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John Steinbeck: A Literary Light In The Great Depression

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John Steinbeck: A Literary Light in the Great Depression "The ancient commission of the writer has not changed. He is charged with exposing our many grievous faults and failures, with dredging up to the light our dark and dangerous dreams for the purpose of improvement"(“John Ernst Steinbeck”). Said by John Steinbeck as he accepted the Nobel Prize for Literature, this quote illustrates perfectly the goals and ideals Steinbeck held himself to in his writing. Steinbeck pursued above all to give the common folk of the Great Depression a voice; an endeavor that grants him a place with the great writers of America. John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr., was born in Salinas, California, on February 27th, 1908 to John Ernst Steinbeck and Olive Hamilton. …show more content…

The Grapes of Wrath, one of his most well-known works is exemplary of Steinbeck’s pursuit to bring attention to the lower class and their struggles during the Great Depression, and to hold those who caused the Depression accountable, as seen in his quote “I want to put a tag of shame on the greedy bastards who are responsible for this [the Great Depression and its effects]. I’ve done my damnedest to rip a reader’s nerves to rags” (“The Grapes of Wrath”]. Published in 1939, the novel follows a family of tenant farmers who are forced to turn their land over to the banks and journey across the Dust Bowl to the ‘promised land’ of California (“John Ernst Steinbeck”). The Grapes of Wrath became highly debated and criticized, and many accused Steinbeck of dramatizing the conditions portrayed in the novel to prove a point; however, he had actually underplayed the conditions, feeling that “exact descriptions would have gotten in the way of his story.” Though embraced by the working class, critics condemned the novel as a ‘pack of lies’ and ‘Communist propaganda,’ and the book was banned from 1939 to 1941. (“The Grapes of

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The tone of chapter 11 in John Steinbeck's, “The Grapes of Wrath,” is sympathetic, sad and hopeless. His word choice and syntax show how the sad houses were left to decay in the weather. His use of descriptive words paints a picture in the reader's mind. As each paragraph unfolds, new details come to life and adds to the imagery. While it may seem unimportant, this intercalary chapter shows how the effects of the great depression affected common households.

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The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck's award winning book based on the lives of people during the, Great Depression, The Grapes of Wrath, has experienced a lot of criticism since its release in 1939. From the time it was published all the way up until present times, some people have found much at fault in this realist book, while other people recognize that their are many true parts of Steinbeck's book. Many people consider this book to be Steinbeck's greatest piece of work, while the overall response to it was good, there was some negative outlooks on a few aspects of the books. The Grapes of Wrath began in Oklahoma, starring the Joad family who were attempting to get to California where they had hope to begin their new life after leaving

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On February 27, 1902 in Salinas Valley, California John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. was born to John Ernst Steinbeck Sr. and Olive Hamilton Steinbeck. He lived a modest childhood, as his father held multiple jobs in order to support the family. For a short time Steinbeck attended Stanford University, but in 1925 he dropped out to pursue his career as a writer. Later that year he went to New York to find inspiration for his first book which he would later name Cup of Gold.

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As society has become an integral part of the world’s culture, the opinions and misconceptions of others have dominated the way people live. Throughout history, certain groups and ideas have been suppressed by the ones in charge. These actions have sprouted an almost universal indifference to those deemed less than ideal, and therefore created a divide in the way society sees race, age groups and even gender. Coupled with the Great Depression, these beliefs are the driving force for the majority of problems individuals experience in the text. In the novel Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses the device of conflict to portray the external struggles of characters living in the era of the Great Depression.

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In the realistic fiction novel, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, matures very distinctively all throughout the book as it allows the reader to show a unique image of how the Depression was like during the 1930’s. This novel shares a peculiar variety of behavior that people don’t see. John Steinbeck shocks the readers by relating this book with the Great Depression to show the struggle those men had to encounter in an economic depression period, and which leads them to becoming miserable and downhearted because of what they had to do in order to survive. Steinbeck uses hyperbole in the novel to shock the reader because he is able to show how the characters were like, such as the setting which engaged in many of them. In the beginning of the

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