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CHARLES UNIVERSITY IN PRAGUE FACULTY OF EDUCATION Department of English Language and Literature BACHELOR THESIS John Steinbeck’s treatment of loneliness – a biographical and fictional experience – an analysis of loneliness in Tortilla Flat, Cannery Row and Of Mice and Men Author: Petra Purkrábková Supervisor: Mgr. Jakub Ženíšek Prague 2011 1 Declaration: I hereby declare that this diploma thesis, titled “John Steinbeck’s treatment of loneliness – a biographical and fictional experience – an analysis of loneliness in Tortilla Flat, Cannery Row and of Mice and Men”, is the result of my own work and that I used only the cited sources. Prague, April 5th 2011 ………………………… 2 Abstract “Every man's work, whether it be literature, or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself.” (Butler) The aim of this thesis is to put forward the importance of the author behind the book and to see clearly the effect of an author‟s life upon his work. The theme in focus is loneliness. This theme is to be analyzed in a dual manner. Firstly as an account of Steinbeck‟s own experience of loneliness. Secondly as a theme of focus in the novels; Of Mice and Men, Cannery Row and Tortilla Flat. Where applicable, a correlation between the author‟s own experience of loneliness and the struggle of his characters is to be highlighted. This thesis is separated into five parts. The initial part is a brief definition of loneliness which serves the purpose of introducing the theme of study. It also states the terms that will be used throughout the thesis. The second part is an analysis of Steinbeck‟s own experience of loneliness as obtained through a compilation of his letters. These two parts conclude the theoretic background of John Steinbeck and his intimate relation to the phenomenon of loneliness. The further three parts are analyses of the three listed novels. The focus is on each applicable character and his/her portrayal of loneliness. By analysing each individual character in depth, the thesis is to depict the complexity of loneliness. The thesis tries to summarize the multifaceted nature of loneliness as personified by the characters. The interconnectedness between the author and his created characters is to be presented wherever supporting sources prove sufficient. The overall outcome is to be a congruent analysis clearly stating the importance of an author‟s own experience of loneliness and the physical demonstration of loneliness as depicted in the body of work. 3 Abstrakt Cílem této práce je vyzdvihnou autora knihy a vidět jasně dopad autorova života na jeho tvorbu. Práce se zaměřuje na téma osamocení. Toto téma je zkoumáno ze dvou pohledů. Nejdříve jako popis Steinbeckova vlastního prožitku osamocení. Poté jako odraz tohoto prožitku v jeho díle – O Myších a lidech, Na plechárně a Pláň Tortilla. Všude tam, kde je možné rozvést spojitost mezi autorovým vlastním prožitkem osamocení a ...... Tato práce je rozdělena na pět částí. První část je stručná definice termínu osamoceni za účelem uvedení témata rozboru. Tato část také upřesňuje termíny, které jsou užívané ve zbytku práce. Druhá část je rozborem Steinbeckova vlastního prožitku osamocení obsaženého v jeho korespondenci. Tyto dvě části tvoří teoretický základ prožitku osamocení a intimního vztahu Johna Steinbecka k tomuto jevu. Následující tři části této práce jsou rozborz tří jmenovaných novel. Zaměřují se na každou vhodnou postavu a její vyjádření osamocení. Podrobnou analýzou jednotlivých postav se dospívá ke zobrazení mnohotvárnosti osamocení. Spojitost mezi autorovým prožitkem a fiktivními postavami je podložena vhodnými dostupnými zdroji. Celkovým výsledkem by měla být souhrná analýza autorova vlastního prožitku osamocení a jeho fyzického zvárnění v jeho díle. 4 Contents Loneliness: a definition ........................................................................................................ 6 Steinbeck and loneliness ...................................................................................................... 7 The phenomenon of loneliness in Of Mice and Men ......................................................... 12 Cannery row and loneliness ............................................................................................... 20 Tortilla Flat and loneliness ................................................................................................. 25 Conclusion 1: Typology of loneliness in Steinbeck‟s novels ............................................ 29 Conclusion 2: Loners in Steinbeck – biographical anchoring ........................................... 31 Works Cited ............................................................................................................................ 33 5 Loneliness: a definition This thesis is concerned with loneliness as portrayed through the characters in John Steinbeck‟s novels. What it also deals with is the isolation experienced by the writer himself. In order to deliver a well-rounded analysis of loneliness, definitions and terminology must be provided. This terminology will further be put into context in this body of work. The first term of concern is loneliness. According to the Oxford Learner‟s thesaurus is “the state of being unhappy because you have no friends or little contact with other people.” (“Loneliness”, def. 2) There exists a binary relation between loneliness and alienation in terms of the perspective according to G.M. Francis. Loneliness refers to the subjective experience of separation from someone or something. On the other hand alienation refers to the objective or physical separation from the person or thing. (Francis) The Longman dictionary of Contemporary English states that alienation is “the feeling of not being part of society or a group.” (“Alienation”, def. 1)Therefore a clear distinction between the terms loneliness and alienation needs to be made. The element of choice distinguishes two terms: aloneness and loneliness. The concept of loneliness is defined by the feeling of being by oneself. This feeling does not occur by choice nor does the person want to be in the condition. The term aloneness, on the contrary, is defined by a present element of choice in wanting to be by oneself. (Bekhet 210) This text deals with the terms aloneness and solitude in an equivalent manner. Another term used in relation to the concept of loneliness is isolation. This term is defined as follows, “when one group, person or thing is separate from others.” This thesis is concerned with the concept of social isolation. A social isolation with choice is aloneness or solitude. Conversely, social isolation without the element of choice is loneliness. (Abir.K.Bekhet 210) The above stated terms are the central themes of this thesis. However, as the concept of loneliness is hard to grasp, each individual experience of the author himself and his characters is analysed and elaborated on in isolation. This introduction of terms only helps to narrow the scope. 6 Steinbeck and loneliness The form of the hand-written letter is a vital source in finding out the emotions and thoughts that dwelled within the author himself. His private letters were, as their own nature implies, not intended to be published. The post humous publication of his private letters have provided a deeper understanding of Steinbeck as an author, but also a man of emotions and of flesh and bone. (E.Steinbeck, Preface) In 1962, Steinbeck made the following remark: “In sixty years I‟ve left a lot of tracks”. Having spent his life writing with utter devotion, he left behind physical proof of arduous labour of the mind and the hand. These tracks shape not only his oeuvre, but also reveal sides to his personality previously unkown. The theme of isolation is widely mentioned in his letters. It is therefore of interest to explore his experience of loneliness and juxtapose it to several artistic renditions of loneliness found in his novels. Loneliness is undoubtedly an emotion inherent to the human being. Steinbeck was no exception. To read Steinbeck one must dissect the author from the god-like position of an omniscient writer and place him by his side, into the ordinary. Throughout his career he experienced various forms of lonelines. Such loneliness infiltrated into his works of fiction and transferred a deeper sense of solitude into the characters which came to life through his mind and his typewriter. The writer cannot be dissected from the book, and reversely neither can the book be dissected from the author. According to Michael J.Meyer, a noted Steinbeck scholar : ...although the themes of isolation and loneliness have been accorded critical acknowledgment as a principal Steinbeckian fictional emphasis, to my knowledge no critic has yet traced the impact of these elements in his personal correspondence nor suggested that Steinbeck held an ambiguous paradoxical viewpoint about them in real life, a viewpoint that also extended into his fictional output. (Meyer 291) What Meyer implies is that Steinbeck viewed loneliness in a dual manner. This duality is determined by the negative and positive aspect of loneliness. Both aspects are revealed when the rising fame of „America‟s primary literary artist‟ was accompanied by a rising tendency of solitude and loneliness. (Meyer 291) Meyer states “For Steinbeck, as for many artists, both literary and musical, the loneliness/isolation that they encountered as a 7 result of their professions was bane as well as a blessing.” (Meyer 291) The source of Steinbeck‟s loneliness