| American novelist, story writef, playwright, and essayist, John Steinbeck was bom inSalinas, California in 1902 and attended Stanford University intermittently from1919--1925. Author of more than thirty books, Steinbeck achieved his first popularand critical successes with two short noveIs, Tortilla Flats(1935) and Of Mce andMen(l937). His major contributions to literature also include The FOrgOtten NllopThe Pearl, Cannery Row East Of Edn and The GraPes of math. Steinbeck receivedthe Nobel Prize for Literature in l962. He is best remembered for The GraPes ofnyath (l939), a novel widely considered to be a twentieth century classic. The epicabout the migration of the Joad family, driven from its bit of Iand in Oklahoma toCalifornia, touched off a wide debate about the hard life of migrant laborers, andhelped to put an agricultural refOrm into effect. "A portrait of the bitter conflictbetweel1 the powerfLl and the powerless, of one man's tierce reaction to in justice, andof a peop1e's quiet, stoicaI strength, The GraPes of malh is a landmark of Americanliterature, one that captures the horrors of the Great Depression as it probes into thevery nature of equality and justice in America."1 The study of John Steinbeck in thisthesis centers on the themes and stylistic features of The GraPes of math, and thewhole thesis is divided into five parts f Introduction, The Man and His Works,Character Analysis, Artistic Features, Thematic Study and Conclusion.The introduction has provided some basic information about Steinbeck and his literarycreations, including his status in and contributions to American literature, and histhematic and artistic characteristics in general. AIso this chapter has spared spaceconsiderably to il1ustrating the main framework of and specific approaches inanalyzing in this thesis.In Chapter One, John Steinbeck: The Man and His Works, Steinbeck's life and hismajor works are introduced, briefly covering his literary career from the earlyapprenticeship to his later masterly success. An outline of the story of The Grapes offfeath, the best-remembered masterpiece of Steinbeck, is also included. At the end ofthis chaptef, a brief survey of various critical evaluations of Steinbeck is offered togive some insight into understanding the present downfall of Steinbeck's literaryfame.Chapter Two centers on character analysis of The GraPes of ruth. According to their1 Letter to Elizabeth Otis, 15 December 1939, in St.inb..k: A Lde in Letters, ed. Elaine Steinbeck And RobertWallsten, 209 (New York, Viking Press, 1975)Synopsisdue weight in the novel, two characters have been singled out for detailed analysis.First and foremost, Jim Casy jumps into our horizon, for without him, the novel is abook without theme, a science without philosophy and a man without soul. Anotherimportant character Tom Joad, the disciple of Jim Casy and the executam of hisphilosophy by his significance and proportion as the chief character also rings out inclarion for special care and treatment in this character analysis.Chapter Three addresses mainly two most protruding aYtistic features of The GraPesof ffeath. One of the most peculiar artistic features of the novel is the display of manydifferent, distinct prose styles, showing Steinbeck's mastery of the English language.Some of the prose styles in the interchapters of the novel strike amazing similaritywith the Old Testament, sharing the same simplicity of diction, the concrete details,the iterations, and the balance structure. Some of the prose styles could be termed as a"chameleon of real life", demonstrating a marvel of likeness with natural sounds,colors and movements. The great variety of prose styles and subject matters fOund inthe novel's interchapters not only has vaIue as Americana, a faithful reflection ofAmerican life, but creates a sense of reality far beyond that of literary reporting. Thissense of reality not only demonstrate...
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