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¶ … authors, John Steinbeck puts a lot of himself in his novels. In his novels we can see self-characters, representing Steinbeck himself in some ways and also hidden characters that represent his family, his friends and the events of his life. We also see how the people he met in his life resulted in his interest in some major themes that are seen in many of his novels. The greatest of these themes is the question of what is real wealth, which this question provoked by Steinbeck's own family and childhood and also his interaction with poor farm workers.
The greatest example of self-character is seen in East of Eden. In A Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letter Steinbeck calls the novel "the story of my country and the story of me." The story is narrated by Steinbeck as himself, telling the story as the Grandson of the main character, Samuel Hamilton. Samuel Hamilton is a character similar to Steinbeck's own father. Samuel Hamilton has the Irish heritage of his father and has also achieved the same kind of success, where Samuel Hamilton became a blacksmith, well digger and doctor and Steinbeck's own father was the county treasurer. In both cases this is a respectable profession but not one that bought great wealth. Samuel Hamilton's life is also similar to Steinbeck's fathers in that...
This is in parallel to Steinbeck's own childhood with the brothers and sisters also having the characteristics of his own siblings.
In Of Mice and Men, the most obvious hidden character is the self-character of Steinbeck himself. The narrator in the story is the voice of Steinbeck and the setting is Steinbeck's home of Salinas.
In the main characters of George and Lennie, we can see links to Steinbeck's parents and also to himself. George and Lennie are farmers who dream of a place of their own. This is similar to the struggle of his parents, who settled in Salinas, achieving their dream of finding a place of their own. The main theme here that links the two is the struggle to achieve one's dreams and how this often ends in failure. This also extends to the self-character of Steinbeck. The failure of George and Lennie represents Steinbeck's fears about achieving his own dreams. The relationship of George and Lennie can also be seen as mirroring his relationship with his wife, with George the strong character representing himself and…
Oklahomans Oklahoma has only been a state in the U.S. since 1907, yet Oklahomans were around well before then. Oklahoma is known as the “sooner” state because settlers had arrived in the territory before it had even been declared part of the United States. In the first half of the 19th century, the region was part of Arkansas Territory. The Native Americans were forced on the Trail of Tears and made
Many adult readers disagree with the portrayed unreality of Dahl's books because in life everything is not fair, and good does not always win. Even when the hero of the Witches is permanently turned into a mouse, the reader is assured by the main character that, "I honestly don't feel especially bad about it. I don't even feel angry. In fact, I feel rather good" This lack of remorse is
Environmental Themes in Grapes of Wrath This essay reviews environmental themes from the following five books: Dust Bowl by Donald Worster, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Everglades: River of Grass by Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Killing Mr. Watson by Peter Matthiessen, and River of Lakes by Bill Belleville. This paper discusses the role that culture has played in environmental issues during the past century. Five sources used. MLA format. Environmental Themes Humans
human condition when one compares characters in the stories of different writers. Each writer's story indicates a perception of the human condition that is acted out by the story's characters. One interesting study may be to compare the character of Miss Emily Grierson from "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner with the character of Elisa Allen in "The Chrysanthemums" by John Steinbeck. Through the author's description of the
Critics have interpreted the love described in these lines not as the love between people, but the love that god has for man and humanity in general. The saintly appearance of the woman is also an allusion to the bible. Pa Joad is a symbol of the common man who is struggling in a world dominated by sin. The famine and all its terrible consequences are used by the author
After reading this, I rabidly went through pretty much everything Steinbeck wrote, starting with his shorter novels (the Pearl, of Mice and Men) and moving into his collections of short stories (Tortilla Flats) and his novels about the Monterey Bay (Cannery Row, Sweet Thursday). A year later, I branched out drastically into the world of science fiction, reading Asimov and Phillip K. Dick as though they had the secrets