John Steinbeck

John Ernst Steinbeck III (February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was one of the most famous American writers of the 20th century. A winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962, he is most well-known for his novella Of Mice and Men (1937) and his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939), both of which examine the lives of the working class during the Great Depression.

Political views

Steinbeck's literary background brought him into close collaboration with leftist authors, journalists, and labor union figures, who may have influenced his writing. Steinbeck was mentored by radical writers Lincoln Steffens and his wife Ella Winter, and through Francis Whitaker, a member of the United States Communist Party?s John Reed Club for writers, Steinbeck met with strike organizers from the Cannery and Agricultural Workers' Industrial Union.http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/20/jun02/steinbeck.htm

Related Topics:
Leftist - Labor union - Lincoln Steffens - Ella Winter - Francis Whitaker - United States Communist Party - John Reed Club

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In 1935 Steinbeck joined the League of American Writers, a Communist organization intended to foster ideological support in the literary community.

Related Topics:
1935 - League of American Writers

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However, while definitely sympathetic to the political left, Steinbeck's politics were considerably more ambivalent than those of some of his admirers. A fierce individualist, he was never fully convinced with socialism, once stating "socialism is just another form of religion, and thus delusional." http://www.epinions.com/content_10897559172

Related Topics:
Individualist - Socialism

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Although he was never investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI did collect information about Steinbeck due to his political leanings, and he was screened by United States Army Intelligence during World War II to determine his suitability for an officer's commission — they found him ideologically unqualified. Steinbeck wrote to the Attorney General of the United States, Francis Biddle, in 1942, stating, "Do you suppose you could ask Edgar's boys to stop stepping on my heels? They think I am an enemy alien. It is getting tiresome."http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/steinbeck1.html

Related Topics:
Federal Bureau of Investigation - United States Army - World War II - Attorney General of the United States - Francis Biddle - 1942 - Edgar

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In later years, he would be criticized from the left by those who accused him insufficient ideological commitment to Socialism. In 1948 a women's socialist group in Rome, Italy condemned Steinbeck for converting to "the camp of war and anti-Marxism."http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/steinbeck2.html, and in 1955 an article in the Daily Worker criticized Steinbeck's portrayal of the American Left.http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/steinbeck2.html

Related Topics:
1948 - Rome, Italy - 1955 - Daily Worker

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