Wright1
Influences From Coast to Coast
For me one of the most influential reading experiences I have had began when my 10th
grade English class read Of Mice and Men. It was the first of John Steinbeck’s work that I had
read. Of course, I had read other novels such as To Kill a Mockingbird and like A Tale of Two
Cities and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. However, there was something different about
Steinbeck’s writing and I didn’t know what it was until I had finished Of Mice and Men and we
were discussing it in class.
As my Class discussed Of Mice and Men, I learned a lot about John Steinbeck. I’m not
sure that studying steinbeck had any more of an effect on any one else than it had on me. We
talked about Steinbeck growing up in a small town on the coast of California where his mother
was a school teacher. How he attended Stanford but found the classes to be useless and dropped
out. He would work in the fields with the migrant workers, not because he needed money, but to
listen to the stories the workers told. He would use these stories in most of his novels, writing
about real places and personal experiences, molding the characters after people he knew from
familiar settings. I felt that Steinbeck was modest. He did not think that he was better than others
or too good to work and I connected with him, he was a blue collar type of person and his
writing reflected that. This may have been one of the main reasons why I felt so connected to
him?
I learned of the hatred he received from his own community after he wrote Grapes of
Wrath, one of his more famous novels. He showed how the “Oakies” from Oklahoma were
discriminated against when they came to California to escape the Dust Bowl. Steinbeck showed
that he was not scared to write the truth even if he was persecuted for it. His actions shows
courage and integrity.
Wright2
Before reading Steinbeck, English was not really hard, but I did not enjoy it. After
reading Of Mice and Men, I was encouraged to take a higher level English class during the 11th
grade, something that I had not considered before reading Steinbeck.
Steinbeck influenced me so much that year that when it came time to pick an author on
which to write a research paper, I chose Steinbeck. The hard part was picking a book, because he
had written so many classics. I finally settled on Cannery Row. It was then that I fell in love
with his writing all over again. When I would read his work it was like I went to that place in the
novel. His familiarity with the setting makes the reader feel comfortable as though we are
experiencing the story with him. The characters are flawed and real, like people you know in
your own home town. In a Steinbeck novel your barber, mailman, or even your best friend could
all be main characters. Steinbeck does not judge his characters. He shows their strengths and
weaknesses. Even the heroes in his stories are “ordinary people” who have real problems and
character flaws. By choosing these people to be his main characters and heroes Steinbeck
demonstrates that it takes courage to just do your best struggling through life’s difficulties. His
writing seems real and I admire him for that.