Materialism and Inhumanity in John steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and The Pearl

CHAPTER III :

ANALYSIS OF THE NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES

«The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most

important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion

even when he knows it is not true». ^__ John Steinbeck

1 - LANGUAGE

Literature helps better understand human conditions in society. Being a written material, literature through the use of a given language does not fail to emphasize the difficulties facing human being such as political and social tensions within the framework of the society. A writer plays an important role in society. He is incumbent upon him to observe in accurate details cultural, political and economic dysfunctions, to castigate them for correctives purposes as it is said by Joseph Shipley:

«A writer is not merely someone who is at the mercy of social and economic forces;

although those forces do of course continuously affect his status and function.

He is also himself an influence on society.»^6(*)0

It is in this respect that Steinbeck puts his pen to condemn the misdeeds done to the working classes in America particularly during the thirties. Steinbeck's writing style as well as his social awareness of the thirties is shaped by a convincing figure in his life, his wife Carol. She helped him to edit his style while suggesting him most of his titles. One should remind of the time when Steinbeck wrote his two novels in order to better deal with the language he uses through The Grapes of Wrath and The Pearl. John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath was published in the middle of the industrial revolution. In this period, poor farmers were marginalized and dispossessed from their lands. This fact motivates him to use a direct and truthful language in order to denounce those wrongdoings done to poor farmers by rich landowners. Thus, after many years of personal questioning and quest, Steinbeck demonstrates what the obsession with wealth causes to his community as well as the identity of the person who experiences that wealth and fame.

At first glance of The Grapes of Wrath, one can see that the title of the novel is pregnant with meaning because Steinbeck uses a metaphor to denote a harsh petition to action against a bitter misconduct. In fact, when Steinbeck published The Grapes of Wrath in 1939, America was still recovering from the Great Depression. Similarly, Steinbeck resorts to the title of his short story: The Pearl to reveal the bad effect of wealth. The pearl which symbolizes prosperity is the cause of harsh disagreement between people. Steinbeck, in a romantic way, gathers the country's recent shame and desolation to erect his topic. It is clear that the titles of the two works of fiction are significant in terms of interpretation. The famous pearl as well as the bitter grapes are the causes of wealthy people's selfishness and heartlessness toward poor people. From the beginning of The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck uses historical items in order to give his story a realistic aspect. Thus, Steinbeck condemns the growing money-oriented behavior through the Joads' removal which is synonymous to hypocrisy, opposition and brutality. Steinbeck uses a factual way of writing to display the deception of American people due to the yearning for social success. The use of permanent components of mechanic: «con-rod, roadster, highway 66, and puncture, gearbox...» demonstrates the hard removal of migrant farmers but also a way to emphasize the ways they are brutally expelled from their lands. Steinbeck is so attached to his environment. That is the reason why his language is descriptive and he goes so far as to say that «man and nature constitute one and single inseparable unit and none of them can move apart». The symbolic language reveals the difficult process of migrant farmers' eviction. The construction of the narration is of great efficiency because the strength resides in an alternating way, whether the narration of one family or a historical analysis. This technique is very effective because the different chapters create an image of the economic and social history that impacts the story. The language that Steinbeck employs in The Grapes of Wrath is so firm and simple that one can see also what was happening to the group of migrant farmers traveling to California on Route 66. Steinbeck uses through The Grapes of Wrath and The Pearl the story of the Joads and Kino's family to reveal the negative aspect of the materialistic behavior of his community.

In this regard, Steinbeck uses a local dialect coupled with a simple style to show the oppressive labor condition of poor farmers but also the yearning for social success. So, in the beginning of The Grapes of Wrath and The Pearl, Steinbeck employs an informative language that predicts the misfortune that an extreme materialistic behavior is going to cause for the Joads in The Grapes of Wrath as well as for Kino's family in The Pearl. Steinbeck resorts to harsh words to show the first origin of this acquisitive behavior. Thus, the use of a symbolic way of writing is also present in Steinbeck`s language. In chapter three, Steinbeck resorts to an animal as a figurative language to demonstrate poor farmers' hardship. This trouble is visible through this paragraph:

«The turtle had jerked into its shell, but now it hurried on, for the highway was burning hot.

And now a light truck approach, and swerved to hit it. His front wheel struck the edge of the shell,

flipped the turtle like a tiddly-wink spun it like a coin, and rolled it off the highway» ^6(*)1

In this paragraph, the turtle walks with difficulty and is regularly confronted with the dangers of trucks. Significantly, Steinbeck uses a metaphorical communication in order to show the same threat posed to the farmers but also a way to better convey his message. The intrusion of car and the building of highway demonstrate as well the painful mechanization process of the land and its cruel effects. Likewise, the truck that strikes the turtle is also a sign of new and brutal change in the American society. The incursion of tractor in chapter eleven of The Grapes of Wrath is also a way to show the inhumanity of tractors because the latter have no connection with the land. Steinbeck uses symbolic languages to criticize the heartlessness of rich people.

The use of allegorical elements is also a way for Steinbeck to translate visually the formulation of his thought. And with a particular language Steinbeck describes the tragedy of migrant workers during the Depression. This allegorical method is also a technique to express his disapproval against the selfish and unkind policies of rich landowners. Steinbeck resorts to poor farmers' language (okies) so that their concern dominates clearly his description, that's to say, his personal consideration for poor people whether in America or Mexico. Steinbeck combines through his narration the vernacular language of lower classes with the Standard English language in order to better interpret cultivators' torments. The combination of okies' language through The Grapes of Wrath and the Latino words in The Pearl demonstrates also the origin of the two communities. In fact, the use of colloquial language as a technique of writing allows Steinbeck to keep the quality of the language without distorting the English language. The allegory and literary forms used in ironic ways is another way to insist on the materialistic culture which privileges only individualism and competition for material comfort. Steinbeck uses an ironic language to describe Kino's village: La- paz. In fact, «La- paz» is synonymous to peace in Spanish language. But this village is far from being a place of quietness. In a narrative way, Steinbeck resorts to the discovery of the pearl to test people's values.

From The Grapes of Wrath and The Pearl, one can see that wealth brings only anger and sorrow. Thus, what makes more attentive the reader of The Pearl and The Grapes of Wrath is the abundant use of popular language. From this choice, one can see that Steinbeck creates his own style in order to better disclose the distress of poor people in his community. It is also obvious from Steinbeck's reasoning that poor farmers could have got rich if landowners had softened their obsession for material wealth. The pretense affective language in The Pearl shows, to some extent, a certain duplicity of La-paz community toward Kino's family precisely in the episode where Kino's son Coyottito is bitten by a scorpion. The disguised language is also noticeable through the doctor's act who refused before to examine Coyottito due to his poverty. The negative response of the doctor to heal Kino is visible through this paragraph:

«A wonderful thing, a memorable thing, to want the doctor.

To get him would be a remarkable thing.

The doctor never came to the cluster of brush houses...»^6(*)2

Through the paragraph above, the use of adjectives «memorable, remarkable, wonderful» evinces how the people of la-paz community are conscious about the power of money on their life. These adjectives show clearly a possible coming of the doctor to poor houses would be a surprise. Steinbeck uses a contrastive language to describe the deception of Kino's village. Thus, when Kino finds a «large pearl as a sea gull's eggs»^6(*)3 which is tantamount to success and happiness, the doctor changes his position. Thus, the language which was short and firm becomes now airier and soft. The veiled language mentioned above shows both the hypocrisy of the doctor as well as the pearl-dealers who depreciate the price of the pearl in order to get it.

The Pearl and The Grapes of Wrath are written in detailed chapters showing what life is and was before. In The Pearl, the different chapters demonstrate life before and after the discovery of the pearl but also a way to better see the rising insincerity and cruelty of Kino's community. Similarly, from chapter one to chapter thirty in The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck uses a sustained language to show his dissatisfaction with the American materialism as well as the pressure to be loyal to a system that oppresses poor people. It is in this regard that Steinbeck focuses on writing something true. Through this truthful language, Steinbeck reveals one of the worst aspects of the American society, that's to say, the cruelty of materialism during the thirties. Thus, Steinbeck resorts to a free language to enlighten those who aspire to the American dream to be more rational because this dream is nothing but an illusion that causes despondency. Steinbeck uses along the narration of The Grapes of Wrath a constant dialogue in order to better expose the egocentric policy of his community as it is visible through this paragraph :

«The hitch-hiker stood up and looked across through the window.

`Could ya give me a lift mister?' The Driver looked quickly back at the restaurant for a second

`Did you see the No Rider sticker on the win' shield?»^6(*)4

The conversation between the driver and the hitch-hiker is a way for Steinbeck to translate perfectly the insensitive regulations that Californian authorities put in place in order to impose drivers to adopt individualistic conducts. The dialogue along the whole narration of The Grapes of Wrath is also a technique to display the tense relationships between acquisitive landowners and dispossessed farmers. By using small pieces of spoken conversation, Steinbeck is able to create a mood of confusion and disorder. Likewise, the discussion used in chapter five between a tractor driver and a tenant farmer shows the atrocious dispossession of farmers' lands in The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck uses an easy language to illustrate the insatiability of American people but also the cruel effects of the new agrarian system. Thus, in Chapter five, Steinbeck resorts to a descriptive language as it is noticeable through these following words: «bank, machines and creatures».^6(*)5 These vocabularies are pregnant with meaning because they describe the monstrous machine: the industry. Here the engine is related with car and the latter is the spearhead of the consumer society. Steinbeck describes the saleswoman's tart like a «branded like an engine part». In other words, a part of engine that needs to be changed regularly. Hence, one can see through this metaphorical language that Steinbeck qualifies landowners' behaviors like a horrible conduct. Steinbeck resorts to a simple speech so that one can clearly see American people's acquisitive behaviors. Thus, during the whole process of the narrative, Steinbeck uses realistic items: «The death of the Joads' dog as well as the discovery of the pearl by Kino».^6(*)6 All these facts illustrate the first signs predicting the tragedy that awaits those two families.

As an ecological writer, Steinbeck chooses some elements of the nature to shed light his narration. Steinbeck goes deeply about a symbolic way of writing to reveal a turbulent moment in the American history. As one can notice through the words of the critic Robert Demott «He entered both the American consciousness and conscience.»^6(*)7

It is clear from Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and The Pearl, that man is put into a struggle between material success and moral principles. Through an uncomplicated speech, Steinbeck provides convincing details so that readers can see the characters' dilemma, that's to say, between a revolt and an adaptation to this materialistic world. Steinbeck combines at the same time elements of history and fiction to clarify his view. As one can notice, there is an accumulation of historical and climatic informations through Steinbeck's writing which demonstrates the historical background of the thirties. Steinbeck adopts the technique of mixing together the torment of the Joads with the universal suffering of migrant farmers.

Steinbeck's writing is so touching that it shows how the quest for profit destroyed the most essential elements of agriculture, land and food. Through his language, one can see that Steinbeck suggests landowners to revise their method of cultivation. Steinbeck's words are stained with encouragement toward farmers' speciality instead of supporting completely the mechanization of the agriculture. In addition to the desire which leads him to the discipline of writing, Steinbeck finds his theme in the people and the landscape of his community (Salinas). That's why his writing is accurate and hard. It is exactly this hardness that some critiques do not fail to condemn under the pretext of quality for the language. Yet, one shouldn't forget that Steinbeck is self-taught and sensitive to the styles of others but guarded from being too influenced by other writers. Steinbeck's writing is so clear and detailed that it incites American people to adopt reasonable behaviors toward the quest for material prosperity. The fact of using lower class' dialect makes Steinbeck's novels more realistic and involves the reader in the story. The language that Steinbeck uses in The Pearl and The Grapes of Wrath is an appeal to human emotion to adapt to this materialistic society through faith and solidarity.

* ⁶⁰ Joseph T. Shipley, Dictionary of World Literary Terms, London, George Allen and Unwin, 1970, p. 185

* ⁶¹ John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, op. cit., p. 16

* ⁶² John Steinbeck, The Pearl., op. cit., p.10

* ⁶³ John Steinbeck. The Pearl, op. cit., p. 26

* ⁶⁴ John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, op. cit., p. 7

* ⁶⁵ John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, op. cit., p.32

* ⁶⁶ John Steinbeck, The Pearl, op. cit., p. 26

* ⁶⁷ Robert Demott, John. Steinbeck's Reading, New York, Garland, 1984, p. 15