John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck, a 20th century novelist, was the recipient of numerous awards including the Nobel Prize. Steinbeck, a conservative that valued the old America, could produce pages of beauty followed by pages of sheer trash writing using specific characteristics, which his work is characterized by. John Steinbeck's work is characterized by symbolism and allegory, which can be seen in his novels The Pearl, The Grapes ofWrath, and his short story "Flight." In his short story, "Flight," John Steinbeck uses many examples of symbolism, which is one way you can characterize John Steinbecks' work. Symbolism can be a person, place, or thing used to portray something beyond itself. The most repeatedly used symbol in "Flight" is the color black. In literature many authors use the color black to represent death. In his short story, "Flight," Steinbeck has numerous examples of color symbolism. A few examples are the black handle on the long blade, Pepe's black hair, and the black jerky. Another example may be found when Pepe puts on his fathers black coat, which represents death. When Pepe puts on the coat he is literally covering himself with death. Another fine example is the trail in which Pepe travels. Steinbeck describes the path as a
As we can clearly see, John Steinbeck has used many techniques and examples of symbolism to help portray the ending of the short story, "Flight." Some of these examples include colors, direction, and nature. The color black, which is the universal symbol of death, is used to help foreshadow Pepe's inevitable death. Direction is used frequently in the story to symbolize the direction that Pepe is heading; if he is heading towards good or evil. Nature, especially water, is another form of symbolism that Steinbeck utilizes. Water equals life. Therefore when Pepe moves further and further away from the river, he is actually moving closer to his death. Thus, it is intuitively obvious to the most casual observer that Pepe was destined to die right from the beginning of the story. Allegory, which is more prevalent in the twentieth century, is another way in which Steinbecks' work can be characterized. Allegory is a work of literature in which people, objects, and events stand for or transcend abstract qualities. With varying degrees of deftness, all of Steinbecks' major novels juxtapose their biblical sources in an attempt to transcend them. The Pearl and The Grapes of Wrath, which are two of Steinbecks' major novels, are both allegories. The Pearl is an allegory on the evil of worldly treasures. The language in The Grapes of Wrath that the characters use is associated with Piedmont culture which is one thing that makes this novel an allegory. when Pepe was traveling he started out close to the river and got further and further away as he traveled, symbolizing getting further away from life. Another form of symbolism that Steinbeck utilizes, which is also in "Flight," is nature symbolism. Throughout the story he uses nature to symbolize a variety of things. An example of nature symbolism is water, which is used to represent life. Some examples in the short story "Flight" are Pepes' water bag that he hung over his horses' shoulder, which began to
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Approximate Word count = 1322
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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