Steinbeck, His Critics, and Of Mice and Men
"If an author does not have at least one great popular success, he or she may well be ignored by the media, but if he or she is constantly popular, then the critics become suspicious of the writer's serious intentions" (Benson Introduction). What do critics from the literary world have to say about Steinbeck's writings? Critics have much to say, both positive and negative. What link exists between Steinbeck and his writings? Perhaps the most noteworthy biographical link between Steinbeck and his writings is that he was born and came to maturity in the Salinas Valley. In this area of California, bounded on the north and south by the Pajaro and Jolon valleys on the west and east by the Pacific Ocean and the Gabilan Mountains, Steinbeck found the materials for his fiction (Tedlock 3). John Steinbeck's agricultural upbringing in the California area vibrantly shines through in the settings and story lines of the majority of his works. John Ernst Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California, on February 27, 1902. His father's family, originally called Grossteinbeck, had come from Wuppertal, about twenty miles east of the German city of Dusseldorf. During summers he worked as a hired hand on nearby ra
He is unable to give us a convincing definition of his people because, having once reduced the scale of definition to their animal nature, he has subsequently shifted his ground of interpretation and with a desperate earnestness grasped at the most superficial but convenient ideational strategy available to him in the 1930s. (Tedlock Introduction XXXIX) Benson, Jackson J. The Short Novels of John Steinbeck. North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1990. French, Warren. John Steinbeck's Fiction Revisited. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1994. In George Snell's chapter on Steinbeck in The Shapers of American Fiction: 1798-1947, he notes Steinbeck's strengths and weaknesses: "an enormous gift of story-telling", "catholicity of sympathy" and "'common touch,'" ease of character creation through "types" rather than "individuals," "love of exaggeration and a resulting humor," and "a basic sentimentalism" which results in his "gravest weakness" (French 56). Like Beach, Snell is positive about the early books. Particularly acute is his remarking that it was clear from the first that Steinbeck would never be "a literary naturalist" despite his interest in biology (French 57). In 1947, Snell thought Steinbeck still gave promise of being the "most gifted all-around novelist" (French 57). Early in the story the prospect of their ever realizing their dream seems remote, but as the plot unfolds (they meet a crippled bunkhouse worker who wants to go in with them on the scheme, and who offers offer to chip in his life savings), the probability of fulfillment rises. If the three pool their salaries at the end of the current month, they can quit and move into their farm. Lennie manages to avoid disaster for exactly three days. He gets involved with the flirtatious wife of Curley, the boss' violent son. Through a series of unfortunate events, he becomes frightened and inadvertently kills the girl. Curley organizes a group to apprehend Lennie. George gets to Lennie first and out of sympathy for his companion, shoots him in the head to spare him the pain of Curley's shotgun or the misery of incarceration. John Steinbeck has published eight volumes of fiction, each as different from the others as all are different from the writings of most novelists. He has employed a variety of techniques to describe an assortment of characters... His readers have come to expect the unexpected; his critics have taken refuge in enthusiasm or despair. But beneath this apparent variety, Steinbeck has been astonishingly consistent. A single purpose has directed his experimentation, a single ideas has guided his literary thought. Always his fiction has described the interplay of dream and reality; his thought has followed the development of the American dream. (Tedlock 68)
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2127
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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