John Steinbeck Development And Portrayal Of His Characters Essays

John Steinbeck: Development and Portrayal of His Characters "And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie's head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand and he lay without quivering. George shivered and looked at the gun and then he threw it from him, back up on the bank, near the pile of old ashes." This excerpt from and the climax of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is one which demonstrates the complexity and power of a moral and social force over an ordinary man. Throughout Steinbeck's novels and stories, he generally portrayed working-class characters who were controlled or manipulated by forces beyond their understanding or control. He isn't saying that an ordinary person does not have a chance but is stating that people or rather the lives of people can be influenced, thereby shaping the outcome ! of their life whether for the better or the worse, by circumstances over which they have limited knowledge or control. For example in Cannery Row an enemy that Steinbeck attacks is a destructive force, one which manipulates people into acting a certain way to attain a sense of security by disregarding feelings for others (French 120). By analyzing Steinbeck's writing style and influences on it, forces and themes present in his writing, and the portrayal of characters in his stories, one can understand how and in what ways John Steinbeck represents his characters as common people who are driven by forces which they cannot comprehend. First, let's look at Steinbeck and any influences on him and his writing style and as a consequence, how they contribute to the concept that his characters are manipulated by pressures which they do not understand or are able to control. Steinbeck was positively fond of people, more than any other writers were and especially fond of men who work for bread in the open air in the fields or mountains (Beach 1). He was interested in people from the beginning, long before he had any theory to account for their ways (Beach 1). With this, Steinbeck chose novel writing as a career, despite his family's insistence for a more prosaic career (Millichap 3153). This traumatic rejection of middle-class values would be an important factor in shaping his fiction (Millichap 3153). He grew up in a frustrated modern America and witnessed the most notable failure of the American dream in the Great Depression (Millichap 3152). During this decadent period, many of Steinbeck's writings of! fered detailed accounts of social problems, particularly the plight of migrant agricultural workers in California's fertile valley (Millichap 3157). From this idea the design for The Grapes of Wrath emerged, which follows one family from Oklahoma and the Dust Bowl to California in search of a better life (Millichap 3158). Of Mice and Men also shows the persistence of the American dream and the tragedy of its failure (Millichap 3156). Several other points which helps elucidate the idea that some omnipotent force has an imperceivable grasp over Steinbeck's characters are the forces and themes found throughout his literature. "Many times to him modern life itself is the enemy in which his characters find themselves lost in a world they never made and want nothing to do with (Folsom 2276). At their best, Steinbeck's stories tell of lives which have turned out far differently from expectations, and the very modesty of these initial expectations allows the author ample scope for discussing that vague malevolence he sees at the heart of life itself (Folsom 2277). The villains which he creates are almost always faceless generalizations which can not be quite understood by his characters (Folsom 2276)." A good example of this can be drawn from The Grapes of Wrath where "the bank" represented an evil which drove the Okies from their farms and had also replaced the "lovable existential mule with the malevole! nt tractor" (Folsom 2276). This system of production and finance involves innumerable instances of cruel hardship and injustice (Beach 5). In addition,