How Did John Steinbeck Influence The World

John Steinbeck had a philosophy that writers must believe that what they are doing is the most important thing in the world and they must hold to this illusion even when they know it is not true. This philosophy of Steinbeck’s may have been what motivated him to become the renowned author he is recognized as today: the author of numerous novels that have become classic books for this generation. However, John Steinbeck also experienced many hardships and influences. Steinbeck incorporated influences from his childhood years, background, and the Great Depression into his writing.

Steinbeck’s childhood was spent mostly in Salinas, California, where he was born on February 27th, 1902. As a teenager, he had already decided that he wanted to be a writer, and

eventually started attending Stanford University; however, college didn’t help him much and he eventually dropped out in 1925. For a short time, the author wandered the country holding various occupations, but finally came back to California and married Carol Henning, which is when he was able to really begin focusing on writing. With each novel he published, Steinbeck grew more famous, leading his works to eventually earn him a Pulitzer Prize in 1940 for The Grapes of Wrath and a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. In the later years of Steinbeck’s life he dabbled into other occupations such as becoming a war correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune and going to Mexico to study marine biology. After a life of writing more than fifteen successful novels and short stories, John Steinbeck died of a heart disease on December 20th, 1968. A reason behind John Steinbeck’s success may have been the influences of his childhood and time period that lead him to develop his trademark writing styles (A&E Television Networks).
John Steinbeck grew up in a rural area with a large, thriving farming community, which explains why numerous works of his are centered around California farms. His hometown also influenced “the majority of his novels and informed his characters’ strong identification with the land”. In addition, his parents provided him with other influences that he later developed into his literature. For example, Steinbeck loved the book Le Morte d’Arthur by Thomas Malory when he was young, and many of Malory’s ideas influenced Steinbeck in his writing. These influences can be recognized in many of his novels, as well as the influences from the time period when he was growing up and writing (National Steinbeck Center).
While the economy was stable when Steinbeck was a child, around 1929 America’s economy failed and the country was plunged into the Great Depression, along with a drought in the Great Plains that devastated the farmers living there.

Steinbeck interviewed a couple men who had suffered through the hardships of losing their farms and “the migrants' stories of humiliation and hardship stayed with Steinbeck long after the newspaper series ran.” This time period was right around when John Steinbeck began to become serious about his writing, so after meeting people who had endured losing their farms, homes, or jobs and been forced to move to California, he incorporated the effects of the Great Depression on American farmers into his writings. Steinbeck wanted to focus on what was happening around the reader and help people endure the harsh times by writing to establish a sense of understanding between all people affected by the depression and drought. These ideas and influences can be seen in books such as Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath, which he wrote and published during the time when many families migrated from the Plains to California seeking new opportunities for jobs and homes (Shmoop Editorial

Team).
Using ideas from his childhood and events happening around him, Steinbeck wrote impactful stories pertaining to the serious matters occurring during his time period. His background and hometown contributed to his works by leading him to center many of his stories in California or on farms. Steinbeck also used the Great Depression and all its effects on individuals to create powerful themes and ideas in his novels. These influences and ideas drove Steinbeck’s writing and allowed him to leave an influential mark on the world as an author.