In Dubious Battle Literary Analysis

John Steinbeck’s 1936 novel In Dubious Battle depicts life in the Great Depression through the themes of power, struggle, and historical change, specifically as related to labor movements. Through these themes, the novel effectively portrays the struggles of workers during this era.

The book realistically portrays what life was like during the Great Depression through the lens of the main character, Jim Nolan. Jim’s life had not been easy; he grew up in a violent household, lost both of his parents, and later lost his job and went to jail for vagrancy before he decided to join the Party. His father had unsuccessfully fought against unfair labor practices and died in a labor riot. Many of Jim’s problems were related to his father’s violent approach to labor reform, and he had seen how little progress had been made to help workers gain more labor rights. Jim joins the Party to feel that he has a purpose in life, recognizing that the structure of society and labor at the time made it difficult for members of the working class to advance, either in wealth or status.

After joining the party, Jim meets his future strike companion, Mac, and is told they are traveling to the Torgas Valley to challenge pay cuts faced by apple-pickers.

Their purpose is to help the workers organize, as Mac tells him “we don’t want only temporary pay raises […] we want the men to find out how strong they are when they work together” (Steinbeck 26). The Party’s goal to help men cause labor reform provides much insight to the roots of historical labor movements. Although businessowners, local law enforcement, or in some cases, federal troops often ended strikes, men were still willing to risk their wellbeing to fight for better working

conditions.
The novel is very representative of the struggles that many workers faced during this time. Poor wages, little to no job security, advances in technology, and the rise in depersonalization of workers all led to a frustrated workforce that felt that these conditions were unfair. Although In Dubious Battle does not address formal labor unions, the apple-pickers of the Torgas Valley organize informally, hoping their strike will bring about change. Steinbeck addresses different types of struggle within the novel; in this case, the struggle of workers to get fair working conditions and higher wages. The portrayal of the men is realistic as some were hesitant to strike due to fear of being replaced by strikebreakers, or “scabs,” reflecting a real fear faced by workers on strike during the Depression. Mac’s method of motivating the workers is also authentic as he says, “there’s no better way to make men part of a movement than to have them give something to it” (49). Mac makes every man feel useful through their contribution of clothing when London’s daughter gives birth, creating a connection to London as well as making the men confident in himself and Jim. After this, the men feel involved with London’s appointment as leader, and Mac encourages conducting votes so that everyone continues to feel like they contribute something to the movement. In these ways, the novel is realistic in portraying a labor struggle and some of the reasons why men chose to participate in these strikes.
The novel also provides insight about personal struggle through the characterization of the characters. Jim struggles to feel like he is a part of something and once in the Party, he struggles to get out in the field and physically fight, as opposed to making decisions behind the scenes. Mac struggles with knowing that despite his best efforts, the strike may fall through due to the organization of the men in power. Although these struggles involve different forms of power; both men fight the institutional power of the orchard owners and the police force. Mr. Anderson struggles to escape the system established by the orchard owners, but ultimately succumbs to their rules after vigilantes set fire to his property because he helped the strikers. Dakin fights to reconcile his desire for labor reform with the desire to protect his family and property, and ultimately decides the latter is worth more to him. All these men face personal struggles related to facing the challenge of an organized institutional power.
The novel is particularly accurate in the representation of human interaction. Each character’s struggles serve as part of this representation, as the men face conflict between each other as the strike continues. Steinbeck addresses the difficulties of keeping people motivated when times are tough; the workers become restless as the strike progresses and it does not seem like they are making any progress. This restlessness is heightened by the eventual lack of food caused by the county government, which voted to feed the strikers before immediately repealing the vote. The county paper only reported on the first vote, so that sympathizers would stop helping the men maintain their camp. The challenge of getting the public on the strikers’ side is also historically accurate. In the novel, sympathizers provided food, tents, and other supplies to the men, so their camp would meet health standards. When the strike had sympathizers sending aid, it was far easier for them to feel that the strike would be successful. In cases like the 1877 National Railway Strike, strikes in one area could lead to others, known as sympathetic strikes. Even though this strike, and many like it, were eventually broken with strikebreakers or the intervention of federal troops, sympathetic strikes raised awareness about smaller labor conflicts and made the public more informed about labor conditions at the time.
Even if strikes were unsuccessful, they raised awareness of various labor injustices. Mac had learned tactics to unite men through his involvement in other strikes and used every chance he had to keep the men focused on the strike. He told Jim that if the strike was unsuccessful, there would always be another one that they would move on to work for. Mac thoroughly addressed the Torgas Valley strike’s potential futility: “The troops win, all right! But every time a guardsman jabs a fruit tramp with a bayonet a thousand men all over the country come on our side” (27). They hoped this strike would be successful so that the cotton owners would not try to cut the same workers’ wages even lower than the orchard owners had. They knew the strike might not be successful but tried to keep the men motivated to continue in the hope that their needs would be met—and even if they were not, that other workers in similar situations would attempt to fight for better labor conditions.