Tortilla Flat By John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck John Steinbeck was born in Salinas California on February 27, 1972. He was a manual laborer and interested in history. During World War II, Steinbeck served as a war correspondent for the New York Herold Tribune (“John”). John Steinbeck’s writing was influenced by his birthplace and labor relations in his life. His use of history and details of simple thing shows how he fits into the modernism period of American Literature. Steinbeck’s novel, “Tortilla Flat”, was viewed in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s (Bethea 133). The novel had a group of men called paisanos (Sparlenotes). A paisano is a peasant (Dictionary.com). They were drunkards whose main quest was to get to money (Sparknotes). Tortilla Flat was published

His parents were both very sick. He had a rebellion against death and sorrow which he covered with humor and irony (Bethea 136). Steinbeck decided to drop out of college and then he went to work as a manual laborer. During WWII he served as a war correspondent. John Steinbeck won a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. His dad owned a feed and grain store, managed a flour plant, and served as a treasurer of Montery County. His mom was a former school teacher. At the age of 14, Steinbeck decided to become a writer. He married his first wife, Carol Henning, in 1929. It is a Humorous novel Piasanos and Montery religion. He served as the war correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune. On December 20, 1968 Steinbeck died at his home in New York from a heart disease (“John”). His first successful novel was Tortilla Flat. He studied writing between 1920 to 1925, but he never graduated. Steinbeck’s father gave him and his wife a place to live as he continued with his writing. His dad was a government official in Salinas County (“May”). His dad worked many jobs to keep his family fed. As a child he grew up with three sisters. He had a happy childhood. Steinbeck’s book “The Grapes of Wrath” was about migrant workers during “The Great Depression”(“John”). Steinbeck’s dad lost his job as a manager of Sperry Flower, then he opened the feed and grain store. At the age of 4, he got a pony

Steinbeck felt like he was not being heard by God (Bethea 133). Paisanos would help the people in need. They would also go to work to raise money for a party. During the party, Danny gets drunk and ends up dying. After Danny’s death the Paisanos were so upset they allowed a house to burn down and they went their separate ways (Sparknotes). “Tortilla Flat describes the antics of several drifters who share a house in California.” He uses a comic tone which caught the publics imagination(“May”). The beauty of simple things is why Steinbeck chooses the theme as the Paisanos of Montery. The theme is supported by the use of modern conveniences and showing the problems that they become. He talks about and describes the landscape a lot. “Paisanos are extremely God fearing and reverential people.” (Sparknotes). In the novel, since Danny’s house has not had many changes it feels like he is collecting the dust from the dust storms in his house(Shmoop). Steinbeck’s Aunt Mollie gave him Thomas Mallory’s Le Morted Arthur and his younger sister Mary imagined small towers of Camelot with sandstone rock breaking apart in the Pastures of Heaven. Tortilla Flat was a public success. It was published in 1935