When the unrivaled American author John Steinbeck took home the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962, he had concluded his writing career with one final major work he had published a few months earlier: Travels with Charley: In Search of America, a log of his 1960 tour of the continent in an attempt to rediscover America. At age fifty-eight, he was nearing the end of his writing career and, ultimately, his life as well. As a piece of nonfiction, Travels with Charley serves as a love letter to America, the source and center of his many unforgettable novels and stories, from The Grapes of Wrath to East of Eden. He opens his travelogue with a defined, personal purpose for traveling the lengths and breadths of America: “I had not felt the country
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During his time in the South, Steinbeck watches with shock and distaste the heavy racism displayed in the Civil Rights era in that region. Decades after the publishing of Travels with Charley, a handful of critics and scholars began questioning the authenticity of the travelogue, stating that some portions were obviously fiction. However, in a piece of journalism near the end of the book, Steinbeck pens a witness’s account of an incident of racism which even the most ardent of detractors admit its authenticity (Steigerwald). On November 14, 1960, the first black student, Ruby Bridges, began attending the New Orleans William Frantz Elementary, an all-white school, with marshals and deputies shadowing and protecting her from a violent boycott from stubborn white parents (Steigerwald). In December, Steinbeck decided to make a detour to witness the “Cheerleaders”, the name allotted to the “stout middle aged women” who put up the protest (Steinbeck 193). These Cheerleaders play to their name faithfully, swearing and screaming at the six-year old. They do this all to the roars and applause from a crowd behind them and to the revulsion and “sickened sorrow” of Steinbeck: “These were not mothers, not even women. They were crazy actors playing to a crazy audience” (195). Repulsed by the strong show of racial hate, Steinbeck analyzes the actions of the women and recognize that they cause the …show more content…
Witnessing the changes—for better or worse—of his beloved country, Steinbeck voices his opinion of the state of society more clearly than he ever has in his other pieces. Initially, he claims the purpose of his trip was to rediscover America, but by the time he returns back home, he feels more alienated than when he set off—the rapidly growing country has left old men like him in the dust (Steinbeck 214). Through his colorful narrative and accounts of the diverse nation, Steinbeck imparts a social commentary on the altering landscape of America, protesting negative changes, like the loss of regional identity and the effects of the growing mass media encroaching on cultures and traditions, while praising positive qualities still retained, like the beautiful mountains of Montana and the hospitality of Texans. However, Steinbeck appears most to mourn the amount of negative change America has gone through and the lack of positive change, especially with civil rights and national opinions. Although he published Travels with Charley in 1960, decades ago, many issues still hit home for America nowadays. Indeed, society has come a long way from the heavy racism shown in the book, but nevertheless has a long way to go still. And if the 1960s’ Russian fear seemed to
During his time in the South, Steinbeck watches with shock and distaste the heavy racism displayed in the Civil Rights era in that region. Decades after the publishing of Travels with Charley, a handful of critics and scholars began questioning the authenticity of the travelogue, stating that some portions were obviously fiction. However, in a piece of journalism near the end of the book, Steinbeck pens a witness’s account of an incident of racism which even the most ardent of detractors admit its authenticity (Steigerwald). On November 14, 1960, the first black student, Ruby Bridges, began attending the New Orleans William Frantz Elementary, an all-white school, with marshals and deputies shadowing and protecting her from a violent boycott from stubborn white parents (Steigerwald). In December, Steinbeck decided to make a detour to witness the “Cheerleaders”, the name allotted to the “stout middle aged women” who put up the protest (Steinbeck 193). These Cheerleaders play to their name faithfully, swearing and screaming at the six-year old. They do this all to the roars and applause from a crowd behind them and to the revulsion and “sickened sorrow” of Steinbeck: “These were not mothers, not even women. They were crazy actors playing to a crazy audience” (195). Repulsed by the strong show of racial hate, Steinbeck analyzes the actions of the women and recognize that they cause the …show more content…
Witnessing the changes—for better or worse—of his beloved country, Steinbeck voices his opinion of the state of society more clearly than he ever has in his other pieces. Initially, he claims the purpose of his trip was to rediscover America, but by the time he returns back home, he feels more alienated than when he set off—the rapidly growing country has left old men like him in the dust (Steinbeck 214). Through his colorful narrative and accounts of the diverse nation, Steinbeck imparts a social commentary on the altering landscape of America, protesting negative changes, like the loss of regional identity and the effects of the growing mass media encroaching on cultures and traditions, while praising positive qualities still retained, like the beautiful mountains of Montana and the hospitality of Texans. However, Steinbeck appears most to mourn the amount of negative change America has gone through and the lack of positive change, especially with civil rights and national opinions. Although he published Travels with Charley in 1960, decades ago, many issues still hit home for America nowadays. Indeed, society has come a long way from the heavy racism shown in the book, but nevertheless has a long way to go still. And if the 1960s’ Russian fear seemed to