From an Existential Vacuum to a Tragic Optimism: The Search for Meaning and the Presence of God in Modern Literature employs a new theoretical approach to critical analysis: Victor Frankls ...logotherapy (from the Greek "logos" for word or reason and often related to divine wisdom), a unique form of existentialism. On the basis of his observations of the power of human endurance and transcendence - the discovery of meaning even in the midst of harrowing circumstances - Frankl diagnoses the mala.
While the historical and social contexts are not overtly provided in Of Mice and Men, in “The Long Valley Ledger” Steinbeck enticingly suggests there is a “wall of background” behind this novel that ...readers may approach only by subtle indirection. This implied background may be observed in forebodings of World War II and in portrayals of euthanasia, racism, feminist issues, and stereotypes of the mentally handicapped.
From beginning to end, “wrath” is the key word in John Steinbeck's monumental novel, The Grapes of Wrath—wrath not only over the dispossession of migrants, but wrath also over abuse of the earth, our ...home. For in this novel there is a strong sense that a sacred bond between people and the land—a living entity—has been broken. Fiercely, Steinbeck later proclaims in The Log from the Sea of Cortez that “the world is furrowed and cut, torn and blasted by man.” As Susan Shillinglaw has observed, The Grapes of Wrath “starts and ends with land misused by man: Oklahoma sharecroppers exhaust the soil and California owners waste the soil's bounty by dumping potatoes in a river and burning piles of oranges to keep the prices high”—both guilty of crimes in Steinbeck's view. And the human story is intricately tied to the land story. Without the land, there is only a nightmarish stasis for the Joads—although there is constant movement across a continent in search of work, they seem not to go anywhere, for they have left their hearts behind.
Like Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, Steinbeck's East of Eden centers around choices and responsibility, and he bases his story on a most memorable human choice: the biblical story of Cain ...and his deliberate choice to murder his brother, Abel. Robert DeMott states that “Steinbeck used Genesis (4:1–16) for the action, characterization, and title of his novel.” At its core and always in its backdrop, then, Steinbeck's Cain-and-Abel story in East of Eden sets forth a paradigm of right choice and right behavior for his two young sons. In truth, Steinbeck states clearly his intention to elucidate this biblical passage with greater scrutiny than it had ever undergone before, exploring its fuller meaning: “Certainly I do not think that the Cain-Abel story has ever been subjected to such scrutiny. Nor has any story been so fruitful of meaning.”
Celebrating the all-too-brief life of a young scholar dedicated to Steinbeck studies, A John Steinbeck Reader: Essays in Honor of Stephen K. George gathers essays from various vantage points ...including aesthetic, feminist, ethical, and comparative perspectives. Under the direction of Barbara A. Heavilin, George's coeditor of The Steinbeck Review journal and the book, John Steinbeck and His Contemporaries, the authors of these articles have come together both to pay tribute to Stephen and to widen the range of Steinbeck scholarship. Included in this volume are works by two acclaimed poets, as well as insightful readings of a little known early short story and an unsuccessful novel by Steinbeck. In addition to George, who is represented here with an essay on societal ethics, and Heavilin, who writes about Travels with Charley, the contributors to this volume include: Mary Brown, Danica Cerce, Mimi Gladstein, Charlotte Hadella, Tetsumaro Hayashi, Luchen Li, Michael J. Meyer, Kyoshi Nakayama, Brian Railsback, Thom Satterlee, Stephen L. Tanner, and John H. Timmerman. Designed for both a general and a professional audience, this collection will delight the Steinbeck buff, enlighten the Steinbeck student, and provides an array of topics, views, and approaches for Steinbeck scholars and teachers. While acknowledging one of its most devoted scholars, A John Steinbeck Reader will also be a welcome addition to the wealth of Steinbeck studies.
