CharlesWinter

12February2016
HonorsEnglish9
OConnor

SteinbeckComparativeEssay

InanattempttofurtherunderstandJohnSteinbeck'sstyle,Ireadboth
OfMiceandMen
and
TheMoonisDown
.
Steinbeck'sstylecentersaroundwritingabouthiscurrentevents,suchas
theGreatDepression,andshowitaffectedtheaverageperson.Hisuseofdescriptioncreatesan
imageinthereader'smind,transportingthemtoatimegoneby,whileleavingsomedetailsfor
thereadertodecipher.Steinbeckuseswordchoicetoitsfullcapacity,choosingwordsthatset
thetone.
Heisaclassicauthor,withhisownunique,yetstillsimplestyle.
Throughouthisstories,Steinbeckusesmanysymbolstoexpressadeepermeaninginhis
novels.
In
OfMiceandMen
and
TheMoonisDown
,heusescharacterstorepresentoverall
authority.In
TheMoonisDown
,theauthorityfigureisColonelLanserandin
OfMiceandMen
,
itcouldbebothGeorgeandCurley.
Steinbecksstyleinbothofthesebooksreflectsgoodwordchoice
.Hechooseshiswords
inawaywheretheydontjustdescribewhatishappening,buttheycreateatone.Forexample,
thisisdonewellwhenheuseswordslike

bloodshed

andthephrase

destroyedinstantly

to
giveasenseofdreadandhopelessness.InbothnovelsSteinbeckcreatesaneasilyunderstandablestory
thatstillusescomplexwordsthatpaintavividimageinthereadershead
.

Aninterestingsimilaritybetweenthetwostoriesistheoriginsoftheirtitles.
OfMiceand
Men
referencestopoemwrittenbyRobertBurns,wherehetellthestoryofturningupamouse's
nest.Inthisstory,alinesays

Thebestlaidschemeso'micean'men,Gangaftagley,(Burns
3940).

ThisreferstohowLennieandGeorge'sdreamofowningtheirownfarmandtheplans
theymadegooffcourse.Thetitleof
TheMoonisDown
isareferencetothestartofActIIof
Macbeth(Shakespeare).InthisAct,themoonsabsencesignifiesevilenteringthekingdom.
Steinbeckusesthisintheexactsameway,withtheevilinShakespearesplaybeingrepresented
astheinvadingsoldiers
.
Steinbeckalmostalwayswroteaboutcurrenteventsofhistime
.
OfMiceandMen
discussestheproblemsofthemigrantworkers.Theyhaveunsafeworkingconditions,are
homelesspeoplethathavenowhereelsetogoaftertheharvestseasonisover,andsomeeven
havefamilies.HealsowrotethebooktoshowthestrugglesoftheaveragepersonintheGreat
Depression.Whenthestockmarketcrashed,noonehadsavedanythingduringtheroaring20s.
Moneyiseverything,yourclothes,food,andhousing.Withoutthesebarenecessities,people
becameextremelydesperateandcautious,willingtodoanythingforapaycheck,even
sometimesresortingtostealing.
TheMoonisDown
waswrittentoencouragetheaidofourallies
incountriesthathadbeencaptured.Thenovelsstorylinefollowssomethingalongthelinesof
thewayGermanywouldtakeoverasmalltowninacountrysuchasPolandorFrance.Inthe
story,theinvadersoftenmentionthe

Leader
,
probablyalludingtoHitler
.
Thesocialpyramidofthethetownin
TheMoonisDown
iscompletelydifferentfrom
thatin
OfMiceandMen
.
Theyarepermanentlysettledandhaveadecentworkingeconomy,
withdifferentjobsandmenandwomenbeingemployedyearround.In
OfMiceandMen
,the

migrantworkershavebadworkingconditions,andareonlypaidfortheharvestseason.Afterthe
harvesttheyareunemployedagainandoftenmovesomewhereelse.
PeopleinthistownarecloselyboundcomparedtothemigrantworkersofCalifornia.In
California,everyonewasinsurvivalmode,verydesperateformoneyandwillingtodoanything
.
Theyoftentraveledaloneorsometimeswiththeirfamilies.In
TheMoonisDown,
thetownhasa
muchmoreorganizedstructure,withaseeminglygoodcommunity.Thereisamayor,whofends
forhispeople.Thereisalsohisbestfriend,DoctorWinter,whohelpshealthetownspeople,as
wellasfightagainsttheinvadingtroops
.
Thedictionusedbythetwopartiesisalsocompletelydifferent
.Thecharactersin
Of
MiceandMen
speaklikeuneducatedlaborers.Itisalsoknownthattheyareindifferent
countries,thatmostdefinitelyusecompletelydifferentdiction,becauseoftheeventsSteinbeck
writeabout.Thetownspeopleandinvadersspeakliketheyaremoreeducated,especiallythe
higherrankingpeoplesuchastheDoctor,mayor,andrankingmilitaryofficials.Lennieisa
specialcasehoweverbecauseheisunabletospeakasfluentlyasothercharactersbecauseofhis
mentalillness.
Thetonesetinthetwonovelsisalmostpolaropposite
.
DespiteGeorgeandLennies
fantasyneverreallybeingalegitimatepossibility,Lenniestillbelievesitisandhisinnocence
setsamorehopefultone.Thewordchoiceandcircumstancesofthetownin
TheMoonisDown
makeitseemlikethemostdrearyandsomberplaceonthecoast.Thewholetownseemsasifits
justputintoastateofhopelessness,noonegoesoutsideandthetownspeopleglareatthesoldiers
astheypassby.Thefallingsnowalsohelpsetthetoneandsymbolizestheevilthathas
completelytakenoverandcoveredthetown
.

Despitethefactthatthesenovelsareaboutcompletelydifferentpeopleindifferent
places,involvedwiththeirownstruggles,theystillfollowSteinbeckstypicalstyleoffollowing
currenteventsinhistimeandhowtheyaffectedtheaverageperson.Thewordchoiceforeach
novelenhancesthereadersconnectiontothestoryandthecharactersandunderstandingofthe
atmosphereandsocialstructure.Steinbecksuniquestyleprovidesaninterestingstoryabout
somethingverysimilartothetruth.

Steinbeck,John.
OfMiceandMen
.NewYork:Penguin,1993.Print.
Steinbeck,John.
MoonIsdown
.NewYork:Penguin,1995.Print.