In this episode, I discuss Steinbeck’s final completed novel, The Winter of Our Discontent. This books deals with a changing America, and the ever-present tension between morality and success. Ethan Hawley is caught right in the middle, seeking to restore his family’s reputation along with his own, but realizing that the only way to do so is to temporarily abandon his moral principles, not knowing if he will ever be able to get them back.

Like all of Steinbeck’s work, we are presented with a variety of sympathetic and realistic characters, inhabiting a world we understand and confronting situations we may recognize. Their struggles become our own, and their weaknesses reflect our own. It is hard to find a word to describe his style aside from “elegant,” as he achieves so much so simply, with an apparent effortlessness that speaks to his skill and compassion.

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