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As a writer, Steinbeck’s most significant achievement lies, with no doubt, in his novels. Such works as Tortilla Flat (1935), which portrays a group of countrymen enjoying their life in the days after the end of the Great War and , The Grapes of Wrath (1939), East of Eden (1952) exploring the themes of poverty, love and the struggle for acceptance, etc. have long been engraved on America’s memory. He depicts the migratory farmers’ and workers’ tragedies of being discriminated and struggling to survive on their way from the middle and western states to California.
The Grapes of Wrath sketches America’s social picture in the 1930s when the Great Depression swept over the country. The book, which enlivens tenant men’s hardship, is modern American farmers’ epic. Scholar John Timmerman concluded, “The Grapes of Wrath may well be the most thoroughly discussed novel – in criticism, reviews, and college classrooms – of 20th century American literature” (Timmerman, 1986:5). This paper aims to interpret The Grapes of Wrath based on ecological perspective and thus reveals Steinbeck’s social ecological idea.
It is publicly agreed that The Grapes of Wrath is one of Steinbeck’s best books. It tells a story of Oklahoma tenant farmers who move to California and become migratory workers there. This book has exerted great influence in American history as well as literature. It did not only help Steinbeck win the Pulitzer Price, but also was recognized as “the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.” Upon its publication, however, there have been various pergent comments on the book both at home and abroad.
2. Literature Review
Upon its publication in 1939, The Grapes of Wrath was recognized, by both its admirers and opponents, as social protest and soon hit the headlines of newspapers and magazines. It soon attracted a large number of academic researches, most of which were closely related to the book’s social influence. Some are worth highlighting. For example, Dong Hengxun, a pioneer in China in researching Steinbeck, considered Steinbeck a social protester and thus concentrated on the sociological content. According to his research, from praising America’s stability in Sweet Thursday to sympathizing with tenants’ hard life in The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck’s understanding of the American society changed along with his personal life (Dong Hengxun, 1996:37). Some critics held Steinbeck “has great power, intense feeling, and a strong sense of the evil of a system which allows prosperity to a few and nothing but eventual serfdom to the many…” (Ditsky, 1989:168) Yet, such compliments on the book were challenged by some other critics. Frank J. Taylor wrote in Forum to attack factual inaccuracies (Hinds, 2008:35). The Oklahoma City Times once issued an article entitled “The Grapes of Wrath? Obscenity and Inaccuracy”, considering the book “propaganda in its vilest form” (Hinds, 2008:35). The Board of Supervisors in California even banned the book. Most of the negative opinions were targeted at Steinbeck’s description of the hard lives experienced by the state and people (Hinds, 2008:39).
In recent years, with the development of eco-criticism, some scholars have started to interpret the book from the perspective of ecology. For instance, Hu Tianfu, the author of The Grapes of Wrath: A Great Work of Eco-literature writes about the sources of Steinbeck’s ecological ideas, including the impact of reading, love for nature, friendship with Edward Ricketts and travel experience. He holds that the book implies not only Steinbeck’s compassion for homeless farmers but also his wrath towards the destruction conducted by man to ecology (Hu Tianfu, 2006:102). Besides, Woodburn Ross delves into Steinbeck’s biological idea in his “John Steinbeck: Naturalism’s Priest.” This book shows Steinbeck is not only a writer, but a scientist, social reformist and realist. Ross believes John Steinbeck contributes to the profound social reforms after the Great Depression (Ross, 1949:438). All these researches convey an idea that John Steinbeck is a great ecologist. 源'自:751:"论-文'网www.751com.cn