Outside Reading Blog #5

John Steinbeck was greatly influenced as a writer by one of his best friends, Ed Ricketts. Ed Rickets and Steinbeck frequently went traveling together, to study marine animals and collect biological samples. Many of Steinbeck's characters seem to be based on Ricketts, for example Slim from Of Mice and Men seems to have a deeper understanding of the world than any of the other characters. Doc from Cannery Row has a similar wisdom and way of going about things. There are almost always multiple main characters, possibly because Steinbeck believed that looking at a single person will never render a complete picture of who they are, and so it is necessary to look at how others affect them. This may also be part of the reason that his descriptions of setting and characters are so dominating.

Cannery Row and Of Mice and Men both have a set of characters that are very similar. For example, Mac and The Boys and George and Lennie are always on the move, both groups having been hit hard by the Great Depression. Mac and the boys do not really have any specific hopes or goals, but George and Lennie are in a way kept alive and happy by their hopes and dreams. Characters are also quite often caricatures, displaying their flaws and feelings.

Steinbeck's writing style is very poetic, especially in his descriptions of settings. He dedicates chapters exclusively to descriptions. Characters all have their own way of speaking, each using a different dialect/slang.

I will be using many sources on the literary influences of Ed Ricketts on Steinbeck, including:
http://www.steinbeck.org/Bio.html
http://www.aclibrary.org/research/articlesDataBases/default.asp?topic=ArticlesDataBases&cat=BooksAuthorsLiteraryCriticism
www.beyondtheoutershores.com
A Journey into Steinbeck's California by Susan Shillinglaw