John Steinbeck: How his Life Influence his Writings Essay Example

was been “revalued all his life (Fensch 95)”, has been strongly influenced by his life.

This has been a typical predicament because of many reasons. For one, writers usually take from personal experience to be inspired to produce plots and storylines; what they see, what they hear, what they experience from childhood more often than not is reflected in their writings. If their writings are not a direct manifestation of their real life experience, often, writers, like Steinbeck, develop a writing style strongly influenced by their personal experience.

If what they write is not a complete re-telling of real life personal experience, what they chose to write in the future is often a result of the impact of experiences in their consciousness leading them to pick or develop certain topics, focus of writing, style and approach. For Steinbeck, who was born on the 27th of February in 1902 and passed away on the 20th of December in 1968, his life has a direct and indirect influence in what he wrote during his career. Proof of the direct influence of life experiences of Steinbeck to his writings is his creation of non-fiction books, six all in all.

These works, no doubt, are endeavors that he pursued because it has, in one way or another, touched his life and this was something he considered as significant enough to inspire him to write about it (Fensch 95). His fictions may not pertain to what happened in real life, but they are nonetheless reflections of what he experienced in real life. Steinbeck, whose lineage is part German and part Irish, has become a household name in

the field of literature because of his award winning pieces.

He also wrote many other materials which may have not been as popular as his masterpieces but are still critical in understanding his life and how his life experiences have influenced his writing. For example, he wrote The Log from the Sea of Cortez. This particular work describes Steinbeck's experiences while travelling with his friend Ed Ricketts around the Gulf of California in 1940. This work is focused on chronicling what the two did there throughout the voyage, mostly collecting and identifying specimens they collected. This would not be the last.

Eight years later, he would again find himself writing about another trip, this time in and around the Soviet Union. Robert Capa, an established and made photographer, was with Steinbeck, who is considered by professionals as someone who contributed significantly in the realm of short stories (Burkhead 25). They visited many places in the Soviet Union. As Capa took pictures, Steinbeck took down notes. They merged their works together to create the book A Russian Journal which features the photographs of Capa and the writings of Steinbeck.

Based on these two examples, the analysis of how Steinbeck's life affected his writings would reflect a certain idea: Steinbeck constantly itched with wanderlust. His tendency to constantly venture on a journey was one of the important things that affected his writing. These characteristics that shaped his writing style, and his writing, was something that he used to exhale what he took in during his trips around the US and around the world. One of the well known works of Steinbeck is Of Mice

and Men. In analysis, he was able to write this masterpiece because of what he experienced in real life.

During his younger years, his summers were spent working in farms and ranches found close to his hometown Salinas in California. There, the young man who was a descendant of migrant parentage worked side by side other migrants. In his work experience there, he saw the difficult life migrants are living, the challenges and the harsh realities they faced which brought out the different tendencies and characteristics among men. This particular experience was believed to be the main catalyst that prompted Steinbeck to write Of Mice and Men. Usually, perfected writing does not come until of later, mature age.

When that time comes, the writer often pulls not just from recent experiences but also from his set of memories for ideas to inspire and make colorful his literary endeavor. This was the case of Steinbeck. Among the many works of Steinbeck, his 1933 work entitled The Red Pony contained details pertaining to Steinbeck's memory of his very own childhood. Besides what he remembered happening to him when he was a child, it appears that Steinbeck also remembers the things that has conquered his imagination during that part of his life. For example, Steinbeck was inspired by the stories of the pirate Henry Morgan.

When he was older, he used this inspiration to pen his first ever novel entitled Cup of Gold, which instantly became a critically-acclaimed work and started Steinbeck on his way to literary stardom. Like most of his contemporaries, Steinbeck was witness to how life was during the Great Depression. As

a native of California, he was also very much aware of what was happening in what was known as “Dust Bowl” or the frenetic mining activities in the pursuit of gold. This experience inspired Steinbeck's writing of what would become one of his masterpieces: The Grapes of Wrath. This would also inspire his work Dubious Battle.

The Grapes of Wrath would eventually be considered as Steinbeck's way of expressing important personal feelings, sentiments and ideas. It would radiate the liberal political view that Steinbeck appear to approve of (Railsback, Meyer 133), while at the same time, attacking capitalism and being sympathetic to workers considering he himself was immersed in many different blue collar jobs that was the source of many of his work related experiences. It developed his beliefs and ideas about the plight of a worker and his miserable life that needs to be exposed to the public and be addressed.

From memories of boyhood to political realizations, another aspect of real life experiences of Steinbeck that influenced his writing was the people he met. Collectively, the workers and their lives have inspired him. However, there are particular people in his life that has inspired him strongly that in his writings, he takes to the character of these people and put them in his works. For example, long time friend Ed Ricketts is a person in Steinbeck's life that influenced not just Steinbeck's life but his writing as well.

It was because of the trips that Ricketts organized that Steinbeck found inspiration for writing. That is not all. In many of his works, it appears that a certain character always represents

this good friend of his. For example, the character named Doc in the “loose and episodic (Levant xv)” 1945 work Cannery Row was believed to be modeled in Rickett's likeness in personality and character. So were other characters like another Doc character in Sweet Thursday, the character named Friend Ed in his work entitled Burning Bright as well as other characters found in The Grapes of Wrath as well as in Dubious Battle.

Ricketts was important to Steinbeck that it was believed that after Ricketts' death, Steinbeck's writing was something affected and has started to decline from that point on. Besides Ricketts, other friends inspired the works of Steinbeck. For example, his good friend Max Wagner is a character that inspired him in his creation of his work The Red Pony. From Great Depression to the dust bowl of California, the well travelled Steinbeck would again find his feet on foreign soil during yet again another important time in history:

World War II. Steinbeck worked as a war correspondent, writing for New York Herald Tribune. As expected, what he saw during the war during his coverage inspired him and was a key in his works that reflect stories of modern day wars and battles, like The Moon is Down which was published in 1942. What he wrote was also important in the creation of Once There Was a War in 1958. During his time as a war correspondent, Steinbeck was attached to a group of soldiers that undertake commando-style raids and mission which was actually a diversionary tactic for the US. His experiences during the war influenced his writings.

What he wrote influenced

the creation not just of literary or journalistic materials but also the movies. Even after the war was over, the experience during the war was overwhelming that Steinbeck kept on writing. He finished The Pearl, a work that was both illustrated and made for film. Several years later he would become immersed in another war: The Vietnam War. While most of Steinbeck's works were indeed heavy and laced with strong political, economic and cultural tones in consideration to what he has experienced and how these experiences inspired these works, there are also other writings that was inspired by less-serious experience.

An example is the travelogue Travels with Charley which is about the road trip he made alongside his poodle named Charley. Again, this points out how his experiences in life was always catalyst to what his writing tendencies would pursue. Experience, indeed, is a great inspiration for the writer Steinbeck. Part of the life experiences was the place he lived, frequented and was able to relate to. Many of his works was considered as materials that radiate a certain sense of place for the readers.

This is because the way Steinbeck, who was married thrice, writes allows him to use as reference the places he knew since he was a child, like places in California, including Monterey and San Joaquin Valley and his very own native land of Salinas. John Steinbeck will always be remembered because of his works regardless of the fact that it was accepted as well as heavily criticized during and after his time. In the analysis of how his writing was influenced by his life, it is clear that

there are certain aspects of his personal life that has stood out as the most significant component towards this inclination.

First, there is the fact that his friends like Ed Ricketts and Max Wagner (and even his dog Charley) and their lives together and how his friends are important to him are critical in how life was influential in his writings. Second is the experiences - personal (childhood in California and adult experiences in general in the US and in other places like Russia, Vietnam, Mediterranean, etc), political (like the Great Depression, World War II, Vietnam War, etc) and professional (from his perceived leftist alliances and the harassment he experienced from government agencies pertaining to this inclination).

There is also the aspect of returning to his vivid memories especially those from his formative years as well as from his adult years. And lastly, there is the impact of how the stories of the lives of people he met every day (and those he read about, when he was younger) piqued his curiosity and allowed him to explore this world via writing. He was a man of various interests from religion to history to politics. This made the story formation in his head all the more interesting and complex, resulting to outstanding literary works which made Steinbeck a certified literary genius revered by many for his works and his skill.