The Steinbeck Review #2 - Sorrow in Paradise
The Pastures of Heaven | The Red Pony | To a God Unknown
“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” ― John Steinbeck
If you have recently joined us, Part 1 of this series can be found here:
After publishing Cup of Gold, Steinbeck settled into a rhythm focusing on what he knew best, California’s agricultural valley and its inhabitants. His second book, The Pastures of Heaven, is a collection of short stories published in 1932. The Red Pony, a short-story cycle, was published serially in magazines beginning in 1933 before being published as one volume in 1937. Also published in 1933, To a God Unknown, was his fourth book and second full-length novel.
This period was marked by significant personal anxiety and heartache as he and Carol became full-time caretakers of his mother. Watching her fade away over the course of a year deeply impacted him and his writing.
These three works see Steinbeck establishing himself as a voice in American literature, with a distinctive style and focus that would become not only his hallmark, but eventually his key to success.
“If I could go down there and live down there for a little—why, I’d think over all the things that ever happened to me, and maybe I could make something out of them, something all in one piece that had a meaning, instead of all these trailing ends, these raw and dragging tails. Nothing would bother me down there and I could think.” ― John Steinbeck, The Pastures of Heaven
This collection of 12 interconnected short stories focuses on life in the Corral de Tierra Valley, known colloquially as The Pastures of Heaven. Filled with clean prose and striking imagery, this book is structurally similar to Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio. Each story is independent, with common characters throughout, most notably the Munroe family.
While the title focuses on place, Steinbeck focuses on characters. Filled with joy and sorrow, excitement and the mundane, the communal life of the valley takes primacy of place in each tale. We are constantly wondering, “Is the Pasture alive?” It seems to be an independent character, but whether it stands on its own or is simply an amalgamation of the lives of its inhabitants is a question each reader will have to answer for themselves. Regardless, the relationship between setting and people is undeniable.
In the prologue we are presented with the discovery of the valley by a Spanish corporal. “…he arrived at the top of the ridge, and there he stopped, stricken with wonder at what he saw….(he) felt weak in the face of so serene a beauty.” The valley appeared to be an earthly paradise, a Garden of Eden ideal. He gave it the name it is known by and though he dreams of returning, it is never to be.
What draws people to this valley? How are the characters connected? Each is so ordinary and unremarkable yet this aspect makes them extraordinary. Steinbeck explores their humanity while simultaneously portraying them with a mixture of realism and romanticism. An intimate connection with the land, especially farming life, is central to each story as he explores the highs and lows of a world dependent on the whims of nature.
The dream of a better life is a common thread with each story telling us of a character trying to escape some sort of curse or evil that follows them. The reality of life counterposed with the pursuit of dreams is a harsh duality Steinbeck will explore time and again throughout his writing. The torment of unfulfilled dreams abounds. Disillusionment causes some to abandon the dream and leave the valley.
The epilogue brings us full circle with a group of tourists standing upon the same ridge as the Spanish corporal to view the valley. Ironically, they fantasize about an idyllic life to be found there, unaware of its history of tragedies.
While only his second book, Steinbeck’s signature style of social narrative is already apparent. Focusing on displacement, loss of a sense of self, and an obvious distaste for middle-class morality, Steinbeck contrasts the darkness of the subject matter with the lightness of the valley. He shows the flawed nature of people and a frail humanity but in this we are made to recognize how much love he had for the common man.
The Pastures of Heaven is a lush collection of stories which can be read and reread for continual reminder of the cycle of life and our tie to the land upon which we live.
“The Red Pony was written a long time ago, when there was desolation in my family. The first death had occurred. And the family, which every child believes to be immortal, was shattered. Perhaps this is the first adulthood of any man or woman. The first tortured question Why? and then acceptance, and then the child becomes a man or woman. The Red Pony was an attempt, an experiment if you wish, to set down this loss and acceptance and growth.” - John Steinbeck, The English Journal, 1959
This episodic novella with four chapters comes in at less than 100 pages. Written while tending to his mother during her illness, each chapter was published independently in magazines between 1933-1936. It wasn’t until 1937 that they were all brought together in one volume. Some versions of the book include the short story “Junius Maltby” as an additional chapter at the end. It is not clear if Steinbeck intended for this to be a complete story cycle or if he was simply writing several stories with the same characters. While the stories initially appear to have no connection other than characters and setting, upon further observation a thematic congruence appears.
The Red Pony is primarily a coming-of-age tale about the young Jodi Tiflin. Told from Jodi’s perspective, these stories illustrate the passage from the wishful dream state of childhood to a realistic observation of the world as it truly is. Our young protagonist finds himself constantly straddling the fence between childhood and adulthood. He frequently drifts from fantasy to responsibility.
There are a number of correlations with Steinbeck’s own life. The setting of the Tiflin ranch is very similar to the Hamilton ranch that belonged to his mother’s family. Steinbeck’s pony, Jill, a gift for his fourth birthday, was the inspiration for the title and the ponies in the book. Steinbeck’s writing here deals with loss and pain, perhaps related to his mother’s illness and his passage to adulthood. Jodi experiences his own important lessons about the cycle of life and death.
The story is most impactful when taking into consideration the circumstances of Steinbeck’s life while he was writing it. Those times of personal tragedy appear to have allowed him to tap into his shared humanity and relate that in a way that others would understand. As he would state in a letter written in 1933 and later published in A Life in Letters, “…if I can write any kind of story at a time like this, then I can write stories.”
A quick and enjoyable read, The Red Pony, is a good introduction to Steinbeck’s short-story narratives.
“My mother said how the earth is our mother, and how everything that lives has life from the mother and goes back into the mother.” - John Steinbeck, To a God Unknown
One of his lesser-known works, To a God Unknown was published in 1933 by Robert O. Ballou. It originally was an unfinished play written by his friend, Toby Street, entitled The Green Lady. When Street gave up on completing the play, he gave Steinbeck the script to do with as he pleased. Steinbeck toiled away at it for more than five years, rewriting it several times over. Along the way he changed the title which became To an Unknown God and then, at the last minute prior to publishing, it was changed again to its current form. The final product barely resembled Street’s original text other than the overarching theme of finding the divine in nature.
Filled with spare dialog and biblical references throughout, this book would see the emergence of Steinbeck’s Phalanx philosophy – the belief that man could not be understood as individuals but only when we understand the collective whole. Steinbeck told his friend George Albee, “Man is a unit of the greater beast, the phalanx.” He went on to describe this entity as “a repository of knowledge about humanity, of all that it has endured; including ‘destruction, war, migration, hatred, and fear.’”1 These themes would resonate throughout his writing in the years to come.
The story follows Joseph Wayne, the third of four sons. Set to inherit his father’s Vermont farm, he instead asks for his father’s blessing to move west and pursue his dream of homesteading on land in California. Although reluctant, his father grants the son’s wish, bestowing his blessing. This is reminiscent of when Jacob stole Esau’s birthright from Isaac in the biblical story.
Joseph journeys west and establishes his homestead in the Nuestra Senora valley. He believes he was called to this place and that his special connection to it will protect him and the land. He builds his home under a giant oak which he believes is incarnated with his father’s spirit. Joseph’s brothers and their families eventually join him and stake their own claims nearby, building a small commune led by Joseph.
Mixing fantasy and reality, To a God Unknown explores biblical, mythological, and pagan themes intertwined with some of Steinbeck’s hallmark characteristics – a California setting, focus on land and nature, and a male protagonist looked upon as a religious figure by others. Joseph is seen communing with the land in strange ways throughout the story. Early on he “consummates” his marriage with the land, he brings gifts and offerings to the oak tree, and he ventures to a secret pine glade in the forest that he believes to be the sacred heart of the land.
The family goes through the normal routines of life on the frontier. Planting and harvesting, raising cattle, marriages, births, and deaths each have their own season. As the farm prospers, it seems that all is well with the world. In celebration of their success and his belief that the land has blessed him, he holds a party for the family and surrounding neighbors. Ripe with pagan overtones, this party creates animosity among the brothers leading to a tragic fallout that sets off a series of dire consequences. As his world falls apart and the life he built shatters, Joseph returns to the sacred glade in an effort to heal the heart of the land.
The reader gets a sense Steinbeck is exploring a burgeoning environmentalism in the story’s tone. To a degree not previously seen, Steinbeck shows his reverence for the land in an overtly religious way. He appears to be asking what role humanity plays in the ecology of place. Is it man’s will or the land which prevails? His view of man’s role in and relationship with nature was ahead of his time.
While To A God Unknown is not one of his best known works, it was a story he could not let go of and to which he devoted years of his life. It is a good story and for fans of Steinbeck it foreshadows many themes showcased in his greatest works to come.
I would love to hear from you in the comments. Have you read anything by Steinbeck? What was your impression? Any favorites?
Until next month…
Mad at the World: A Life of John Steinbeck by William Souder
Thanks for doing this, Matthew. I’m interested in ecology in literature, and Steinbeck is certainly relevant there. By the way, Aaron Copland wrote a wonderful “Red Pony Suite” as incidental music for (I think?) a related film. It’s well worth a listen.
Have read several of Steinbeck books as required in school but never explored on my own. Your piece has inspired me to begin reading some of his other works.