John Steinbeck is recognized throughout the United States and the World as a great author and person. He wrote many books and plays telling of the harsh life of many different ethnicities and classes of American people. His works are considered to be both influential and controversial. He is widely known for his works and has many awards to his name for them. John Steinbeck was one of the most significant authors of the twentieth century.
John Ernst Steinbeck was born to John Ernst II and Olive Hamilton Steinbeck in Salinas, California in 1902. As a young man, he worked on his family’s farm as a ranch hand. As he grew older, he began to have small jobs as a hired worker on nearby ranches. He attended school at Salinas High School, where he graduated in 1919. When he graduated, he attended college at Stanford University. At first, he pursued a degree as an English major but then changed to a different course of study. While he was in college, he would drop out for several months at a time and work to earn money. He eventually left college in 1925 without a degree. After leaving college, he moved to New York to become a writer. He first attempted freelance writing, but after failing, returned to California. He began writing novels and short stories, and after publishing a few, he became well-known when he published Tortilla Flat in 1935.
On January 14, 1930, John Steinbeck began a string of marriages that would put him through many hardships. He married Carol Henning and they moved to Pacific Grove, California. This was the first of Steinbeck’s three marriages. In 1941, John was separated from Carol. In the fall of 1941, John moved to New York City with singer Gwyndolen Conger. Carol discovered this and filed for divorce in early 1942. John was eventually married to Conger on March 29, 1943, in New Orleans. They had an unhappy marriage but still managed to raise two children. Thom Steinbeck, their first son, was born on August 2, 1944. He was followed soon after by John Ernst Steinbeck IV on June 12, 1946, whom they affectionately called Juanito. In August of 1948, Conger divorced John. He re-married to Elaine Anderson Scott on December 28, 1950. On September 14, 1964, Steinbeck was presented with the United States Medal of Freedom by President Lyndon B. Johnson. In 1968, Steinbeck was diagnosed with arteriosclerosis. Shortly thereafter, on December 20, he passed away. He lived a very hard yet very successful life.
The Grapes of Wrath is perhaps John Steinbeck’s most widely acclaimed work. This book is about a hardworking family of the depression, the Joads. It is a sad tale of their dream to live a better life, which they try to find by moving to California. Steinbeck got his ideas about this book by traveling around to migrant camps in California. This book was considered very controversial at the time because Steinbeck voiced many of his beliefs in it. He uses scenes and speeches given by different characters to voice his opinions of society. The book was such a success that Steinbeck was awarded the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for it in 1940. This book is now recognized as one of America’s most significant works and will be remembered in history forever.
Even though John Steinbeck had many successful works, many were criticized. In 1936, Steinbeck published In Dubious Battle. This novel was found to be offensive to many fruit growers in Salinas because it depicted the hardships of apple pickers and their battles with the growers. It was the first controversial novel that he published. Among the many other novels that were controversial was his most famous work, The Grapes of Wrath. This novel was found to be controversial by United States Congressman Lyle Boren. He said that it was “a lie, a black, infernal creation of twisted, distorted mind.” There was also very harsh criticism about the end of this book. The book ends with one of the main characters, Rose of Sharon, suckling a grown homeless man to provide him with food. According to Steinbeck, this scene is crucial to the book because it shows how Rose of Sharon furthered life and became the “mother of all the earth”. Many of Steinbeck’s works were criticized, but he kept on writing and became one of the most influential authors American has ever known.
John Steinbeck was a very successful American author. He received many achievements and awards in his time. He lived a hard life from the time he was a child, but never gave up. He tried to be the best person he could be, but he was still not what many would call a people-pleaser. He took the criticism that was pushed his way and worked around it, staying true to the form of writing that he always had. As the years pass, more and more of America will recognize the true genius of this brilliant American author.
