An analysis of John Steinbeck's humour leads to a better understanding of the author and his career. Steinbeck uses humour most often to characterize, to control his distance from his material, to intensify his serious passages, and to satirize. The study of his humour helps to solve the problems presented in his writing. His variety of forms, a result of his versatility and experimentation, is to some extent determined by his oscillation between humorous and serious treatments of subject matter. The fluctuation between serious and humorous works depends to a great extent on his degree of concern for his subject, while the inconsistency in the quality of his writing, as well as the inconsistency in the quality and quantity of his humour, is directly related to his degree of familiarity with his materials. Chapter One is a statement of the critical opinions of Steinbeck's humour. In Chapter Two the tradition of American humour is considered. The shaping of the national character is seen as a manifestation of national humour. The three main national characters are traced through from the American Revolution to the time of Mark Twain, when they emerged as elements of society. These elements are traced through to the present day with emphasis on Steinbeck's manipulation of them in his creation of humour. Chapter Three defines the qualities found in humour, then isolates humour from related modes. A definition of general areas of humour is followed by a definition of literary forms dependent on humour and by a discussion of techniques for the creation of humour. Chapter Four, a descriptive analysis of the humour in Steinbeck's works, attempts to determine the quality of the humour and to discover what types of humour predominate. Steinbeck's combination of the general areas of humour, his use of a variety of literary forms, and his utilization of different techniques are discussed. It is concluded that satire is the most persistent and the most successful element in his humour. Chapter Five deals with Steinbeck's uses of humour: to characterize, to control the distance from his material, to intensify the force of serious passages, and to satirize. In Chapter Six the chronology of the works, both fiction and non-fiction, is traced in order to determine the pattern of his humour. Issues which are serious but not crucial he tends to treat humorously, while those which are urgent he treats seriously. The relationship between the success of the writing, the success of the humour, and the author's familiarity with his materials is examined. In Chapter Seven a number of conclusions are reached. The fluctuations in the quality of Steinbeck's writing are directly related to his degree of familiarity with his materials. When he is remote from his subject matter there is a decline both in his artistry and in the quality of his humour. It is natural for him to view his material humorously, but crucial issues demand serious treatment. Although his tendency to experiment caused him to treat a wide range of topics, Steinbeck writes basically about America. He expresses himself through a natural sense of humour yet his writing pertains to the American scene in a way indicative of his concern as a humanist. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

As a writer and thinker, John Steinbeck has often been ridiculed by the academic community as trite and sentimental--someone who appeals to the masses but has little to say on life's "important" issues. This study applies an interdisciplinary approach to three of his later novels--The Pearl, East of Eden, and The Winter of Our Discontent--in order to more accurately assess the quality of Steinbeck's later fiction and to discover what this writer has to say concerning ethics and human nature, particularly the irrational emotions and vices.In concurrence with some of the latest research available, this study reveals that the emotions play a far greater role within the moral realm than previously believed by some philosophers and psychologists. Irrational emotions, such as extreme fear, anger, hatred, and guilt, are often sequential, cyclical, and cumulative in nature and frequently form dynamic combinations which feed on and intensify each other and which may lead to acts of violence or cruelty. Moreover, far from being uncontrollable, these emotions have been shown to have a cognitive dimension which is greatly influenced by upbringing and environment. As indicated in East of Eden, parental neglect and abuse play prominent roles in making certain characters susceptible to their own states of irrationality.The emotions are also primary to the development of more permanent character dispositions, both good and bad. As illustrated in East of Eden's Cathy Ames, a vice such as cruelty is often motivated and enabled by the fear and hatred that frequently form its core. Moreover, the vices themselves seem to be interactive and cumulatively debilitating; just as dishonesty plays a key role in enabling cruelty and loss of integrity, so does a lack of integrity make sense in a morally weak world.Thus, contrary to popular critical opinion, there was no dramatic falling off of quality in Steinbeck's writing, but rather a deliberate change in emphasis from social criticism to morality and from the group to the individual. This study confirms both the importance of what Steinbeck had to say as well as the eloquent and gifted manner in which he said it. / Department of English

The primary purpose of this study is to show that John Steinbeck's concern with alienation is pervasive and consistent from the beginning of his career as a writer until the end. The pervasiveness of his concern with alienation is demonstrated by examining his two early collections of short stories and by showing how alienated characters in these stories resemble alienated characters in all the author's major works of fiction. Since much confusion surrounds the meaning of the word "alienation," it is necessary to begin with a definition of "alienation" as it is used to discuss Steinbeck. An alienated character in Steinbeck's fiction is a person who is separated from another person, group of persons, society, or the person's ideal self. This study is concerned with characters who create their own alienation rather than with those who are merely helpless victims.

Photocopy of typescript. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

The primary aim of this project is to examine selected works by John Steinbeck, a significant American writer. Through a close contextual and textual analysis of Steinbeck’s Dustbowl Trilogy, which consists of the novels In Dubious Battle, Of Mice and Men, and The Grapes of Wrath, this project will interrogate Steinbeck’s contribution to the silencing of women and their inferior placement in their society and determine the extent to which Steinbeck promotes patriarchal ideology through his literature. A close examination of the modernist era in which these novels were written will provide the method of interrogating Steinbeck’s portrayal of women’s situation during the Depression and determine whether it is a reflection of the reality of women’s situation at that time given the political and environmental factors of the 1930s. The theories of various feminist critics, including Simone de Beauvoir, Judith Butler, Gayle Rubin, Luce Irigaray, Sherry Ortner, and Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar will be explored in order to elucidate the author’s treatment of the female characters and determine the extent to which patriarchal ideology is embedded in his writing. A brief examination of some of his contemporaries, namely F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway, will reveal the general treatment of women in male authored modernist literature and determine the extent to which Steinbeck’s female subjugation is representative.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of English at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 1998. / At the centre of this dissertation is the paradox to be found in the fact that although John Steinbeck was the recipient of some of the highest accolades ever to be bestowed upon a writer during this century, his work - and even his person - have, over the years, been subjected to severe attacks from sometimes impercipient critics. !n the thirties, he was branded as a California regionalist of some distinction, but the general consensus among the critics seemed to be that he was unlikely to achieve greatness due to major artistic flaws that were perceived to be present in his work. These flaws included his purported indecency, vulgarity, sexual licence and demagoguery. Reverse reasoning, by which his 'weaker, later works' (especially post World War 11) are compared unfavourably with 'the better earlier ones' of the thirties, is also dealt with. Other aspects that receive attention are his world-view (which is often misunderstood and compared unfavourably with that of other authors) and the fact that his deceptively lucid works are easy to read and therefore often underrated by critics as well as careless readers. Although criticism which centres upon ethical, sociological and political issues instead of artistic merit, is briefly dealt with, emphasis is placed on three elements that are intrinsic to Steinbeck's fiction and their role in the acceptance of his work. These elements, namely allegory/myth, non-teleological thinking and his approach to religion, are dealt with in general terms but also with particular reference to his novel To a God Unknown. To a God Unknown was specifically chosen as a focus for this study because it is believed that it reveals many of the 'flaws' that Steinbeck has been criticised for. It is also considered to be of seminal importance in his canon and therefore a harbinger of later works. As such it reveals a great deal about the author's outlook on life, early influences on his work, theoretical and practical approaches to his writing, and the various techniques employed to achieve his goals. The novel is also a typical example of one of Steinbeck's works of fiction that enjoys a wide and continued readership in spite of the adverse criticism that attended its appearance. This anomaly is central to the study. Virtually all of the works in Steinbeck's canon as well as the reviews and criticisms of internationally recognised Steinbeck scholars and critics collectively served as a 'pool of reference' in the compilation of this dissertation. Other sources included works on American and world literature and history; philosophy; psychology; biography; mythology; theology, and other aspects that have a bearing upon the subject matter. Extensive use was made of the excellent facilities and services provided by the university library as well as by various institutions and individuals on the Internet. The conclusion is reached that it is essential to take cognisance of the Oriental aspect of the Transcendentalist influence on Steinbeck's world-view in order to understand the confluence of apparently irreconcilable philosophical and mythological anomalies in Steinbeck's fiction.

This study analyzes the mythic significance of John Steinbeck's The Winter of Our Discontent, its purpose being to further the work begun by such critics as Joseph Fontenrose, Donna Gerstenberger, Lester Marks, Clifford Lewis, Peter Lisca, Tetsumaro Hayashi, Robert De Mott, Donal Stone, and Douglas Verdier -- particularly on the basis of Jungian literary theory.Chapter One describes the development off historical positions which become more discerning and positive in the late 1960's. Chapter Two establishes Steinbeck's interest in myth and archetype by referring to his letters and journals, marry of which are still unpublished. Chapter Three reviews the influences of Sir James George Frazer, T. S. Eliot and interpreters of the Tarot on the novel. Chapter Four considers The Winter on the basis of the monomyth described by Joseph Campbell in his The Hero with a Thousand Faces and on Jung's process of individuation, showing how these two are related.According to these established models of the quest, Ethan Allen Hawley is indeed a quester, and, as such, is not an entirely realistic character. Steinbeck, in The Winter, is writing a modern-day romance. Steinbeck's overt didacticism and ubiquitous allusions, perhaps consequences of his analogical approach, tend at times to be clumsy. In spite of these stylistic weaknesses, Steinbeck's use of monomyth creates complexities of character and theme in The Winter of Our Discontent.

John Steinbeck's three novels Tortilla Flat, Cannr Row and Sweet Thursday are significant in the Steinbeck canon. Although having many elements typical of Steinbeck's fiction in general, these novels, which are referred to as the Monterey Trilogy, are unified by common elements that are either unique or handled in an unusual manner. These common elements are setting, tone, themes, structure, and characters. The novels are complementary and form a unified whole. Just as the setting reflects the evolution of Monterey over a period of almost thirty years, so do the other elements reveal a shift in emphasis or attitude indicative of Steinbeck's own changing attitudes. The concluding chapter discusses the particular significance of the Monterey Trilogy as a measure of Steinbeck's ability as artist and craftsman.

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This thesis is a study of the characters in John Steinbeck's fiction.