|
Rosa
| Maita
| John | Pietro | Claudia
| Eilif | Giorgia | Vera | Celina
The Fiction of Origins
Reviewed by Rosa 8C
John Steinbeck set a large part of his fiction in California, the
state where he was born. He spent his early childhood there and, in
a sense, he never truly left home and kept revisiting it in his mind.
He also often travelled back to his childhood homes, especially the
cottage in Pacific Grove in the outskirts of Montery which his third
wife recalls was a touchstone to him, a safe haven where he could
go when in need of rest or troubled.
Steinbeck wrote from his own experience, and tried to find stories
from his own life that he could turn into fiction. It is hard to find
a story that makes sense within the random events that form a life,
and that is why practically everyone creates a fictional story of
their life, mixes real memory and imagination. Steinbeck was constantly
revisiting his past, fact and fiction, looking for stories and patterns
to turn into fiction. He began 'East of Eden' as a straightforward
non-fiction book, attempting to write down his family's history and
analyze his past. He intended to give this account of his family's
migration to California to his sons, Thom and John. The book quickly
became a work of fiction and turned into an entirely different thing
from what Steinbeck had planned.
The extract from 'East of Eden' describes Samuel Hamilton, the character
inspired by Steinbeck's maternal grandfather, who he takes the name
from. Grandfather Hamilton moved to the US when he was 17 and there
married Elizabeth Fragen, a shy Irishwoman. In 1872 the couple moved
to Salinas, California and then bought a farm near King City where
Steinbeck spent a large part of his childhood and learned most of
the practical things that stuck with him for his whole life. He always
remembered the time spent on the farm: the routine and the 'ethos
of practicality' went well with his character.
Steinbeck described the farm in 'The Red Pony' through the eyes of
Jody, the protagonist. The deep sense of memory Steinbeck probably
latched onto while writing about the farm gives it a very vivid feeling.
Steinbeck's mother (Olive) was one of Samuel Hamilton's nine children,
and at seventeen she qualified as a teacher with the local authority,
taking a position in a school near King City. Olive felt strongly
the need for a good education for her children and was passionate
about her job. She was very strict outside the classroom as well as
in and had a very clear idea of her morals, of what was right and
what was wrong. She continued to live at her parent's farm until she
met her future husband, John Steinbeck when she was 24. He worked
in a flourmill and eventually took a position as a manager in the
Sperry Flour Mill in Salinas. The couple moved to Salinas and acquired
a house on one of the most fashionable streets of the city. The two-storey
house was divided from its neighbouring building by white picket fences,
it had a wide porch where one could leisurely spend time, tall windows
and followed the fashion of the time. The rooms inside were large
and had high ceilings, with nice views of the residential neighbourhood.
The staircase was steep and accessible from the entranceway and there
was both a dining room and a parlour on the first floor, indicating
that all entertainment was better placed there. A back stairway leads
to the kitchen, making the house seem very large when one walked through
it. The second floor has various small bedrooms and one huge attic.
Steinbeck's room was dark and isolated, with a magnificent view of
the back gardens and very high ceilings. The house emitted very much
its family's social status and social aspirations, and was almost
more a symbol and message, than an actual homey residence.
Steinbeck's paternal grandfather, John Adolph Grossteinbeck, was a
very important figure in Steinbeck's understanding of himself. Steinbeck
was never able to meet him, since he died before his birth, but he
had a portrait of his fierce-looking grandfather that he kept with
him. Before he had Steinbeck's father, John Adolph went to Jerusalem
with a few members of his family in 1852 to convert the Jews of Palestine.
It was a bizarre and unrealistic idea, also because there were far
more Arabs in the area at the time, but the small party set out courageously.
After many weeks on horseback they arrived in Jerusalem, where John
Adolph met Almira Dickson, who would become his wife. When they were
in Palestine, John's brother was attacked and stabbed to death while
his sister-in-law was raped at knife-point. This event was extremely
traumatic to the group who, with nothing to look forward to, returned
to New England where Almira's family lived. John Adolph soon found
himself looking for more adventures, and he convinced his wife to
move to Florida with their six children. This was right before the
Civil War and the moment the family arrived, he was sent to go to
war. He cared very little about the war, and escaped back to New England.
The rest of his family followed him, and the family lived once again
in New England.
When John Steinbeck found out about John Adolph's adventures he was
completely gripped. He couldn't stop talking and thinking about it,
he felt as if he finally understood his nature and who he was, as
if he finally understood where he came from.
Steinbeck's father spent his boyhood working in the flourmill on the
dairy farm his father set up in California, where the family moved
after New England. He disliked the farm life and was opposed to his
father's ways, only staying in the flourmill business because it was
what he knew. He took his role as the head of the family very seriously,
although he almost never enforced it. Olive gave all the orders around
the house, and he just lived on the edge, carrying himself like a
man of importance and caring about his reputation. He was always present
at social events but didn't socialize much, he was always nervous
and remote. Soon after he became manager of Sperry, the business declined
and Sperry collapsed. The loss of his job was followed by a depressive
crisis, because his main role in the family was that of supporting
it economically and he didn't know what he was going to do next. This
affected Steinbeck very much, because he adored his father and saw
him as his model, when he was so weak and sad Steinbeck was lost.
Olive took control and was often disdainful of John Ernst, which made
Steinbeck very angry as a child. In the end he got another job, but
he never truly recovered from the blow.
Steinbeck was born at a good time for America. In 1902 the country
was optimistic and full of energy, especially led by Theodore Roosevelt.
People moved towards the west of the country, finding the landscape
and weather very pleasurable. The first film companies were opening
in California, and Hollywood was just warming up. While in the central
and northern parts of the US the countryside remained unspoiled.
In 'East Of Eden' Steinbeck blames the economic problems of the Salinas
region more on the land that on the people who worked it. He points
out the dryness of the area and the lack of feed, blaming those factors
for the economic position of the Hamiltons.
Steinbeck grew up with a very distant father, who put up a wall between
himself and the rest of his family. People say that John Steinbeck
was angry at him for not being more present, for not shielding him
from at least part of his mother's attentions and scrutiny. She loved
him very much but was very strict and a bit cold. He never did anything
right in her eyes and he was afraid of making more mistakes. She was
very active in the community, had clear old-fashioned morals and was
never still. She had very high aspirations for John and pushed him
very hard, he ended up with a sense of himself as someone who never
achieved enough. He reacted badly to criticism in his later life as
well, which was not good when critics surround one. He was born with
distorted features because the birth was physically difficult for
Olive, but after his first few years his features became completely
normal. A few nicknames stuck, though, which made him very self-conscious
about his looks.
Steinbeck's earliest memory ever was of being taken by his father
to see the effects on Salinas of the famous San Francisco earthquake
of 1906. It was nothing like in San Francisco, but many buildings
were knocked down and it was very impressive to small Steinbeck. When
he was young his mother urged him very much to read, and he was ahead
of his class when he started school. One of his first memories, in
fact, is of trying to make out the words on a page while he was on
his mother's lap. He read all the classics and standbys for boys,
but didn't find a book he loved passionately until he read Malory's
version of the Arthurian legend in 1912. The novels made a permanent
impression on the young boy and they influenced all his writing strongly.
The 'quest for the good man' is crucial to his fiction and Malory's
idealized women appear often in Steinbeck's literature. The family's
economic crisis (father's loss of job) also stayed with him throughout
his life and affected his way of thinking.
After the family regained economic stability they were able to buy
a cottage near Monterey (on Pacific Grove), which assumed a special
importance for all the Steinbeck children. It truly represented the
family's recovery and it was associated with that in their minds as
well, it was the location for many of their best childhood memories.
It became the setting for many of Steinbeck's best known novels and
it became a place where he often returned when in difficult periods.
Steinbeck spent part of every summer on the beautiful coast in Monterey
until he left for college, and even moved there after his first marriage.
Steinbeck was very shy all through high school, but to his mother's
delight he was surprisingly elected president of his senior class.
Even while he was in high school people knew him as a writer and it
made sense to all of his old friends that it became his profession.
He was pushed ahead a grade at a certain point in high school, but
managed to remain close to some of his old friends while befriending
the most popular boy in school. A few of his teachers saw Steinbeck's
talent and encouraged him most ardently to pursue his writing skills.
He says that the most important boost came from his neighbour, Lucille
Hughes, who was also an aspiring writer. During his junior year Steinbeck
had caught a flu which quickly turned into pneumonia. He was soon
delirious and the whole family was in a panic. Steinbeck's lungs remained
a vulnerable spot throughout his life, so he never truly left the
illness behind him. He recovered well and attended the last few weeks
of school. His senior year ended with a major upturn in his grades,
a good fact when trying to get into college. He applied to Stanford
University due to its closeness to Salinas and the large number of
classmates applying for admission as well. He was quickly accepted,
which made his mother very happy, and left home with a sigh of relief,
delighted to be entering a new part of his life.
 Back
to top
The Fiction of Origins
Reviewed by Maita 8C
1. Where did Steinbeck set most of his fiction and why?
Steinbeck sets most of his fiction in California, which was, to him,
an imperfect Eden. Steinbeck was born in 1902 on Central Avenue, a
residential street in Salinas, California. Steinbeck lived there for
seventeen years.
2. What was the importance of Pacific Grove?
Pacific Grove was one of the few places where Steinbeck really felt
at ease. Pacific Grove was a touchstone for him and he went there
regularly to get a perspective on life. It was probably the most important
place for him and he returned there whenever he was troubled or needed
a rest. That house never left his mind and that house is often reflected
in his stories.
3. Where does most of Steinbeck's fiction originate? Which book attempts
to literally recreate Steinbeck's past?
Most of Steinbeck's fiction originates from his own life. He searched
his life for fiction stories that he could use to understand himself.
It was a way of digging up his past, his present, and his future.
Steinbeck was constantly looking into his past for patterns that he
could use for the future. East of Eden began as a literal attempt
at recreating Steinbeck's past. This book tells us a lot about Steinbeck's
sense of his own origins. He was trying to write a true historical
record of his family's migration from England to California. He wrote
this so he could give it to his sons to help them understand where
they came from. Unfortunately for Steinbeck his manuscript evolved
into a work of fiction and, not long afterwards, Steinbeck recognized
it as a fiction of origins.
4. How did Steinbeck see himself? How was he really ?
Steinbeck liked to see himself as an adventurer who came from a family
of adventurers with good instincts who migrated from Europe to the
New World. He was a very innocent, romantic at heart and a strong
believer in the power of good. He remained very surprised when things
did not work out for him. He wanted a simple life free of complications.
5.What influence did his maternal grandfather have on Steinbeck?
His maternal grandfather was called Samuel Hamilton and he came from
Ballykelly in Northern Ireland. He was a sun-burned, outgoing, muscular
man. Steinbeck spent a lot of his time as a child in his grandfather's
house following in his grandfather's footsteps as he did his daily
chores. He learned many practical things on the Hamilton farm that
stuck with him forever. The philosophy of practicality became an important
part of his way of being. As his wife says, Steinbeck was "forever
looking for a plot of ground to dig". Grandfather Hamilton was a very
practical man who enjoyed fixing things, carving wood, and building
boats. The Hamilton farm was a vital part of Steinbeck's personal
beliefs and it was reflected many times in his fiction like the Tiflin
ranch in The Red Pony.
6.What was Steinbeck's mother like?
Steinbeck's mother was called Olive. At the age of seventeen she qualified
as a teacher. She thought of herself as an educated woman and she
wanted her sons to be well educated overachievers. She had a strong
sense of right and wrong and was extremely strict. Olive was ambitious
and fierce and unlike her mother she did not want to be a farm wife.
She was a very strong person who wanted her children to be outstanding.
7. Describe in your own words the house where Steinbeck's parents
lived.
Steinbeck's house is on a nice street protected by tall elms. Behind
each house lies large a garden. White picket fences distinguish one
dwelling from the other. The Steinbeck's live in a two story house
surrounded by broad porches, on which the family can sit in a rocking
chair and watch the world go by. Anybody looking at the house would
sense respectability and privilege. The tall windows make the house
seem more spacious and large. Inside, the house has high ceilings
and large rooms. There is an entryway that makes visitors look ahead
to the steep staircase. A dining room and an elegant living room make
the house all the more inviting. Upstairs there are many small bedrooms
and a big attic covered in cobwebs. There is a staircase in the back
which leads to the dark wood-paneled kitchen. Steinbeck's room is
isolated from the rest of the house and he uses it to retreat from
his family when things get to be overwhelming. His room has a great
view of the back gardens.
8. Why is Steinbeck's paternal grandfather such a significant figure?
Steinbeck's paternal grandfather was called John Adolph Grossteinbeck.
He was a Lutheran cabinet-maker and extremely religious. John Adolph
had an adventurous part in him that Steinbeck really admired. Steinbeck
liked to work with a fierce looking portrait of his grandfather nearby.
Unfortunately his grandfather died before Steinbeck got a chance to
meet him. His grandfather took part in an extraordinary move that
became a big part in their family mythos. In this move, John Adolph
went to Jerusalem with his brother, sister and brother-in-law. They
set out to try to convert the "heathen" Jews of Palestine, even though
they were a minority. After weeks on horseback they arrived in the
Holy Land. Here John Adolph met his future wife, Almira Dickson. In
Palestine, they were attacked by Bedouin tribesmen. His brother was
killed and his sister-in-law abused. They were shocked and felt as
if they had failed, which is one of the themes that prevails in Steinbeck's
stories. Eventually, they went to New England in Massachusetts. When
Steinbeck came to know his personal history he couldn't stop talking
and thinking about it. For him it was as if he suddenly knew who he
was and where he came from. He finally understood where he got his
adventurous streak from.
9. Describe Steinbeck's father and his relationship with his wife
and children.
John Ernst was Steinbeck's father. He was a typical small-town burgher
of the times. He took his position in the community very seriously,
but he was very tentative about things and hardly ever raised his
voice. He carried himself like a man of importance. He was robust,
but fragile emotionally. After his flower milling company collapsed
due to the general downturn in the economy, they were not sure what
he was going to do next or from where the money would come. This family
crisis affected Steinbeck greatly because he adored his father, and
to see his father fail was very frightening for him. John Ernst became
depressed and never fully recovered. Olive took control of the family
and became very strict and often disapproving of John Ernst. This
made Steinbeck angry because he couldn't stand to see his role model
ridiculed. John Ernst eventually opened a feed store in Salinas, but
this did not work out because tractors and cars soon replaced horses
and animals. Fortunately, their positive work in the community paid
off. They had proved themselves to be decent citizens and his friend
offered him a stable job that could support his family. They were
finally on safe grown financially, although they would never be wealthy.
10. What was the situation in America when Steinbeck was born in 1902?
When Steinbeck was born the situation in America was very prosperous.
President Roosevelt gave people throughout the country a feeling of
optimism. It was like a cultural and social rebirth. Everybody started
with a clean slate and established themselves as best they could.
Hollywood, the first film company, had opened is Southern California.
Overall the country was doing very well.
11. In "East of Eden" Steinbeck describes the Salinas Valley. What
reasons does he give for the economic problems of the region?
In East of Eden Steinbeck blames the economic problems of the Salinas
Valley on the land instead of the people who lived on it. The land
was infertile, creating a lot of problems for the people who tried
to make their livings off of it. Fortunately his parents had chosen
to move away from farming.
12. Explain Steinbeck's childhood and his family relationships
Steinbeck had a distant relationship with his father because his father
had set up a type of wall between himself and his children. He became
a distant man. Steinbeck was angry at his father for not shielding
him, even a little, from his mother's scrutiny. She was never happy
with the things that Steinbeck did. Olive had a strong sense of right
and wrong and right and wrong is often featured in Steinbeck's stories.
She saw his intelligence, but was frustrated with his bad behavior
and the way that he did not participate very actively in school.
13. What were Steinbeck's earliest memories and influences?
Steinbeck remembers being taught how to read from his mother and how
it felt like it took decades before he actually caught on. He remembers
that his father took him to see how the earthquake had damaged the
building in the business district of
Salinas. Steinbeck became very self-conscious about his looks ,because
his sisters used to call him muskrat and mouse. He didn't like his
bulbous nose and heavy brow with big noticeable ears. In the end,
he thought of himself as an unattractive person which he resolved
by dressing with extravagant taste. He remembers sitting under a tree
and being dazzled and swept up by the powerful tales of Malory's version
of the Arthurian legend. This left a permanent impression on him.
Aspects of the Camelot myth influenced almost everything he wrote.
14. Why did the cottage in Monterey become one of the most important
retreats for Steinbeck?
The cottage in Monterey became one of the most important retreats
for Steinbeck because it symbolized stability. When his family was
finally on stable financial ground they bought this house. They used
to go to their house on weekends and during the summer. The bouldery
and brilliant shoreline along the Monterey coast remained engraved
in Steinbeck's mind. Monterey became the setting for two of his most
popular novels. He fell in love with the sea. He spent every summer
in his house until he left for college. From the time he was a kid,
he loved being around water and whenever he was troubled he would
return to this house.
15. Summarise the important aspects of Steinbeck's high school years
until his admission to Stanford.
Steinbeck matured later than most of his classmates since he had skipped
the fifth grade. He was not very involved in school activities, although
he really enjoyed participating in the yearbook club. Since the U.S.
was at war during his junior and senior years, a student training
corps was established and he made it to junior officer. He was elected
president of the senior class and his mother was thrilled that her
shy son had accomplished so much. His high school years were very
successful; although he did not particularly stand out, he was known
as a writer even then.
Back
to top
The Fiction of Origins
Reviewed by John B. 8T
P .11. Most of John Steinbeck's books were set in California. He
did this for many reasons, one being that it was an imperfect "Eden".
Another reason was that he grew up there, and still had many memories
of his early life there, such as Pacific Grove.
Pacific Grove was important to John Steinbeck because it acted as
a "safe haven" for him, a place where he could relax and sort out
his life.
P. 12 Most of John Steinbeck's fiction originates from his own life,
that is, his own experiences. John Steinbeck constantly looked back
to his past for ideas.
East of Eden was meant to be a straight forward look at how his
family moved to California from New England for his two sons, so that
they would be able to understand where they came from. Instead, it
became a long work of fiction.
p.13-14
The first extract represents the life of his maternal grandfather
who came from Northern Ireland. He then moved to Salinas where he
started a farm. Sam was a very smart and clever man. He could prosper
anywhere.
The second extract from The Red Pony is also about Sam Hamilton.
Sam prospered even though Salinas was home to some of the harshest
driest land. The ranch is also like the one that Steinbeck visited
as a child.
Steinbeck saw himself as an outdoorsman, a frontiersman and a pioneer.
He saw himself as preferring rigors and adventures to a settled life
of town dwellers.
Steinbeck was actually profoundly innocent and he believed in the
goodness of people and the American dream. He was confused when things
did not work out for him personally. He was a practical man.
Steinbeck's maternal grandfather was a sunburned, outgoing, muscular
man with the gift of gab. He influenced Steinbeck as the perfect example
of the American dream. Here is a man from Northern Ireland able to
come to a harsh land (Salinas) and prosper from nothing. He is what
Steinbeck wanted to be like.
P15 John Steinbeck's mother was very smart. At seventeen, she was
qualified as a schoolteacher. "She had a sense of herself as an educated
women", said her second daughter about Ms. Olive Hamilton (the mother
of Steinbeck). She was very caring to her children, yet had a strict
nature. She knew what people should do and what people should not
do. She was fierce, ambitious and puritanical.
P16 Steinbeck's house was very large and situated on Central Avenue
in Salinas. It was two floors high, with a nice porch with some leisure
chairs. It had long windows, and a broad door. The inside was even
nicer. The rooms were spacious and had high ceilings. They had a large
staircase, visible from the doorstep. The dining room and parlor were
both very sophisticated. The upstairs rooms were small and cagey.
John Steinbeck's room was found at the top, by itself; it had high
ceilings and lots of space. The attic was barely used and thus, dust-laden.
Lastly, it had a nice garden at the back of the house, filled with
all kinds of plants and trees.
P16-18 Steinbeck's paternal grandfather was a significant figure
for him because he was a great adventurer. He was a deeply religious
man and did things out of the ordinary, like going to Jerusalem knowing
it would be dangerous. John Adolph's brother was attacked and stabbed
to death and his sister-in-law raped in the Holy Land. This was extremely
traumatic for John Adolph. This is probably why Steinbeck's books
always end in disaster. John Adolph always yearned for adventure making
him the perfect fictional character for Steinbeck.
P19-22 Steinbeck's father's relationship with his children and wife
was interesting. For one thing his father was a secretive, tentative
person. It was not he, raising his voice and getting angry with the
kids, but instead, the mother. John Ernst became depressed after Sperry
(his company) collapsed and he was out of a money-flowing job. He
did not talk much to his family, and was very careful with how he
used his money. By the time Ernst died, he left the family in a safe
financial position.
P22 When Steinbeck was born in 1902, America was doing well. It was
expanding and many immigrants were coming in to work. It was the "new
social age". California became the famous land of "milk and honey",
a place where anybody could start life over again. The movie industry
was just starting up around Los Angeles. This was a fair time to be
born.
P23 In East of Eden, Steinbeck blames the economic problems on the
land, and not on the people working on it. He said the land was harsh
and dry. There were no fresh springs and even sagebrush barely survived
each year. There was little to feed the cattle.
P23-26 While Steinbeck was growing up, his father was very distant
from him and the rest of the family due to his financial problems.
His mother was very stern towards him, and as a result, Steinbeck
felt angry with his father for not helping him out. His mom was highly
respected in Salinas. Steinbeck learned from his mom to be part of
charities and helping poor or needy people. Although she pushed him,
Mrs. Steinbeck noticed John's brilliance and writing abilities. She
used to threaten that he'd either go to the White House as president
or go to jail. Steinbeck never thought he could meet up to his mother's
expectations and he considered many of his great books as failures.
Steinbeck took criticism personally, and was hurt by it, bordering
on clinical depression. He then took to alcohol to rid him of his
problems.
As a child, Steinbeck wanted to be noticed as much as possible.
He spent most of his family time with his three sisters and his mother.
When his mother gave birth to Steinbeck, it had been a rather strenuous
delivery. Steinbeck was born with small facial defects. His sisters
made fun of him and he became self-conscious about his facial features.
He dressed in extravagant clothes so that people thought he must be
somebody exceptional.
P26-28 Steinbeck's earliest memory, was of being taken by John Ernst
to see the aftershocks of the earthquake of 1906 in Salinas. The earthquake
was huge and killed over seven hundred people. Even in Salinas, just
a hundred miles south of San Francisco (the worst hit place by the
earthquake), many buildings were destroyed.
In 1908, Steinbeck went to primary school. There, the teacher quickly
saw Steinbeck's already developed reading abilities that were given
to him by his mother (a certified schoolteacher) at home. He read
many books made for people older than him at a young age.
A very important memory for Steinbeck was when he read Malory's version
of the Arthurian legend. He read this at his mother's sister's house
in 1912. The book made a permanent impression on him. It probably
helped in influence him for Tortilla Flat and Canary Row. Ideas of
the Camelot myth were traceable in almost all of his works. His books
are always about the Malorian quest for the ‘good man'. He later rented
a house near the supposed site of Camelot for a year.
One more important memory from his childhood was when he learned
how to read. He said ,"It seemed like eons before I was able to catch
on". He constantly had his mother hovering over him, trying to make
him understand the meaning within the bunched up letters.
Outside of the family, Steinbeck usually played by himself or he
read at home. His closest friends were neighbors, so he often went
to visit them. He was not exposed to either the radio or the television.
Steinbeck's family never completely recovered from his father's financial
problems.
P29-30 The small house in Monterey became an important retreat for
Steinbeck and his family because it was a place to relax. It was a
place to look forward to going to. Steinbeck used Monterey in many
of his novels and stories. It was a sacred area for him to go to in
difficult periods. Steinbeck also enjoyed being near the water, and,
Monterey was very close to some of the most breathtaking beaches in
California.
P30-36 Steinbeck was a year ahead of his classmates in Salinas High
School. He matured after them and thus, was subject to ridicule and
left out of many things. Steinbeck worked on the school yearbook,
played on both the football and the basketball teams and participated
in the school plays. He was made a junior officer during World War
II and in his senior year he was elected class president. Throughout
his high school years, he already wrote very good stories that were
often praised by fellow classmates. He became close friends with Bill
Black, the most popular and athletic kid at the tiny school. He was
so good at writing, even at that age, that his teacher often read
his work out loud to the whole class. He was pushed to become a writer
by many, but one really important person was Lucille Hughes (a friend
of his mother) who was also becoming a writer. He met with her twice
a week. In his junior year, he caught the flu and almost died. An
operation was performed, and he luckily survived. However, later in
his life, most of his illnesses were caused by his damaged lungs.
That was his Achilles' Heel. Steinbeck's senior year was a strong
ending to his high school conquests. He applied to Stanford University
in Palo Alto and got in. He later dropped out.
Back
to top
The Fiction of Origins
Reviewed by Claudia 8C
P.11 Where did Steinbeck set most of his fiction and why?
Steinbeck set most of his fiction in California "a kind of imperfect
Eden" because he had lived most of his childhood in Salinas.
What was the importance of Pacific Grove?
The Pacific Grove was an important place to Steinbeck because it was
a retreat where he could go whenever he was troubled. "The house in
Pacific Grove, which had belonged to his parents, was like a touchstone",
a place where he returned periodically, and probably the most important
location during his early life.
P.12
Where does most of Steinbeck's fiction originate?
Most of Steinbeck's fiction relates to his life. "Like most writers,
Steinbeck searched his own life for stories he could make into fiction
that would help him understand who he was and where he came from".
Which book attempts to literally recreate Steinbeck's past?
In "East of Eden", Steinbeck attempted to remember his past quite
literally. He intended to write a true historical account of his life
but as often happens with novelists, the manuscript quickly became
a work of fiction.
P.13-14
Cut and paste the extracts taken from this novel and explain what
the passages represent.
"...He came to Salinas Valley full-blown and hearty, full of invention and energy.
His eyes were very blue, and when he was tired one of them wandered outward a
little. He was a big man but delicate in a way. In the dusty business of ranching
he seemed always immaculate. His hands were clever. He was a good blacksmith
and carpenter and woodcarver, and he could improvise anything with bits of wood
and metal. He was forever inventing a new way of doing an old thing and doing
it better and quicker...". This passage represents Steinbeck's way of describing
himself through the character of Samuel Hamilton in "East of Eden".
"...If the land had been any good the Hamiltons would have been rich people. But
the acres were harsh and dry. There were no springs, and the crust of topsoil
was so thin that the flinty bones stuck through. Even the sagebrush struggled
to exist, and the oaks were dwarfed from lack of moisture. Even in reasonably
good years, there was so little feed that the cattle kept thin running about
looking for enough to eat...". This passage describes the struggle of the Salinas
Valley people both from poverty and from the harshness of the land they owned.
I think that the passage also represents the hard years Steinbeck and his parents
went through when John's father faced financial problems.
How did Steinbeck see himself? How was he really?
Steinbeck liked to see himself "as someone who came from a long line of adventures".
Even though he never was fully satisfied of what his life turned out to be. Something
was always missing: his two wives, his sons who had abandoned him, and even his
books that never received fully satisfying reviews.
What influence did his maternal grandfather have on Steinbeck? Cut and paste
the extract from "The Red Pony" which describes the farm where Steinbeck where
spent time as a child.
Steinbeck's maternal grandfather influenced his childhood very much. John used
to spend hours working with him at his farmhouse. He learned many practical things
that accompanied him throughout his life, especially working with hands, always
fixing and carving new things.
"...Then he turned and looked back on the ranch, on the low, whitewashed house
girded with red geraniums, and on the long bunkhouse by the cypress tree where
Billy Buck lived alone. Jody could see the great black kettle under the cypress
tree. That was where the pigs were scalded. The sun was coming up over the ridge
now, glaring on the whitewash of the houses and barns, making the wet grass blaze
softly. Behind him, in the sagebrush, the birds were scampering on the ground,
making a great noise among the dry leaves; the squirrels piped shrilly on the
side-hills..."
P.15
What was Steinbeck's mother like?
Steinbeck's mother, Olive, was one of nine children. She attended a high school
in Salinas and at the age of seventeen, she qualified as a teacher. She taught
many subjects, and children of all ages. Olive had a strong sense of duty. She
was very strict and ambitious and did not aspire to being a "farm wife" like
her mother.
P.16
Describe in your own words the house where Steinbeck's parents lived.
The house in which Steinbeck's parents lived was very large with wide gardens
and high ceilings. It was in Central Avenue, a large road in Salinas, lined with
elms and picket white fences. The house was white and two stories high, with
large windows and fancy turrets. It had several porches overlooking the gardens.
The entrance hall had a large and elegant stairway leading to the upper flat,
where there were several small bedrooms. On the lower flat there was a formal
dining room and a parlour. A back stairwell led to a dark wood-paneled kitchen.
Steinbeck's room was at the top of the house, in a dark and isolated spot with
a nice view of the garden: " a cozy place where to retreat from the family".
P.16-18
Why is Steinbeck's paternal grandfather a significant figure?
Steinbeck's paternal grandfather was a significant figure because he was part
of the "family myth". He set for an expedition to the wild lands of Palestine
accompanied by his two brothers and his brother-in-law. Unfortunately, the mission
of converting the Jews failed and caused the death of his brother. Steinbeck's
books were greatly influenced by this event because many of the characters in
his books face failure.
P. 19-22
Describe Steinbeck's father and his relationship with wife and children.
John Steinbeck's father was a very shy and isolated man. His daughter clearly
states: "He rarely raised his voice. Mother gave the orders". He was very meticulous
about appearance but not very sociable. When the family encountered financial
instability, John Ernest Steinbeck did not know what to do next. He was very
stressed and depressed. Young John was eight years old at the time, and found
it very frightening to see his idol in such stressed situations. Ernest's wife,
Olive, became very strict with her husband. She assumed the command of the family.
"John Ernest depressive reaction provided his son with an unfortunate model.
A sensitive and impressionable boy, young Steinbeck was soon lost in daydreaming
and depression".
P. 22
What was the situation in America when Steinbeck was born in 1902?
When Steinbeck was born, it was a time of expansion and prosperity. The new president
Theodore Roosevelt wanted to widen the boundaries of the American empire. Many
people moved to California, a land of new opportunities, a place where people
could go and begin life again. Salinas became the commercial centre of what Steinbeck
called "the long valley", a narrow strip of land with sunny climate.
P. 23
In "East of Eden" Steinbeck describes the Salinas Valley. What reason does he
give for economic problems of the region?
"...If the land had been any good the Hamiltons would have been rich people. But
the acres were harsh and dry. There were no springs, and the crust of topsoil
was so thin that the flinty bones stuck through. Even the sagebrush struggled
to exist, and the oaks were dwarfed from lack of moisture. Even in reasonably
good years, there was so little feed that the cattle kept thin running about
looking for enough to eat...".
Steinbeck clearly states that the economic problems of the region were caused
mostly by the infertility of the land. In the passage he describes how "the acres
were harsh and dry", and the absence of springs to irrigate fields.
P. 23-26
Explain Steinbeck's childhood and his family relationships.
Steinbeck's father was a distant man who never played with young John or with
the other girls. This fact irritated his son a lot. His mother always wanted
more from John than what he could do, and that used to annoy Steinbeck so much
that sometimes he would defy her and shout back. Something that affected him
too was that his sisters used to call him "mouse". He became self-conscious about
his looks, even in his last years and perpetually thought of himself as somebody
unpleasant to look at.
P.26-28
What were Steinbeck's earliest memories and influences?
One of Steinbeck's earliest memories was when his mother taught him to read.
At the beginning he couldn't make the same incomprehensible sounds his mother
made, but with lots of frustration and hard work, he accomplished his mother's
goals. Another memory Steinbeck had was when he was brought at the Primary School
in Central Avenue. He already knew how to read and write so he spent his time
reading books. His aunt Molly introduced him to many new and powerful tales like
the Arthurian Legend. These books made a permanent impression on young Steinbeck.
He later on used the structure of some of these stories to write many of his
most successful novels like "Tortilla Flat" and "Cannery Row".
P.29-30
Why did the cottage in Monterey become one of the most important retreats for
Steinbeck?
Steinbeck's father was able to buy a small cottage in the Pacific Grove. It became
a place where the family went for weekend excursions and picnics. It assumed
a special importance for all of the Steinbeck children, especially for John.
"Steinbeck fell in love with the smell of the sea, the wet rocks and kelp, the
sharpness of iodine and the odour of washed crumbling calcareous shells". He
continued to go back to the cottage many times throughout his life, and it remained
his home base.
P.30-36
Summarize the important aspects of Steinbeck's high school years until the admission
to Stanford.
When Steinbeck arrived at Salinas High School he was many times left isolated
by his classmates. Since he had skipped the fifth grade in primary school, he
was the youngest one in his class. He was enrolled in the student training corps
and made a Junior Officer. He was not at all happy about this new job he had
been forced to take but to his surprise, he was also elected president of the
Senior Class, a job he took more willingly. He started writing articles for the
school yearbook and his creative skills greatly improved. He was often praised
by his writing and English teachers for his vast imagination and property of
speech. Many people were aware of Steinbeck's great writing skills. A very big
boost was given by a neighbour called Lucille Hughes. She was a writer too, and
spent many afternoons listening to Steinbeck narrating his latest stories. His
final year at Salinas High School ended with a flourish that was marked by a
major upturn in his grades. He was therefore granted graduation, and an admission
to Stanford with excellent marks.
Back
to top
Fiction of Origins
Reviewed by Pietro 8C
p.11 Many authors write about their experiences during childhood.
In many of his novels Steinbeck used California as a setting. This
is because of his memories as a youth. He lived in California for
17 years and those years were a source of memories and inspirations.
When Steinbeck was in difficulty he returned at Pacific Grove, where
he had a house belonging to his parents. I think that Pacific Grove
had an important meaning for him: it was a place where he could rest
peacefully without anyone to bug him. It's as if he would get his
fuel back, so that his batteries would work. I think that we all have
a place where we go when we are tired. For me that place is my home.
In fact when I am tired I go home take a fresh shower, lay on my bed
and think.
p.12 Most of Steinbeck's fiction originates in his past. He narrates
things that have happened to him. Every life is a story. Virginia
Woolf thought it was this way and so did many other writers. Steinbeck,
recreated his past in a book called "East of Eden". It tells about
Steinbeck's sense of origins. To prove that every life is a story,
last year in our Italian class we all had to write an autobiography.
Everyone thought that nothing had happened in their life, but at the
end we all found out that we had an interesting life. The mood in
which you narrate the story is also very important.
p.13-14 Steinbeck saw himself as an adventurous person. He liked to
see himself as a person who came from many adventurers, who traveled
from East to South. He was a believer in goodness and he believed
in the American dream. This may be why he was shocked by events in
his personal life and how things did not work out in his two marriages
or how his sons drifted away from him. He was also stunned the way
his books never seemed to satisfy the reviewers. He was a simple person.
p.15 Olive, Steinbeck's mother, a teacher, was an ambitious, fierce,
educated woman. She was very strict. She was also very intelligent:
at 17 years she qualified as a teacher and went to teach at a small
school near King City. At 24 years she met John Ernst Steinbeck with
whom she later married.
p.16 Steinbeck's parents' house was very big, elegant, respectable
and attractive. They lived in Central Avenue, a calm street where
the houses were large and had spacious gardens. His house had high
walls and ceilings with tall windows and a steep staircase. His room,
at the top of the house, was isolated from the rest of the house.
It was dark and spacious. If we were to represent this room in a story
I would call it ‘the thinking room' because of its darkness and because
it was isolated. Steinbeck's parents lived there till they both died
in the thirties. The representation of the house seems to me as an
imaginary house because of its high ceilings and windows. It seems
to me as a house Gaudi built.
p.16-18 Steinbeck's paternal grandfather is a very significatnt figure
because he was adventurous. His brother was killed when he and his
family went to Palestine trying to convert the people to protestantism.
He then had to go to the Civil War but he escaped one night and he
hid in the woods. He traveled from Florida to California and from
Jerusalem to New England. He probably was Steinbeck's inspiration
in his unhappy novel endings. He probably was what Steinbeck had longed
to be: an adventurous man.
p.19-22 Steinbeck's father had little in common with his father, John
Adolph. He was not inclined to work with his hands for living. He
didn't like to raise his voice and he took very seriously what people
thought of him. In fact he wore suits and stiff collars. John Ernst
had gone into flour milling but business declined and he became manager
of Sperry. Sperry soon collapsed and he fell into a great depression.
Steinbeck, being 18 and having his father as a role model also felt
very sad and soon fell into a depression. Olive assumed command of
the family and John Ernst restarted his business. Once again he failed.
This made him a timid man, full of uncertanties, who did not want
to take any risks. As John Ernst's fortunes declined, a friend of
his offered him a place in his sugar factory. From then until he died
he worked there. He died in 1936. I think that John Ernst didn't have
a very good relationship with his children because he lacked determination.
He seems fragile and sensitive which is not positive if you want to
have children. The mother-father relationship worked pretty well because
of Olivie who was strong enough to assume control of the family. It
seems to me that John Ernst was one of those men who wants to show
that they are able to carry the weight of the family on their shoulders
but inside are as fragile as a flower.
p.23-26 Steinbeck was born in a lucky time when America was expanding.
His youth was difficult also because of his father's depression. Many
neighbours and relatives claim to know that Steinbeck was a little
angry at his father because he didn't help the family. His mother
was the person on whom he most relied. He actually was scared to be
on the wrong side of his mother. He never had her approval and this
might be the reason for his own fierce determination, his urge to
rectify wrong and his identifying with the poor people. Steinbeck
was never satisfied with his works and had always a sense of failure.
He couldn't take criticism well. He often used alcohol to take his
problems off of his mind. He was also very unsure of his looks. He
solved this last problem by wearing elegant clothes when he was in
public. Steinbeck's visit to the ruins of the biggest earthquake of
the century, that affected California had a lasting effect on him.
Luckily Salinas had little damage and no deaths. His family was always
close to him, especially the three women: his mother and his two sisters.
However, he didn't have an easy childhood.
p.26-28 Steinbeck's first memories were of books. His mother read
to him and made him read out loud from when he was very small. He
was introduced to Malory's version of the Arthurian legend by Aunt
Molly, his mother's bookish sister. This influenced him by making
him spend the last decade of his life on the book and he even rented
a cottage near the supposed castle of Camelot. Another painful memory
was sitting with his mother while trying to read out loud, not knowing
how to pronounce the words. His mother would often get mad with him.
These memories show how Steinbeck was fragile inside.
p.29-30 The cottage in Monterey was the most important place for Steinbeck.
When his family first bought it, they would go there during week-ends
and go on excursions. This was a place of "recovery" for
him and his family. It was their "lucky" place where there
would always be a place for them. Steinbeck loved the sea and the
wet sand. Even when he married the first time he went to live there.
It was a place where he could isolate himself and be happy. I think
he had joy in going to Monterey because even through his lifetime
he would go there at regular intervals to rest.
p.30-36 He skipped fifth grade . Maybe this was the reason for his
shyness through all his school years. His High School was a small
school and everyone needed to do every activity. Students recall that
they weren't surprised when he became a famous author because he would
write all by himself pieces for the yearbook. He was also elected
president of the senior class. He discovered his writing skills in
his first High School year when his teacher would read his essays
out loud complimenting his writing. He had many sicknesses during
his life time, most of them to do with his lungs. When he was in High
School he suffered a terrible illness that made many Americans die.
Luckily he did not die thanks to a local surgeon who turned his parents'
bedroom into a clinic. He made it past High School publishing several
articles in the yearbook and achieving fame as the class religious
person. He then was accepted at Stanford University with the hope
of his mother that he would take school more seriously.
Comment: Although he writes of adventurous men who need to travel
and fight for their survival I think Steinbeck didn't have a very
adventurous life and this may be why he wrote so many adventure books.
His childhood surely had a clear impact on him that contributed to
his unhappiness, dissatisfaction and general fragility. I think he
wrote the kind of books he did because he actually desired to have
a life which was more intense, like Hemingway's maybe. All of this
makes me think that sometimes when a person is famous and too intelligent
he is actually very unhappy inside.
Back
to top
The Fiction of Origins
Reviewed by Eilif 8T
1) Steinbeck set most of his fiction in the Salinas Valley and Pacific
Grove because those were the places where he grew up. Pacific Grove
was frequently featured because it was his getaway, his escape and
his base. His third wife, Elaine, recalls that when he was troubled
or needed time on his own he would visit Pacific Grove.
2) Most of Steinbeck's fiction originates from his own childhood and
teenage years. He takes people and places and recreates the scene
and puts a plot typical of that place. One of Steinbeck's books that
almost word for word recreates his past is his novel ‘East of Eden'
which he wrote in the year 1952. He evokes his family history and
tries to remember his origins.
3) ‘He came to the Salinas Valley full-blown and hearty, full of invention
and energy. His eyes were very blue, and when he was tired one of
them wandered outward a little. He was a big man but in a delicate
way. In the dusty business of ranching he always seemed immaculate.
His hands were clever. He was a good blacksmith and carpenter and
woodcarver, and he could improvise anything with bits of wood and
metal, He was forever inventing a new way of doing an old thing and
doing it better and quicker...'
This first passage is a ‘self-portrait' of Steinbeck. He is attempting
to describe himself as a young man and is, according to people who
knew him, quite accurate in his description. Steinbeck saw himself
as a handsome, clever and gentle man who was always trying to improve
old things into more efficient ways. He may not have been exactly
like this but we can guess that this might have been what he aspired
to be.
‘Then he turned and looked back on the ranch, on the low, whitewashed
house girded with red geraniums, and on the long bunkhouse by the
cypress tree where Billy Buck lived alone. Jody could see the great
black kettle under the cypress tree. That was where the pigs were
scalded. The sun was coming up over the ridge now, glaring on the
whitewash of the houses and barns, making the wet grass blaze softly.
Behind him, in the tall sagebrush, the birds were scampering on the
ground, making a great noise among the dry leaves; the squirrels piped
shrilly on the side-hills.
The second passage represents the place where Steinbeck grew up on
a ranch in the southern part of the United States of America. He uses
his memories of the wildlife surrounding the ranch and the natural
parts of the ranch that he remembers as his childhood residence. This
also represents ranches in the U.S.A. in the early 20th century.
Steinbeck's maternal grandfather had a great influence on Steinbeck
because he, like his grandfather, both shared a love for making and
fixing things with their hands.
4) Steinbeck's mother was a schoolteacher and was very proud of being
an educated woman. She wanted her children to be the same and was
quite strict with them. According to her daughter she had a strong
sense about what you should and shouldn't do.
5) The Steinbeck house was a two-storey building with a porch with
a rocking chair where a person could sit and watch the world go by.
The interior had large rooms and high ceilings. There was a formal
dining room with a side door that led to the kitchen and the back
garden. This was apparently a nice retreat for the family. This house
was a place of residence as well as a status symbol.
6) John Steinbeck's paternal grandfather, John Adolph Grossteinbeck,
played a great part in John Steinbeck's life. When Steinbeck was little
he looked up to his grandfather but sadly his grandfather died before
he got to know him. Apparently when John Steinbeck was working he
liked to have a picture of his grandfather close by.
7) John Ernst Steinbeck was a very meek and emotionally unstable man.
He was a businessman unlike his father and always dressed nicely.
He was not however ‘the man of the house' while his wife took up that
responsibility.
John Ernst Steinbeck had a business which was successful for a while,
but it failed. Soon after, he started another business, which almost
immediately crashed and left the family savings very low. Young Steinbeck,
who looked up to his father, was frightened to see that he was stressed
and deeply unnerved. Eventually John Steinbeck Sr. gained employment
and was able to raise enough money to get them by.
8) When Steinbeck was born, Theodore Roosevelt was President. He was
very eager and optimistic and this mood rippled throughout the United
States. As Roosevelt was fairly young when he came into office he
very much wanted to extend the boundaries of the U.S.A.
9) ‘If the land had been any good the Hamiltons would have been rich
people. But the acres were harsh and dry. There were no springs, and
the crust of the topsoil was so thin that the flinty bones stuck through.
Even the sagebrush struggled to exist, and the oaks were dwarfed from
lack of moister. Even in responsibly good years there was so little
feed that the cattle kept thin running about looking for enough to
eat.'
He says that the land was no good and that even the very best farmers
could hardly grow anything. He also states that the cows never got
fat because they would always be running around looking for food.
He says that the Hamiltons (his family) would have been rich if the
land had been good to work on.
10) John Steinbeck never had a great relationship with his father
who almost seemed to distance himself from his children. He was closer
to his mother who was strict with him and whom he was a little bit
afraid of angering. He was very close to his sister Mary who was nearest
to him in age. According to his sister Beth, he was very spoiled and
all of his siblings took care of him. When he left the house he would
right letter to them very often about what he did and whom he met
and made several copies so they would each have a copy of his letter.
11) Steinbeck's earliest memory was of when his father took him to
Salinas to see the damage that the earthquake of 1906 had caused.
His other memories include being called names because he was not very
handsome due to the fact that his mother had difficulty with the delivery
and the harshness of it distorted some of his features. This is why
when he was older he bought lots of fancy clothes because he thought
he wasn't nice to look at.
12) The cottage in Monterey became an important place for him because
it was one of his happiest memories and he would always go there (or
drink) to escape his problems and calm down before trying to solve
them.
13) When Steinbeck was in high school he was pretty shy and meek and
didn't want to stand out of the crowd. However, since he attended
a small school, he was forced to take part in some activities such
as theatre and football. Though he took pride in being the yearbook
editor. He was not very successful until the twelfth grade, in which
he was elected class president. He stood forward and was a class leader
and was very active in the making of the yearbook. He applied and
was accepted at Stanford University and studied literature there.
Back
to top
Fiction of Origins
Reviewed by Giorgia 8C
1. Steinbeck set most of his fiction on Central Avenue, a residential
street in Salinas, California because it was a place he called home,
a place that stayed in his heart where he lived for seventeen years,
it was "a kind of imperfect Eden which he lost and recovered periodically".
That place was one of his greatest sources of nightmares, memories
and daydreams that inspirited many of his stories. The Pacific Grove
was of great importance in his life: the house in the Pacific Grove
was his parents' house, it always stayed in his mind and was probably
the greatest source of ideas and inspiration for his stories for he
had very strong feelings "connected" to that place. He lived in that
house for long periods of time; it was a place where he went when
he was troubled or needed to rest. It probably was the most important
place for him.
2. As I indirectly said, most of Steinbeck's fiction originates from
his memory and past. He thought a lot about his life and what had
been and tried to find parts of it he could use for his stories or
make into fiction. The problem is that life is plot less and therefore
it can be quite hard to turn memory of what has been into a book.
That is what he tried to do. He tried to dedicate a whole book, as
a true historical account of his past and the history of his family.
It was called "East of Eden". And since it was so hard to put real
life facts, as they were so plot less into a whole book, the manuscript
became a work of fiction or better: a fiction of origins.
"One often encounters a contradiction between Steinbeck's knowledge of his characters
and his own self-knowledge." In his stories he always was innocent till the end,
one who believes in life and in the American dream. For example, in the book
"East of Eden", he put himself in the character Samuel Hamilton. This is how
he saw himself and was surprised to be somewhat different to what he thought
he was, his life did not go perfectly, in fact he had some trouble with his two
marriages and with his family. He also wasn't completely satisfied with his books
and the reviews either. He dearly wanted a simple life, lacking of anxiety and
human complication.
Steinbeck's Grandfather and his wife lived in a farm near King City, a few miles
south of Salinas. This farm stayed very lively in Steinbeck's memory as he wrote
about it in the book "The Red Pony". He spent a lot of his time on that farm
throughout childhood, trying to be like his grandfather. That was where he learned
most of the skills that stayed with him throughout his lifetime such as the routine
of farm work, it had become such part of him that he always tried to plant things
and dig, just like in a farm. Sam Hamilton (Steinbeck's grandfather) influenced
deeply Steinbeck's way of being. Steinbeck became a practical man and enjoyed
just as much as his grandfather did working with his hands.
3. Steinbeck's mother, Olive, was Sam Hamilton's youngest daughter. At the age
of seventeen she qualified as a teacher with the local education authority after
having gone to the high school in Salinas in preparation for the career of school
teaching. She quickly became a teacher in a small school near King City, where
she taught many different subjects. Olive was an educated woman who had a "sense
of herself". She was very strict but was strong as well as had a strong sense
of what was right or not. She was a fierce, ambitious and puritanical woman who
didn't seem to be "made" for farming at all. She married Steinbeck's father,
John Ernest Steinbeck in King City at about the age of twenty-four.
4. Steinbeck's parents rapidly bought the house on Central Avenue, the street
was a fashionable, flourishing street, more like a living paradise or Garden
of Eden. It was probably very green, full with trees, especially elms. Nearly
each house had big and beautiful gardens outlined by "white picket fences". The
actual house, a two-storey gabled structure, was very large with big porches.
The structure reflected the period's fashion, nearly like a miniature castle
it had turrets, tall windows, the rooms had high ceilings and were big, the colours
also reflected the period's style for example it had a gingerbread fringe and
the dark wood panelled kitchen gave a sensation of space. Most of the rooms had
a "purpose", some were bedrooms, one was the kitchen, then, there was the formal
dining room, and so on. Steinbeck's room was the highest room of the house, an
isolated, dark but spacious room.
5. Steinbeck's paternal grandfather, John Adolph Grossteinbeck, was a Lutheran
and very religious man, but the main reason why he influenced Steinbeck's life
and stories was his adventurous side. Steinbeck greatly admired him and even
though he died before Steinbeck could actually meet him, the family myths were
enough for Steinbeck to transform the image of his grandfather and stories into
novels or books about people and their relation with the world. In Steinbeck's
stories most adventures end up in disasters, this is because a similar thing
happened to his grandfather when he went to Palestine in a private crusade to
convert the heathen Jews into Christians. That was where he met Almira Dickson
who soon became his wife and later on, on the course of the journey when some
horrible misadventures occurred such as the death of his brother, they retreated
to New England. John Adolph set up shop as a wood carver but soon started missing
the adventures and started travelling with his family again. The last time his
family migrated was after the war. Steinbeck learned the whole story in detail
by acquiring John Adolph's Civil War papers, and after that he did not stop thinking
and talking about it.
6. John Ernest, Steinbeck's father was the very opposite of his father, he did
not like working with his hands. He took very seriously his place in the community,
maybe even too much. Olive, Steinbeck's mother was the one who gave the orders,
as John Ernest never raised his voice. He was a timid and emotionally fragile
man who took few risks and who cared a lot about his appearance, he would only
wear fine suits and stiff collars. He had gone into flour milling but the business
declined soon, the family crisis affected him deeply and he quickly went into
depression. This was most upsetting for Steinbeck who at that time was a young
boy whose principal figure in his life was his father. John Ernest never fully
recovered from this depression and Olive, even stronger, assumed complete command
and led the family. After a while he tried running a feed store that then collapsed
before it ever got going and their last savings were almost all used up. Thanks
to the community in Salinas the family was helped as every good neighbour was
like a friend and a relative. They never were rich but they never starved or
suffered hunger.
7. When Steinbeck was born in 1902, America was "expanding and expansive". The
president of those times brought flamboyance and optimism. He wanted to widen
the boundaries of the American empire. Woodrow Wilson said "this is nothing short
of a new social age, a new era of human relationships, a new stage-setting for
the drama of life". California fascinated many people as it was a place where
people went to have the good life and start their lives all over again. Many
things were started as well as Hollywood where the first film company opened
in southern California. San Francisco was one of the few places in central and
northern California that was well populated, while the countryside was unspoilt
agricultural land.
8. Steinbeck blames the economic problems on the land. He says that his grandfather
would have become rich in an instant if it weren't for the harsh lands. He said
that they were dry with no springs and that there was barely enough vegetation
to feed the cows or other farm animals. Some people though think that it was
the lack of knowledge and skill that led them to economic failure.
9. Throughout his childhood, Steinbeck's life wasn't easy and carefree, his family
was wealthy and could afford food on the table but what worried him or what was
one of his major sources of insecurity was his father. Instead of being a good
example for his young son, he was a distant man, he stayed in the background,
he was lonely and depressed and it seemed like he always was in the shadows of
the house. Instead of playing with his children like any other father he put
a "wall" between himself and them. Steinbeck's mother, Olive, was more important
for John, in fact she was at the centre of the family. Although she was a stern,
little cold woman, she loved her son and recognised his abilities even though
he often misbehaved and had a tendency to stay alone. "Steinbeck was a little
afraid of getting on the wrong side of her". Olive was a very active person,
especially in the community. The things that interested her most were the cases
of poverty or injustice. She pushed Steinbeck too hard and therefore he started
a habit of identifying with the poor and needy, which wasn't always a good thing.
Steinbeck never thought he managed to achieve anything. All he saw was failure
and became terrified of it, to the point where he didn't dare go on. Slowly he
fell into alcoholism. He was very angry towards women, probably due to being
surrounded by them during his childhood. In the end Steinbeck was "somebody exceptional
- or eccentric".
10. There are four main memories of things that happened throughout Steinbeck's
childhood that influenced him a lot in his later years. One memory was when he
was taken to see the outcome of the famous earthquake of 1906 that was one of
the greatest earthquakes of the century. Salinas was only affected with the after
effects but the school,the department store and some other buildings were damaged.
Another memory was that when he entered "the baby school" he was already ahead
of everyone in reading and writing because Olive had been reading him a great
number of books and made him read aloud to her from an early age. In fact, the
books he read, especially Malory's version of the Arthurian legend affected him
deeply. The last memory was his father's depression that led him to being an
insecure man, very afraid of failure.
Back
to top
The Fiction of Origins
Reviewed by Vera 8T
John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California. All through his life
he remained extremely attached to his home land, which he saw as 'a
kind of imperfect Eden which he lost and recovered periodically'.
In particular, he felt extreme affection towards his house in Pacific
Grove which had once belonged to his parents, and to which he returned
whenever he needed peace or rest. Probably for these reasons, he set
most of his fiction in California. It meant a lot to him, and he knew
it by heart.
In all of his career, Steinbeck searched for stories he could make
into fiction that would help others and himself understand more about
who he was. In the book 'East of Eden' he attempts to literally recreate
his origins, invoking his family's history. His goal was to give his
sons an account of where they came from through this novel. Steinbeck
didn't even bother to change the family's name in the book. In fact
his own mother was a Hamilton, and her father's name was Samuel, like
the character in this book.
Contradictions have often been noticed between how well Steinbeck
knows his characters and how he knows himself. He had always been
an extremely positive person believing in the ethical rights and wrongs,
and in the American dream, however his own life never turned out easily,and
was full of complications and hard times. Steinbeck identified a lot
with the character of Samuel Hamilton in 'East of Eden', portrayed
himself in it and attributed to the character, his own qualities and
problems. "He came to the Salinas Valley full-blown and hearty,
full of inventions and energy. His eyes were very blue, and when he
was tired one of them wandered outward a little. He was a big man
but delicate in a way. In the dusty business of ranching he seemed
always immaculate. His hands were clever. He was a good blacksmith
and carpenter and woodcarver, and he could improvise anything with
bits of wood and metal. He was forever inventing a new way of doing
an old thing and doing it better and quicker." Steinbeck uses
this description in 'East of Eden' probably to describe both himself
and his grandfather. As we can see in this description of Samuel,
Steinbeck was a positive person who worked hard and always tried to
improve. He believed in goodness,and yet had a very simple and humble
view of himself, without any presumptions. Since the character of
Samuel Hamilton was supposed to be his grandfather, we understand
that Steinbeck considers himself very similar to this grandfather
who had a great influence on him during his growth.
"Then he turned and looked back on the ranch, on the low, whitewashed
house girded with red geraniums, and on the long bunkhouse by the cypress tree
where Billy Buck lived alone. Jody could see the great black kettle under the
cypress tree. That was where the pigs were scalded. The sun was coming up over
the ridge now, glaring on the whitewash of the houses and barns, making the
wet grass blaze softly. Behind him, in the tall sagebrush, the birds were scampering
on the ground, making a great noise among the dry leaves; the squirrels piped
shrilly on the side-hills." This description instead is dedicated to the
farm where Steinbeck spent time in his childhood, which belonged to the Hamiltons.
We know that he always remained very affectionate to that place for many times
it appeared in his fiction and inspired him to describe the ranch in 'The Red
Pony'.
Steinbeck's mother, Olive, was a teacher in a small school near King
City. She considered herself an educated woman and wanted her children
to be so too. She had an extremely strong personality which was opposed
to that of her husband, John Ernst. She was strict and ambitious.
Farm life wasn't enough for her and she had greater aspirations. After
they married, she and her husband moved to a luxurious house in Salinas,
in one of the richest neighborhoods of the city. The house's interior
was spacious, built on two floors, both elegantly furnished. The bedrooms
were small and numerous on the second floor.
Also Steinbeck's paternal grandfather, John Adolph Grossteinbeck from
Dusseldorf, greatly influenced Steinbeck, and all through his life,
he remained a significant figure to him. He was a Lutheran and deeply
religious man whom Steinbeck greatly admired even if he never got
to know him personally. He once went to Jerusalem with his brother
and sister with the intent of converting the Jews in Palestine, instead
he was stabbed to death by Bedouin tribesmen, while his sister was
raped. These tragic events marked Steinbeck and became an important
part of his family 'mythos'.
Steinbeck's father instead was completely different from his own father,
and didn't at all inherit the spirit of adventure we have seen in
him and his wife Olive. He was a fragile and weak man, not physically
but psycologically, and in his house, the children testify that the
mother always gave orders. He wasn't a great example for his children,
especially for Steinbeck who during his youth was a a sesitive and
impressionable boy. His father's bouts of depression affected the
family negatively.
When Steinbeck was born, in 1902, America was in one of its best and
most flourishing and expansive periods. However, not long after, as
described in 'East of Eden', Steinbeck mentions the economic problems
which arose, 'If the land had been any good the Hamiltons would have
been rich people. But the acres were harsh and dry. There were no
springs, and the crust of topsoil was so thin that the flinty bones
stuck through. Even the sagebrush struggled to exist, and the oaks
were dwarfed from lack of moisture. Even in reasonably good years
there was so little feed that the cattle kept thin running about looking
for enough to eat,'.
In Steinbeck's family during his childhood, relationships were rather
complicated and uncommon. His mother was pretty bossy and more or
less acted as a father for her children more than a mother. She made
the decisions and took care of her children's education. At home,
in his youth John Steinbeck was always surrounded by women; his mother,
his two older sisters, and Mary his younger sister, with whom he particularly
communicated. Some important memories of his first years were the
animal nicknames that his mother always used to give him, or when
his father took him to see the buildings damaged by an earthquake
in Salinas.
Steinbeck remained greatly attached to the cottage in Monterey that
his father had eventually been able to buy. It had always been for
all of his family a place of recovery and rest, fundamental also to
his career. He refers to it in most of his novels, most explicitly
in 'Travels with Charley' and 'Tortilla Flat'. In his youth he regularly
went there, usually on long week-ends, and part of every summer. Then
after his first marriage he moved there and actually lived there for
a while.
For Steinbeck, the first years of high-school weren't particularly
succesful. He was slightly left out by his class-mates for the reason
that he was one year forward, which means one year younger than
the rest. He actually became good at the very end, when he was already
known as a writer.
Back
to top
The Fiction of Origins
Reviewed by Celina 8T
P11. Where did Steinbeck set most of his fiction and why? What was
the importance of Pacific Grove?
Steinbeck set most of his fiction in California, an imperfect Eden
for him. He spent his childhood there, and kept thinking about it.
Pacific Grove was the house that he grew up in, where he lived with
his family, a safe haven for him, where he could probably go and revisit
his life.
P12. Where does most of Steinbeck’s fiction originate? Which book
attempts to literally recreate Steinbeck’s past?
Steinbeck, like many other writers used his past as a point of reference
for his stories. He uses it only as the start of his stories, and
then he developed them any way. The one book that most resembles Steinbeck’s
life, which he used the most obviously as a guide line for his story
was ‘East of Eden’. Like many other writers, Steinbeck wanted to make
this book a non-fiction, a personal account of his life and his family’s
ancestors’ life. He wanted to write it for his sons Thom and John,
but soon it became a fictional story. However, the sense of his history
in it is evident. It became a Fiction of Origins.
P15. What was Steinbeck’s mother like?
Steinbeck’s mother was one of nine. Her father was a farmer, and her
mother was a stay-at-home mom. At seventeen she qualified to be a
school-teacher. She was very passionate about her job, and had a very
good idea of her morals. She ‘had a sense of herself as an educated
woman’. She was fierce, ambitious and somewhat puritanical. She didn’t
want to be a farmer’s wife like her mother, and married Steinbeck’s
father, John Ernst Steinbeck, who was the manager of a farm mill.
When he got a position as manager they moved to Salinas, where they
acquired a fancy house in one of the most expensive streets in Salinas,
indicating their social status.
P16. Describe in your own words the house where Steinbeck’s parents
lived.
Steinbeck’s house was more a social status symbol than a home. It
was very large, and separated from all the neighbouring houses by
a picket fence. The grass was perfectly cured, and a big porch where
people could sit and relax, maybe soak up the sun, connected the lawn
with the house. The inside of the house was styled according to the
fashion of those days. Tall ceiling and huge windows made the house
look bigger and airy. There was a parlour for parties and entertainment,
and stairs that led up to the second floor. The second floor was mainly
for the rooms. There were many small rooms and a big attic. Steinbeck’s
room isolated, with view of the garden and tall ceilings.
P16-18. Why is Steinbeck’s paternal grandfather a significant figure?
Steinbeck had never met his grandfather, but he was a very important
component in making him realize his identity. His grandfather was
an adventurous man, and before Steinbeck’s father’s birth he and his
family went to Palestine to convert Jews. This was an unrealistic
idea, seeing that there were far too many Jews for a family that small
to convert. When his brother was killed and his sister-in-law was
raped, they returned back to New England with Almira Dickson, a woman
John Adolf had fallen in love with. They soon married and had six
children, one of which was Steinbeck’s father. He was soon restless
in New England, and convinced his wife to move to Florida with him.
So the family moved to Florida, but right when the Civil War started.
He was enlisted in the army, and, not caring much for it, he escaped
back to New England, followed later by his family. He was a very important
man for Steinbeck because by learning about his past Steinbeck also
learned about himself.
P19-22. Describe Steinbeck's father and his relationship with his
wife and children.
Steinbeck’s father helped his father on the flourmill that they built
after moving to California from New England. He didn’t like the flourmill
occupation, and only stayed in the business because it was the only
thing he knew. He was head of the family and took the role seriously,
even though it was Steinbeck’s mother, Olive who was the true leader
and enforced the rules in the household. He was shy, always nervous,
and didn’t socialize much. He got a job as the manager at Sperry,
but soon after the business declined he lost his job. From then on
his life went downhill. He couldn’t support his family, and that made
him very depressed. Steinbeck considered his father as his role-model,
and was very sad when he got depressed.
P22. What was the situation in America when Steinbeck was born in
1902?
When Steinbeck was born America was full of hopes and dreams and prosperity
Theodore Roosevelt was leading the country, and many Americans had
faith in him and were happy. Many people moved towards the west, finding
it better. Many filming industries were starting to boom, like Hollywood.
America was in a very positive state of mind.
P23. In 'East of Eden' Steinbeck describes the Salinas Valley. What
reasons does he give for the economic problems of the region?
In ‘East of Eden’ Steinbeck basically blames the land for the economic
problems in the Salinas Valley, not the people. He calls it dry, not
able to produce, blaming it on the economic problems of the Salinas
Valley
P23-26. Explain Steinbeck's childhood and his family relationships
Steinbeck’s father was very distant when he grew up, not talking to
him much. Steinbeck was very angry at him for that reason, for not
protecting him from the outside world, for not caring about him. His
mother, on the other hand, was very attentive. She was very strict,
and Steinbeck never did anything right from her perspective. She pushed
him hard to do things that he couldn’t, and this also affected Steinbeck
a lot, since he couldn’t believe in himself, since all the time he
was doing the wrong thing. His birth was physically difficult for
Olive, and he grew up with distorted features. His features became
more normal after the years, but some of the names still stuck, and
those made Steinbeck conscious about his looks.
P26-28. What were Steinbeck's earliest memories and influences?
Steinbeck’s mother made him read a lot, and one of Steinbeck’s earliest
memories is reading a book on his mother’s lap. He read many of the
classics, but he never truly liked a book until he read Malory’s version
of the Arthurian legend. This affected Steinbeck’s writing a lot too.
One of Steinbeck’s earliest memories was the one of his father taking
him to go see the effects on Salinas of the San Francisco earthquake.
Entire buildings were on the ground, and for someone as small as Steinbeck
they were truly amazing. Another thing that also truly affected Steinbeck’s
life was when his father lost his job.
P29-30. Why did the cottage in Monterey become one of the most important
retreats for Steinbeck?
After the family got back on track money-wise they weren’t able to
buy a three-story apartment house with high ceilings and big windows,
but were nonetheless able to buy a cottage in Monterey. Since his
father and mother weren’t so overwhelmed by their money or social
status the family recovered and united, and many of Steinbeck’s best
childhood memories were from that cottage. He stayed there until going
to college, and came back many times later, to re-gain himself.
P30-36. Summarise the important aspects of Steinbeck's high school
years until his admission to Stanford.
Steinbeck was very shy, like his father, but managed to gain lots
of friends. He was bumped a grade up but still managed to stay friends
with his old friends while gaining new ones, including one of the
most popular boys. During his junior year he caught pneumonia, and
his whole family was in distress. He managed to recover but never
truly left the illness behind, since he had many problems with his
lungs. In his senior year he was elected class president, much to
his mother’s delight. He was a very good writer as many of his friends
and teachers recognized. They all supported him, but Steinbeck claims
that the biggest boost came from his neighbour, Lucille Hughes, also
a writer. His senior year ended with a major upturn in his grades,
which was very good for applying to colleges. He quickly applied to
Stanford, which was close to Salinas and which many of his friends
wanted to go to too, and got accepted.
Back
to top
Back to MS Literature
Home Page
|
