Observations on John Steinbeck's writing

At the time of writing this, I've read (and have been fascinated) by three of John Steinbeck's novels (/ novella)--Of Mice and Men, East of Eden, and The Grapes of Wrath. After reading these three, and reflecting a bit, I've come to admire Steinbeck's ability to relate the difficulties of human life, and the depths of human life through a touching tale.

For example, the journey of Tom Joad with his family along the perilous and taxing route westward was not devoid of its fair share of misery and commentary on the brutal malice of life, from the dearth of food and deaths of family members to the lack of motivation and alcoholism that ensues along the way. Uncle John's alcoholism, Rosasharn's baby's death, Tom's brother's abandonment of the family, and the uncertainty of even the preacher, who typically is a sure sign of purity, hope, and faith.

The plight of George and Lennie is no bed of roses either. George's life is rife with difficult decisions and restraint caused by his responsibility for Lennie. Furthermore, he is even faced with the difficult decision of pulling the trigger of Lennie, his companion and the person with whom he dreamt up a beautiful goal of working on a piece of land, and worked towards it; a person without whom George's life had little responsibility, little reason to be tied down (even as mentioned by George himself).

In East of Eden, Adam Trask is perhaps most ruthlessly hurt, less so by his undoubtedly wretched and psychopathic wife Catherine, but most of all by his own idyllic imagination, which he let stray too far from reality. His sons are continuously hurt as well, either by the partiality of their father, in the case of Caleb, or Caleb's malevolent desire to rend Aaron's world view apart, in the case of Aaron.

So, that's what I've been remembering about the dramatic pain Steinbeck makes his characters go through.