John Steinbeck's life

The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck's life

05/10/2020

By Benjamin Allard, Jonathan Boivin, William LePottier, Marc-Alexandre Normandin and Catherine Plourde

The Grapes of Wrath is an American classic published in 1939.  The author of this book, John Steinbeck, was born on February 27th, 1902, in Salinas, California, United States.  His dad, John Ernst Steinbeck, was a treasurer and her mother, Olive Hamilton, was a teacher, who loved to write and read.

John Steinbeck grew up with three sisters named Mary, Elisabeth, and Esther. As a child, he was working on farm fields with migrant workers. It is said that his situation inspired him a lot while he was writing his book. At the age of fourteen, he decided to be a writer. He was often locking himself in his bedroom to write poems and stories.

John Steinbeck with his sisters and his mother

The first three novels he wrote were not successful. Despite the failures, Steinbeck continues to practice his passion. After nearly six years of hard work. Steinbeck finally publishes his first successful novel: Tortilla Flat, which earned him his first literary award, the gold medal for the best novel written by a Californian awarded by the Commonwealth Club of California. 

Tortilla Flat, by John Steinbeck

Steinbeck also published Of Mice and Men, In Dubious Battle, and The Long Valley. With these books, he became a respected author across the United States. In 1939, Steinbeck published what many describe as his best novel: The Grapes of Wrath. This novel was sold over fourteen million times, won the 1940 Pulitzer Prize, in addition to being tenth in the list of the hundred best English-language novels of the twentieth century established by the Modern Library in 1998. A film adaptation of the book The Grapes of Wrath was made in 1940 by John Ford, starring Henry Fonda. The film won two Oscars and was a huge success.

The Grapes of Wrath, the movie

During World War II, Steinbeck played in the army as a certified journalist. Throughout his service, he wrote about a bomber team, using his literary talent to write a training manual for the Air Force. Steinbeck took the course with the crew and flew in fighter jets and learned bombing and shooting.

John Steinbeck aboard a U.S. Army UH-1B Iroquois helicopter of D troop, 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment

In 1943, in Salerno in Italy, Steinbeck participated in a battle against the Germans. Formerly far from the front lines, thanks to the profession of journalist, he sees for the first time corpses, explosions, and ammunition flying in all directions. In September 1943, Steinbeck wrote to his wife: 

   

"Because I have done the things I had to do, and I don't think 

      an inner constraint will force me to do them again." 

Returning back from the war, nine years later, Steinbeck publishes Once There Was a War, which is a collection of his articles written during the war.  In 1963, Steinbeck won the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which was awarded to him for offering a particularly meritorious contribution to the security and national interests of the United States.

In 1962, John Steinbeck won the most prestigious award for writers: The Nobel Prize for literature.

"In my heart, there may be doubt that I deserve the Nobel award over other men of letters whom I hold in respect and reverence – but there is no question                        of my pleasure and pride in having it for myself."¹

Finally, on December 20, 1968, in New York, John Steinbeck died of atherosclerosis at the age of 66 years old, leaving as a legacy 30 books and his personal touch on modern literature. He is now one of the most influential and popular authors around the world, and still today in 2020.

 

¹ Text from December 10, 1962, banquet speech of the Nobel Prize Award, speech done by John Steinbeck.  Source: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1962/steinbeck/25229-john-steinbeck-banquet-speech-1962/