Steinbeck's depiction of the struggle of Agricultural workers during Essay

Steinbeck's depiction of the struggle of Agricultural workers during the Depression, his role as a social commentator, and its impact upon his work - Essay Example The novels also serve the purpose of a social documentary and present a picture of the prevailing systemic injustices in the United States. It is fashionable with the new breed of novelists to separate politics from art. But in the case of John Steinbeck, this distinction is not evident. The author, in the process of creating a work of art had also taken upon himself to ask questions of social injustices in general and economic disparities in particular. Hence, Steinbeck’s body of work are in essence are full of his own perspective on the state of rural American society; the medium of the novel have given Steinbeck the requisite scope and opportunity to fulfill his role as a social commentator. The rest of the essay will cite instances from the two novels as well as foray into the biographical aspects of the author himself to support this assertion. To understand this social activist trait in Steinbeck’s character one has to look at the experiences and circumstances that shaped his vision of America. Firstly, his years as an adolescent in Salinas, where he got a first hand experience of his parents’ struggle for survival is a formative influence. It is the next phase of his life however, that will prove more important – his long-time relationship with the radical social worker Carol Henning. The influence of Carol Henning cannot be underestimated, for her socialist views on life had clearly rubbed off on Steinbeck, which is evident from the earliest journalistic assignments that Steinbeck undertook. His years as a novice journalist also had a key role in the shaping of his character, for these early writing assignments were the foundations for his later literary pursuits. In both the works in discussion – The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, the influences of these formative stages of his early l ife are quite obvious. While Steinbeck never really espoused a