1.
John Steinbeck
(1902 – 1968)
 American writer. Winner of the
Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962
 The most famous novels:
 “Of Mice and Man”
 “The Grapes of Wrath”
 “In Dubious Battle”
 “East of Eden”
 “Winter of Our Discontent”

2.
 “I ovo verujem:
da je slobodan, istraživački um pojedinca
najvrednija stvar na svetu. A za ovo bih
se borio:
slobodu uma da krene u bilo kom pravcu,
bez direktive.
I protiv ovoga se moram boriti:
bilo koje ideje, religije ili vlade
koja ograničava ili uništava
pojedinca. Ovo je ono što sam ja
i za šta se zalažem”.
CITAT
“Istočno od raja”

3.
“Pokušajte da razumete ljude”
 “U svakom iskrenom pisanju na svetu postoji osnovna tema.
 Pokušajte da razumete ljude, ako se budete razumeli, bićete
pažljivi jedni prema drugima.
 Dobro poznavanje čoveka nikada ne vodi u mržnju i skoro
uvek vodi ka ljubavi”.

4.
THE FIRST LITERARY
SUCCESSES
 “Tortilla Flat” (1935) – collection of
stories about paisanos
from Monterey (literally,
countrymen – a small band of errant
friends enjoying life and wine in the days
after the end of WWI).
 Popularity and money...
 The movie “Tortilla Flat” with Hedy Lamarr
and Spencer Tracy was a;lready filmed in 1942.
.

5.
PULITZER PRIZE
 “In Dubious Battle” (1936)
 “Of Mice and Men” (1937)
 “The Grapes of Wrath” (1939) – probably his famous novel
 This novel won him the Pulitzer Prize for literature in 1940.

6.
CHRISTIAN IMAGES
 Many have noted the use of Christian imagery and motifs in
the novel “The Grapes of Wrath”.
 The main characters in the novel, Tom and Jim Casy, are
interpreted as figures similar to Christ in different periods of
his life, i.e. resurrection.
 There are also religious images in other characters and plot
elements.
 Steinbeck will deal with biblical themes and motifs later,
especially in the novel “East of Eden”.

7.
SECOND WORLD WAR
 He was a war reporter for one New York newspaper.
 The works he wrote related to the Second World War are:
“Bombs Away” (1942), “The Moon is Down”(1942), “A Russian
Journal”(1948), “Once There Was a War”(1958).

8.
THE POST-WAR
PERIOD
 Social themes, i.e. injustices in society, poverty,
hard life and the cruelty that exploitation
imposes, were Steinbeck great
preoccupation.
 Steinbeck will return to social criticism even
after the WWII in his works: “The Wayward
Bus” , “The Pearl” ...
 However, those works are somewhat more
relaxed and sentimental than his
other stories.

9.
LATE YEARS
 “Burning Bright” (1950) – a dramatic piece “wrapped” in a novel, a
moral drama revolving around spouses.
 “East of Eden” – a monumental epic story, a saga of the Salinas
Valley, a chronicle of the writer’s family and an allegorical novel
about identity, suffering, grief and humanity.
 It is a novel that he dedicated to his sons.
 The themes of the novel are connected to the Bible (especially the
story of Cain and Abel).
 A part of this novel was used by director Elia Kazan for the film
“East of Eden” (1955) starring James Dean and Julie Harris.

10.
Citat
 “Verujem da jaka žena
može biti jača od
muškarca,
posebno ako joj se desi
da ima ljubavi u srcu.
Mislim da je žena koja
voli neuništiva”.
“Istočno od raja”

11.
Citat
 “Strašno je ne biti
voljen. To je najgora
stvar na svetu…
To te čini zločestim,
nasilnim i okrutnim”.
“Istočno od raja”

12.
THE LAST NOVEL
 The novel “The Winter of Our Discontent” is as much a
psychological story about self-discovery as it is a moral
portrait of America in the sixties of the 20th century.
 That novel was not considered by many to be as good as his
previous novels, but the fact is that after that novel Steinbeck
received the Nobel prize in 1962.
 The great book ”Travels with Charlie: In Search of America” ,
which was written after Steinbeck’s last novel, certainly
contributed to this.

13.
“Biti živ znači imati ožiljke” – citat iz “Zime
našeg nezadovoljstva”

14.
MOVIES
 John Steinbeck’s literary works received a number of film
adaptations: “Tortilla Flat”, “Of Mice and Men”, “The Grapes of
Wrath”, “East of Eden”. “In Dubious Battle”…
 Steinbeck himself wrote several screenplays for feature,
documentary and biographical films (Viva Zapata).

15.
Presentation: Milan Stanković