice and Men". "The Grapes of Wrath" has been recognized
by many as "the greatest novel in American History" and it remains
among the archetypes of American culture.
Although "Of Mice and Men" may not have received as much
fanfare as the other it is still a great classic that was recently made into a
motion picture.
The focus of "The Grapes of
Wrath" Is one family, the
Joads, who has been kicked off their
Oklahoma farm and forced to move to California to look for work. The story has historical significance as it
is true that many families were forced, in the same way as the Joads, to leave their homes to look
for work during the depression. It is in
this fact that one can see how Steinbeck's intention in "The grapes of
Wrath" was to depict the hardships people went through during an actual
event in American history. Perhaps the
most solemn message in this novel was the poor treatment of the dispossessed
families as they reached California. In
"Of Mice and Men" the reader is presented with a story that takes
place in the same setting of "The Grapes of Wrath" This story details the hardships of two
traveling companions while they are working at a ranch in California.
The common thread between these two novels is
not necessarily the plot or the setting rather, it is the way in which
Steinbeck relays his message. That is to
say that, although both novels carry
different story lines they both portray hard truths about human suffering. Steinbeck reveals these truths through his
depiction of characters. In each story
it seems that the characters were crafted by Steinbeck in a bias manner so as
to emphasize the overall message of the book.
It is quite obvious that all of Steinbeck's characters are either good
or bad. Steinbeck himself said "as
with all retold tales that are in people's heart's there are only good and bad
things and black and white things and no in-between anywhere" In both novels the dispossessed characters
are good and well intentioned and the wealthy people are brutal and mean. This of course is done to make the situation
seem all that more hard on the dispossessed characters.
In "The Grapes of Wrath" the character of young Tom Joad is a prime
example of how bias Steinbeck's
portrayal was. With a quick glance at
the history of Tom's life one would say that he is not really the good
guy. Yet after reading "The Grapes
of Wrath" the reader feels sorry for Tom and all of his faults are
justified because of his situation.
Likewise, the characters of Ma and the preacher, Jim Casey do not fit
their traditional roles but, again, their actions are justified by
Steinbeck. In the same way, the book
"Of Mice and Men" portrays two men (Lennie and George) running from
the law, looking for work. Lennie is
a mentally handicap person who brings
most of the trouble to the pair. Yet,
despite all of his downsides the reader is made to feel sorry for him. George is portrayed in a good way until the
end of the book where he kills Lennie, and even then the reader feels for
George because of the predicament he is in.
The rest of the characters in both novels are the rich and
powerful. In "The grapes of
Wrath" these rich people were not even given names and Steinbeck's dislike
for them is obvious. This fact truly
illustrates the message he is trying to get across . In "Of mice and Men" the boss and
his son Curley are portrayed as the bad guys.
Note:
This is only my
introduction unfortunately due to some extenuating circumstances I have not had
enough time to do a complete rough draft.
My plan is to characterize the characters in light of Steinbeck's bias
portrayals and illustrate how the
technique he used was effective in getting his point across. My next four points or paragraphs will be:
1.) Description of Tom Joad how he was bad yet good in the sense that his
actions were bad but his cause was for the better.
2.) Description of Ma and the preacher, how they
were characterized out of their traditional roles and how their straying form
the norm was justified and helped relay to the reader the desperation of the
family's situation.
3.) The roles of Lennie and George, how they were
outcasts and Lennie killed a women yet the reader felt sorry for them both
because they were on the opposite side of a greater injustice.
4.) Portrait of the rich and powerful. How Steinbeck's ignorance of not giving them
names proved he did not like them. Every time they came up in the story they
were doing something bad.
And my
conclusion.
Hopefully I will
get a chance to see you today, I have third period prep so I will look for you
and we could chat. Thanx.
"The Grapes
of Wrath", "Of Mice and Men"
Character Study
Max Raffoul
ENG OAC
March 3, 1997
Mr. Chevallier
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