Religion
Rumour of God
A study of Steinbeck’s quest for Malory’s Holy Grail in the light of his own experience. Is the quest for biblical symbolism and allusion in Steinbeck exhausted? Or is it just beginning? Suggestions for a different way of handling it which could open up Steinbeck to a whole new range of readers.
Steinbeck's View of God
An examination of the writings of Steinbeck to explore his approach to religion through three windows, which cannot be isolated from each other and most of which turn up in nearly everything he wrote, though the emphases vary. First, biblical references, sometimes in titles, sometimes in people and sometimes in content,The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden being the two most obvious examples. Second, biblical themes and imagery, such as the wilderness, sibling rivalry, water, and theological experiences (if not language) relating to guilt, sin and forgiveness. Third, the characters he creates and the characters whose company he obviously enjoys which tell us something about the values he embraces and are a reflection of the ‘God’ who motivates him. Published [as John Steinbeck], in The Expository Times, vol 112 no 6, March 2001, pp 192-196, with documentation.
Biblical Wilderness in The Grapes of Wrath
A paper examining 'Steinbeck’s Multi-layered Use of the Biblical Image' in Michael J Meyer, The Grapes of Wrath. A Re-consideration pp 129-148, published by Editions Rodopi, Amsterdam/New York, NY 2009, xix, 908 pp. (2 Volumes) (Dialogue 7), with documentation and bibliography.
This study (in the Dialogue series) presents analyses by senior Steinbeck scholars and several new voices. Issues addressed include accusations about the novel's sentimentality, speculations about its status as a work of naturalism, and questions about its experimental structure. In addition, the language and imagery of the novel, its religious overtones, and its reputation as a radical work of art are revisited with fresh insights.
The Bible
The 'Gospel' According to Steinbeck
Steinbeck’s mother told him Bible stories from an early age which stood him in good stead when it came to writing many of this novels and stories. As he matured he showed evidence not only of knowing the stories but also of understanding them, often with quite sharp and penetrating incite, aided and abetted by his increasing awarenesss of Judaism and a friendly rabbi.
Did Steinbeck Know H Wheeler Robinson?
A paper relating John Steinbeck's understanding of Community to Wheeler Robinson's theory of Corporate Personality, clarifying the similarities and differences. Published in Steinbeck Studies, vol 15, no 1, Spring 2004, pp 73-87, with documentation and bibliography.
Did Steinbeck Have a Suffering Servant?
An examination of Steinbeck's relationship with people in his life and the characters in his fiction to see how far they resembled Isaiah's Suffering Servant (Isaiah 42: 1-4; 49: 1-6; 50: 4-9; 52: 13-53: 1-12), the idea of corporate personality and the Hebrew concept of the One and the Many, coming to the conclusion that Steinbeck's closest friend and confidant, Ed Ricketts, comes very close. Presented at the Bible and Literature Day at the University of Sussex, 2002 and in an abridged version at the Steinbeck Centennial Conference in New York, with documentation and bibliography.
A Steinbeck Midrash on Genesis 4: 7
A paper exploring the meaning of timsholEast of Eden in the light of Steinbeck's magnum opus, in Michael J Meyer and Henry Veggian (eds), East of Eden. New and Recent Essays, pp 257-288, published by Editions Rodopi, Amsterdam/New York, NY 2013 xxi, 300 pp (Dialogue 16) with documentation and bibliography.
This study (in the Dialogue series), designed to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the novel's publication, contains critical writings from a number of literary fields, including a biographical essay, a travel essay, further essays on varied themes in Steinbeck's works, writing on critical approaches to Steinbeck and a new essay on Elia Kazan's film adaptation of the novel.
Steinbeck in England
War Correspondent, 1943
During the Second World War Steinbeck spent six months in England as a War Correspondent for the Herald Tribune. His letters and dispatches tell us much about his war experience, but what was life like in England in 1943, the fourth year of World War 2?
The Quest for the Holy Grail, 1959
Steinbeck and his wife, Elaine, spent the summer of 1959 in England, in a tiny cottage in Bruton, Somerset, part rest cure from the pressure of American critics and part in quest of Mallory and the Holy Grail. What were their impressions of church and community, day-to-day life in Bruton, and West Country transport, and what did he absorb of Mallory and the Holy Grail in Glastonbury? I went to Bruton to find out, and on to Glastonbury and Tintagel, to retrace some of his leisure moments.
Malory’s Morte d'Arthur
So was his quest Success or Failure — an End or a New Beginning? Did the quality of Steinbeck’s writing go off following his failure to find the Holy Grail (as some of his critics have suggested) or is The Winter of Our Discontent an indication that he had in fact found it, albeit not quite what he had been looking for nor what his critics were hoping he might find?