In Dubious Battle is considered to be a novel written by an outstanding writer John Steinbeck. This work was created in 1936 is based on the political atmosphere in the country. The author managed to show his deep understanding of America and the American people disclosing vast social themes analyzing the political strategies and showing their consequences and influence on the national atmosphere inside the states. The novel is aimed at disclosure of the principal problems faced by the working class in the 1930s and showing how ordinary people had to struggle for their rights.
The novel under analysis discloses the events which took place in California; the story is based on fanatical and deliberate machinations and strategies of red agents aimed at strikes organizations. The central figure of the novel is the activist for American Communist Party. The person is never named and is presented by the author just as the representative for “the Party”. He strives to aim his efforts at organizing a significant strike for ordinary workers. Such measures are directed at attracting all the followers to the cause. The flow of events presented in the novel discloses the author’s attitude to the strikes. He depicted them as organized both by Communists and capitalists. The author wrote the following:
…in books, I am sick of the noble working man talking very like a junior college professor. The novel is not controversial enough to draw the support of either the labor or the capital side although either may draw controversial conclusions from it… (Steinbeck, New York Times)
The analysis of the novel allows determining the fact that the author is not so much interested in the pontification of the Communist Party movement; he tries to depict numerous frustrations of the workers. The author underlines the aspect that workers’ resistance takes on the local community and on them as well. The novel strives to show different levels of organizational difficulties lying in making the group of disappointed and frustrated employees act together in order to a rich common purpose.
It is important to stress that the novel In Dubious Battle reflects not only social and political values but a historical one as well. The work discloses the position of the working class in America at the beginning of the 20th century. The author managed to show the difficulties and work troubles making people take part in and even organize various strikes in order to fight for justice and social stability. The period of the Great Depression reflected in the book proves the strength and resistance of ordinary people who trained their strong-willed and hard-working character in order to reach the aim established. Steinbeck managed to reflect the truth of the history showing the reality of the striking atmosphere. The protagonists of the story, Dan and Jim, are presented as strong characters reflecting their experience of keeping the strike underway.
So, Steinbeck tried to reflect the main purposes in writing this book such as:
- To depict the “suspension of disbelief” idea;
- To disclose the peculiarities of the socio-economic system of his time;
- To reflect the features of the author’s individual style of writing underlining the profoundness of problem understanding;
The author strives to show the basic element of his novel that is human nature. This aspect is highlighted by Steinbeck despite all the instabilities of the socio-economic system, capitalism, or communism domination. He stressed the significance of humanist views reflected in the story. Important is the fact that Steinbeck successfully reflected the ability of all the people to feel the hate; it was the true hate of the dominating system ruling at that period. Steinbeck captured the people being pushed far in the story. To be more exact the novel depicts people having nothing to lose and being lost anyway. The effects of the migrant worker strike managed to reflect the atmosphere of time the author lived in. The process of strike organization is described as a troublesome phenomenon due to complete control over the great majority of people; but workers’ inner will to fight their place in the world appeared to be stronger which resulted in one common aim establishment, though everything ended with the failure. The author managed to present things in their reality, not through exaggeration or mildness.
So, to conclude the analysis allowed evaluating the problematic side of the social and economical life of the 1930s. The feeling of hatred and the hard-working character of people are closely interacted with the necessities to struggle and back personal interests of the whole nation in America. The atmosphere of constant pressure on the part of the dominant system made the working class live in a constant fight for their interests and place in society. The basic feature of the story is its humanization of social feelings and the strong human desire to stand their ground whatever the cost. The novel analyzed is considered to be the reflection of the American Dream which was left unfulfilled.
References
Steinbeck, John. In Dubious Battle. Penguin Classics. 1992.