What influenced John Steinbeck?
What exactly influenced Steinbeck’s writings? Was it his background, his past, or was it the way he grew up and learned. There are many factors that come into play when trying to depict what exactly influenced an author. A lot of people believe that he was heavily influenced by California, where he lived. As many as nine of his works were proven to be based off of some part of california life in his time. But not all of his inspiration could simply come from California. John Steinbeck was born and raised in Salinas, California, a town well known for farming and being poor. Its thought that his many conversations with the migrant workers of the area inspired a lot of his work, such as “Of Mice and Men”, a
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“Of Mice and Men”, his talks about the dreams of a pair of migrant laborers, Lenny and George, working on a farm, is now quite well known.
That novel was followed by what most people believe is Steinbeck’s best book, “Grapes Of Wrath”, which was based on articles he had written in San Francisco, and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1940. His talks of the poor conditions eventually caught the attention of Eleanor Roosevelt, who raised the standards, telling Congress to fix the bad parts of the labor laws and camp conditions. In all 17 of his works became movies or screenplays.
After some of his success in writing steinbeck began working as a war correspondent for the NY Tribune. He kept journals of his work and places he went, usually taking notes that did not get into his books, but they were interesting and entertaining. Although the FBI never actually looked at him, Steinbeck did come to attention because of his political ideas, and he was interviewed by the Army for a commission. They declined to offer because of his “unsuitability due to psychological issues.". They basically deemed him a psychopath.
He ended up writing a letter to a U.S. Attorney General in 1942. He asked, “Do you think you could ask Edgar 's men to stop stepping on my heels? They think I’m an enemy. It is getting tiresome." Later, In 1967, Steinbeck went to Vietnam to report the war, and his views of the U.S. Army prompted the New
John Steinbeck was an American author who won the nobel prize in 1962. He authored 27 books, including 16 novels. Most of his work that he made was in central California
John Steinbeck wrote the The Grapes of Wrath in 1939 to rouse its readers against those who were responsible for keeping the American people in poverty. The Grapes of Wrath tells the story of the Joad family, migrant farmers from Oklahoma traveling to California in search of an illusion of prosperity. The novel's strong stance stirred up much controversy, as it was often called Communist propaganda, and banned from schools due to its vulgar language. However, Steinbeck's novel is considered to be his greatest work. It won the Pulitzer Prize, and later became an Academy Award winning movie in 1940. The novel and the movie are both considered to be wonderful
B. Support for #2: During his career as a Senator he married Jacqueline, underwent several spinal surgeries, and published a book in 1956. The book was called Profiles in Courage and its topic was on Senators who risked their careers for personal beliefs. This earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1957.
Early in the 1930's Steinbeck wrote, "The trees and the muscled mountains are the world-but not the world apart from man-the world and man-the one inseparable unit man and his environment. Why
A few years later, Steinbeck returned to California to write “Grapes of Wrath” and to further research the flawed California labor. “He was not, however, merely researching materials for his next book, but passionately involved in the suffering and injustice” (Lisca 16). His fervor for the migrant cause almost lead him to abandon his recent writing and revise “Of Mice and Men” and sell it so he could donate to money to the migrant workers.
John Steinbeck worked as an employed laborer, digging canals and working beside men similar to characters in his novels.
I. John Steinbeck used his personal experiences as a laborer to write many of his novels like Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath.
John Steinbeck's agricultural upbringing in the California area vibrantly shines through in the settings and story lines of the majority of his works. Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, takes place in the Salinas Valley of California. The drama is centered around two itinerant farm workers, George Milton and Lennie Small, with a dream of someday owning a place of their own. Lennie Small is a simple-minded, slow moving, shapeless hulk with pale eyes whose enormous physical strength often causes him to get into trouble. George Milton on the other hand is small in stature, clever, dark of face and eyes, and acts as Lennie's guardian and calming force.
Everyone has a life history, John Steinbeck also has a history of his own. His life story began on February 27, 1902, in the farming town known as Salinas from California (Schillinglaw). He had four siblings, but he was the only boy in the four. Olive Hamilton Steinbeck was his mother and she was a former teacher in that time period. The town where he grew up at, was a farming town and still a farming town, it has rich green fields and surrounded by landscapes of broad yellow valleys. He and his family had lived a comfortable life as a middle class family during his childhood (Shmoop). When Steinbeck was done with high school, he worked for many places and different kinds of jobs which were a laborer for a sugar factory in Salinas, a laborer in mills, and a ranch hand (Reuben) .John Steinbeck went to Stanford University and majored his English there, but he had never receive any degree (Reuben). In 1925, after he had worked hard in studying, John decided to leave
Every great writer had their own influences, John Steinbeck was no exception. Steinbeck’s influences cam from family, friends, and his environment to write detailed descriptions to involve or influence the reader. Whenever someone reads one of John Steinbeck’s works they are in immersed in the scene he is describing, he makes you feel as if you are right there experiencing everything there first hand.
John Ernst Steinbeck has written many award winning novels, some of which has even been produced as plays that captured audiences everywhere. Steinbeck wrote about real life experiences using realism, characterization, and dreams to emphasize his points and make an impact on his readers in order to reform or change society. The realism used in Steinbeck's works is not only effective in informing the reader of circumstances that should be changed, but this nineteenth century literary style also creates great feelings of empathy toward the characters and their dreams. Steinbeck used realism to convey his points for a purpose, and his main purpose was that he wanted something to be made known to the public. Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of
He loved writing from a young age and knew he wanted to pursue that; “attending Stanford University, he took courses in English and marine biology but left without completing his degree, having made the decision” (“John Steinbeck” 1). His first few books were not very successful, but that did not stop him. His best-known novel was Of Mice and Men (Written in 1937) was not as popular in his time as it is now. His work is highly respected in the Literature world and still studied to this day. “He was awarded the Pulitzer Price for The Grapes of Wrath, and in 1962 he received the Nobel Prize in Literature” (“John Steinbeck” 1). Overall his work was very successful and he had a huge impact on Americans and an even bigger impact on the American voice.
The novel The Grapes of Wrath is in many ways a one-of-a-kind piece of literature. This work is set up unlike any other book, written in a series of chapters and inter-chapters, which do a remarkable job of informing the reader of the travels the characters in the book are going through. Not only does the story focus on the problems one family goes through, but explains the problem is happening to many more civilians than the story focus's on. Steinbeck does not leave out a single detail about the Joad family and their journey to California, and that in itself is what makes his writing so entertaining. Not only is this a very powerful topic to write about, but the remarkable writing style of author John Steinbeck makes this book a
John Steinbeck wrote ‘Of Mice and Men’ to show how hard life was for migrant ranch workers during the time of the Great Depression and how they were often exploited by their employers. In showing how George and Lennie’s dream of owning their own piece of land did not come true, Steinbeck explores a wider theme, criticising the idea of the American Dream. The American Dream tells people that there is ‘opportunity for each... regardless of the fortuitous circumstance of birth and position. Steinbeck criticises this as these ranch workers were given few opportunities. Settings play a very important part in the novel as they pinpoint clear times and places giving a sense of realism to the story, but they are also used to create atmosphere.
Steinbeck uses foreshadowing to warn readers of future events that occur later in the story. Crook is a black stable-hand, kind but at the same time hates everyone on the farm. While all the men on the farm are out, Lennie spots a yellow light coming from Crook`s room and soon starts to make a conversation with Crook. Crook asks Lennie what he would do if George did not come back,