Cannery row essays

Cannery row essays In over thirty years of writing, from the late 1920s to the 1960s, Steinbeck has given ample indication that he is not the naive proletarian he has at times been called. His stories although almost always encouraging his reader to sympathize with his proletariat style characters are much more varied than this and it is believed by many critics that Steinbeck worked hard to lose his image of communist radical. This is what led Steinbecks harshest critics to challenge those that offered praise to Steinbeck. It is true that a majority of Steinbecks stories dealt with poor under privileged characters but Steinbeck also delt with other themes that where influenced by what he experienced in life. In contrast to what the critics have said Steinbeck is a writer who diligently exposed issues of the 30 year period and those issues which where close to his heart. His subject matter tended to be simple, but varied. For example, historical romance (cup of gold), myth (To a god unknown), ionic realism (the pasture of heaven) and epic folk (The grapes of wrath) are examples of subjects Through out his literary career Steinbeck was influenced by many political, economical and social issues of the 30yr period he was writing in. These include WW2, the great depression, womens influence and politics. Through these influences Steinbeck was able to create many books that encouraged his reader to critically think about themes that carried a One major influence in Steinbecks writing was born when his first two marriages ended in divorce. The major difficulties in these marriages arose from his fear of settling down and hence Steinbeck was forced to think about a womens influence on a man. Cannery Row reveals his horror of domesticity (being domestic) and the negative factors a womens influence brings about. When Mack and the boys from cannery row hu...