The Novel, “The winter of Our Discontent” written by John Steinbeck is related to the literature of the American Seminar course. Within the novel, it has many moments in which the protagonist, Ethan Hawley, reflects upon himself and his decisions in life. He often refers to his,” Place”, where he goes to sort of meditate and become one with nature. He describes his Place as, “That is my place , the place everyone needs.I was compelled to go and sit inside there and hear the little waves slap the stone and look out at the sawtooth Whitsun rocks” ( pg. 55-56). Ethan’s place is represented as an area where he can completely let go from his daily life and reconnect, with the help of nature. This is similar to the Transcendental way of living life,
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All of Poe’s texts give the reader the insight of what the character is really made of from their thoughts. It also shows what the intentions are and the inner struggles of the mind that the particular characters or narrators are experiencing, which is also showed in the novel by the main character Ethan.The aspect of darkness is also prevalent in both the Novel and Poe’s literature. The darkness of the novel relates to the suicide attempt when Ethan tries to kill himself at his “ place”, where in Poe’s Tell tale heart it relates to the murder of the old man. Both the narrator from Poe’s “ The Raven” and Ethan also share the grief of death. In Poe, the Narrator from “ The Raven” calls out to his dead women acquaintance he misses dearly, where Ethan often talks to his dead Dad Old Cap’n and his dead Great Aunt- …show more content…
The whole premise of the book is based on the fact that one “ honest” man is turned the other way by the people of his town to the path of corruption and envy. In the novel, morality is a huge factor when determining the shift of Ethan’s life. Ethan is often considered a very, “ honest man” by his boss Alfio Marullo. It is also mentioned that Ethan’s honesty and compassion was rather eerie when the federal agent Richard Walder got to know him which walder stated that, “ if you get conditioned by crooks and liars and cheats, why, an honest man can shock the hell out of you” ( pg. 289) since no one had those qualities anymore that Ethan had. However, because of the peer pressure from not only his neighbors in New Baytown but even his family as well, he suddenly changes his honest ways of living. In one of Ethan’s evaluations of himself during his night time thinking, he starts to question his own self by thinking,”What are morals? Are they simply words” ( pg. 239). Ethan’s thinking changes drastically after this point, where instead of following his own ways of living, which consisted of never stealing and taking only what he deserved, it turned to the thought that since everybody does it, it makes it acceptable. This type of thinking can be found in his son Allen, when his son gets caught plagiarizing for his “ I Love America “ Essay. Here, Allen responds to his misdeed by stating, “ who cares? Everybody
All of Poe’s texts give the reader the insight of what the character is really made of from their thoughts. It also shows what the intentions are and the inner struggles of the mind that the particular characters or narrators are experiencing, which is also showed in the novel by the main character Ethan.The aspect of darkness is also prevalent in both the Novel and Poe’s literature. The darkness of the novel relates to the suicide attempt when Ethan tries to kill himself at his “ place”, where in Poe’s Tell tale heart it relates to the murder of the old man. Both the narrator from Poe’s “ The Raven” and Ethan also share the grief of death. In Poe, the Narrator from “ The Raven” calls out to his dead women acquaintance he misses dearly, where Ethan often talks to his dead Dad Old Cap’n and his dead Great Aunt- …show more content…
The whole premise of the book is based on the fact that one “ honest” man is turned the other way by the people of his town to the path of corruption and envy. In the novel, morality is a huge factor when determining the shift of Ethan’s life. Ethan is often considered a very, “ honest man” by his boss Alfio Marullo. It is also mentioned that Ethan’s honesty and compassion was rather eerie when the federal agent Richard Walder got to know him which walder stated that, “ if you get conditioned by crooks and liars and cheats, why, an honest man can shock the hell out of you” ( pg. 289) since no one had those qualities anymore that Ethan had. However, because of the peer pressure from not only his neighbors in New Baytown but even his family as well, he suddenly changes his honest ways of living. In one of Ethan’s evaluations of himself during his night time thinking, he starts to question his own self by thinking,”What are morals? Are they simply words” ( pg. 239). Ethan’s thinking changes drastically after this point, where instead of following his own ways of living, which consisted of never stealing and taking only what he deserved, it turned to the thought that since everybody does it, it makes it acceptable. This type of thinking can be found in his son Allen, when his son gets caught plagiarizing for his “ I Love America “ Essay. Here, Allen responds to his misdeed by stating, “ who cares? Everybody