Journey to the Garden of Memories

John Ernest Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California on February 27, 1902. His father was the Monterey County Treasurer and his mother was a school teacher. As a boy, his mother was always encouraging him to read and write. Her inspiration taught him to love books. He attended Salinas High School and during the summers he worked as a hired hand on ranches, which attributed to his impressions of the California people and influenced some of his fictional stories. He attended Stanford University until 1925, and then dropped out, moved to New York and began pursuing his desire to become a professional writer. His luck was not so great, so he returned to California. Here, he wrote his first novel, Cup of Gold, published in 1929. He wrote two subsequent novels, but so far his writing wasn’t as popular as he would have liked.

He married his first wife, Carol Henning in 1930. They lived in Pacific Grove where he began writing Tortilla Flat. This humorous story of fun-loving Mexican-Americans won him the California Commonwealth Club’s Gold Medal for being the best novel by a California author. Steinbeck finally was becoming a well recognized author. In 1938, he wrote, Of Mice & Men, then in 1940, The Grapes of Wrath, which won him the Pulitzer Prize Fiction Award. He was also a war correspondent for the New York Herald during World War II and his collections were later published into Once There Was a War. In 1962, Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was greatly commended for his realistic and imaginative writings.

Steinbeck wrote many amazing books that have been made into films. He was a private person but his writing speaks out to all of us touching our hearts. He died in New York City on December 20, 1968 of heart failure. His third wife is still living and so is his son Scott. Steinbeck’s ashes are in the Garden of Memories Cemetery in Salinas, California.

Notable Literature

Tortilla Flat: 1935

Above a town of Monterey on the California coast lies the shabby district of Tortilla Flat, inhabited by a loose gang of jobless locals of Mexican descent (who typically claim Spanish descent) whose riotous adventures are compared by Steinbeck to the exploits of the Knights of King Arthur.

Referred to as “An Arthurian Marvel”

“When I think about these people I don't think of dirty poor people, but of noble people. In each chapter they gain something in some strange way which makes the story funny in places. They don't have a goal but ride life the way it comes. You end up swimming in the ocean of this story and it doesn't sting your eyes.” Satisfied Reader: 12 years old.

Known as one of Steinbeck’s more humorous novels, such unlike his usual style. Extremely lighthearted.

In Dubious Battle: 1936

Two characters dominate this book: veteran Communist Party worker Mac, and his protégé, Jim Nolan. Mac displays all the characteristics of the dedicated Party man: unswervingly loyal to the Party's aims, selfless in his service to the cause, willing to use any circumstance to further the Party's ends. Beneath his tough exterior, however, he has some sensitivity for the people he exploits, and occasionally he lets his emotions overcome the calculated reason which he knows must dominate his actions if he is to be successful in bringing about the system to which he is openly committed.

One of Steinbeck’s earlier novels, not very widely known. From reading it one can understand why he was in trouble with the House Committee on Un-American Activities during the McCarthy era. John Steinbeck always sympathized with the underdog and he showed the disgraceful practices of big business and even ordinary people when it came to migrant workers. ” Having just come out of a 49-day strike myself, I can say Steinbeck captures the logistics of a strike: the manipulation by the media against the strikers, the changes moods of the strikers, and the importance of gathering public support. Steinbeck gives a balanced view of manipulators on both sides. The leaders of the strike and the employers.”

The Grapes of Wrath: 1939

Tells the tale of Tom Joad, his family, and his friends as they survive the great depression. Joad and family leave the great dust bowl of Oklahoma for a better life in California. Ten years later, Steinbeck recalled those months working on The Grapes of Wrath: "A few times I have in work heard the thundering and seen the flash which must have been the universe at work. In that participation there was a glory that shadows everything else." Steinbeck was born in California, so he has firsthand knowledge of the scenery and the California experience.

“Some may struggle to finish, it’s worth it though.”

Known as “Voice of the migrants for generations to come!”

Of Mice and Men- 1937

Set in the Salinas Valley of central California during the Great Depression, John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, tells the story of two men, George and Lennie. During this time period, it was not unusual for men to travel from job to job as a result of the economic recession. However, it was unusual for two men to travel together.

Lennie is a large, strong man with the intellectual capabilities of a small child. He is often forgetful, but is capable of doing intense physical labor. Lennie was raised by his Aunt Clara, who looked after Lennie until her death. At that point, George, a childhood friend, takes responsibility for Lennie.
George and Lennie travel and work together for years before the novella begins. Their last job was in a town called Weed. One day, Lennie sees a girl wearing a red dress and decides to touch it. Lennie likes to pet soft things and has a history of killing the small animals he touches. The girl screams and Lennie freezes, holding her dress tighter. Eventually, George gets Lennie to let go of the dress. Lennie does not physically hurt the girl, but she tells the sheriff she has been raped. George and Lennie flee town.

"Brutality and tenderness mingle in these strangely moving pages....The reader is fascinated by a certainty of approaching doom." Chicago Tribune

"A short tale of much power and beauty. Mr. Steinbeck has contributed a small masterpiece to the modern tough-tender school of American fiction."

Times Literary Reader: “One word CLASSIC. I have the copy when the book first came out, before this one, and I love it! John Steinbeck is an amazing author because of his literature. Many books I read for entertainment, it’s like a TV that makes you smarter, but this is the first book I read for literature purposes. If you’re a Steinbeck fan this is another great book!”

The Critics Say...

While John Steinbeck is noted as being one of the most respected modern American novelist, not all in the literary world appreciate his version of The Great Depression, as he so harshly describes how farming families are forced to leave the only life they know, due to the dust bowl that wipes out their farms and leaves them broke and homeless and their American dreams comes to an end. The events and characters are described in the most vivid detail, as he wanted to portray the struggles of the working class and the lack of support from the more fortune Americans. How was this possible in the land of the free? The Great Depression events inspired him to write, as he had sympathy, knowing the struggles of being a migrate worker himself. Through his eyes he viewed Americans as greedy and materialistic. The Grapes of Wrath is his account of the event of the 1930’s.

Some critics reviewed The Grapes of Wrath as melodrama and excessive sentimentalism. In addition to the press and politicians trying to discredit his book, by asserting he was a socialist.

John Steinbeck is also referred to as a harsh and opinionated man who is against the American government and is accused at one point of being a communist. Other critics refer to him as unread and harsh.

Steinbeck received the Pulitzer Prize for The Grapes of Wrath (1939) and despite political propaganda and critics he is still recognized as on of the most respected American novelist today.

The Uniquness of It All

John Steinbeck was a famous writer of depression era stories. His most well known works include The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck wrote several other novels but none are as well known as these two.

John Steinbeck is said to be a unique writer because his writings were opposite of the literature of the early twenties, the roaring twenties. His book The Grapes of Wrath shows this since it is about an Oklahoma family traveling to California for work during the early part of the depression.

He also wrote about the common man. This is shown in Of Mice and Men which is about traveling farm workers, one who is of normal intelligent and the other who is “simple” as it says in the story. Once again challenging the works produced in the early twenties such as F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

Commentary and Self-Evident Perception

"Literature is as old as speech. It grew out of human need for it and it has not changed
except to become more needed. The skalds, the bards, the writers are not separate and
exclusive. From the beginning, their functions, their duties, their responsibilities have
been decreed by our species...the writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man's
proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit - for gallantry in defeat, for courage,
compassion and love. In the endless war against weakness and despair, these are the
bright rally flags of hope and of emulation. I hold that a writer who does not
passionately believe in the perfectibility of man has no dedication nor any membership in
literature." – Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, John Steinbeck

Steinbeck, like many other authors of fiction, believed strongly in the power of literature. Literature stems from the human need for contact and understanding about the world; it is the fulfillment of evolutionary processes of human communication. Steinbeck describes this process as oral tradition of passing stories, myths, and legends by word of mouth until written language was perfected and modern novels were created.