John Steinbeck, when he went in search of America, essentially wanted to discover the country that he hadn’t truly seen or heard in a long time. America, beyond big cities like New York and San Francisco, was essentially a mystery to him. He went on the trip hoping to discover America and discover what was, to him, the mystery of America. He came out of the trip discovering that America is not really the “great” country it is often made out to be. He discovered a lot about America and its citizens, but he largely discovered that many Americans are generally not content and are rather troubled. He met some content people along the way, but he largely met people who were filled with desires to be mobile, had displeasure with their lives,
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Generally speaking, people in the north that he met were kinder and more accepting of different kinds of people, while people in the south, especially in Texas, that he met were more passionate and prideful, but not as kind and less accepting of different kinds of people. Specifically, white people in the south were very racist, and this, in addition to giving America a sense of division regionally, gave America a sense of division racially. In fact, in New Orleans, Steinbeck attended an event where ladies called Cheerleaders protested black students entering a school, being very hateful and racist throughout. Another example of racial division in America in Steinbeck’s journey was when he picked up a racist Southern man, who, talking to him, said “We got an eye on you Commie nigger-lovers,” which angered Steinbeck to the point where he forced the man out of his truck (Steinbeck 197). Resulting from this general sense of division that Steinbeck discovered, was that his search for America was a relative success, as he discovered that America was largely troubled due to the tensions this sense of division caused. Through these tensions, which were mostly racial, Steinbeck saw an America that was troubled and filled with hatred, and he even became “lost” shortly after he had a lot of encounters dealing with racism towards the end of the book. This made his search for America a success because he discovered these things through the divisions he saw, and he ultimately discovered a troubled America as a
Generally speaking, people in the north that he met were kinder and more accepting of different kinds of people, while people in the south, especially in Texas, that he met were more passionate and prideful, but not as kind and less accepting of different kinds of people. Specifically, white people in the south were very racist, and this, in addition to giving America a sense of division regionally, gave America a sense of division racially. In fact, in New Orleans, Steinbeck attended an event where ladies called Cheerleaders protested black students entering a school, being very hateful and racist throughout. Another example of racial division in America in Steinbeck’s journey was when he picked up a racist Southern man, who, talking to him, said “We got an eye on you Commie nigger-lovers,” which angered Steinbeck to the point where he forced the man out of his truck (Steinbeck 197). Resulting from this general sense of division that Steinbeck discovered, was that his search for America was a relative success, as he discovered that America was largely troubled due to the tensions this sense of division caused. Through these tensions, which were mostly racial, Steinbeck saw an America that was troubled and filled with hatred, and he even became “lost” shortly after he had a lot of encounters dealing with racism towards the end of the book. This made his search for America a success because he discovered these things through the divisions he saw, and he ultimately discovered a troubled America as a