Breakfast

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John Steinbeck wrote many influential books and short stories during the Modernism time period. One of these stories is titled “Breakfast”. There are many pieces of this short story that support that it is from the Modernism literary period. John Steinbeck used many of his personal experiences during the writing of many of his stories, including “Breakfast”. This story has many similarities to the writing and style of many other Modernist works as well as other productions by John Steinbeck. The Modernism time period exhibited many values that applied to John Steinbeck’s writing.

John Steinbeck supports many values that the Modernist writers used. One main topic seen in Modernist writing is the individual (Gordon). This theme is shown in “Breakfast” at the end of the story when the narrator of the story decides not to pick cotton with the new men that he meets and decides to go on his own down the road (Steinbeck 870). This represents the individual because the narrator wants to make his own wage by himself during the tough economical times. Symbolism was used during this time period to a great extent as well (Gordon). There are small excerpts from this story that symbolize the difficult times that the people in the camp were going through. “I was close now and I could smell the bacon and baking bread the warmest, pleasantest odors I know.” (Steinbeck 869). Considering that bacon is the best thing happening in this person’s life at the moment, it is possible to infer that this character had had some difficult times previous to this passage. Those examples of Modernism can help give an idea of the changing times that were taking place during this literary period.

John Steinbeck had a life filled with experience, which helped to give him many of the topics that he wrote about (Steinbeck 866). When Steinbeck was young, he was accepted into Stanford University, but he never graduated. Instead he decided to write, but he had to work an assortment of jobs to maintain enough income to continue doing what he was doing (Steinbeck 866). This is where Steinbeck obtained most of his material for his stories. Steinbeck could relate to his characters that were living in constant poverty because he had already done so. Steinbeck lived many years of his life not knowing if he was going to even have a source of income at the end of a month (Werlock). Steinbeck lived in California for most of his life, which also gave him a close-up view of the Great Depression as people migrated to the west (Werlock). John was able to write what people wanted because he knew exactly what was happening in the California area. Steinbeck was able to write about subjects, such as poverty, that people were going through during the time because he saw people like this all the time (Werlock). In “Breakfast”, one of the workers say, “We had twelve days’ work so far.” (Steinbeck 869). This shows that John knew the economic conditions at the time because he knew that an ordinary worker of the time working for twelve days was quite impressive. Steinbeck’s location and his situation gave him many good topics to write about during his career as a writer.

Steinbeck wrote many stories similar to “Breakfast” based on characters, style and theme. The themes are quite obvious the same as his other works because he uses the depression as a focal point in many of his other works, including __Grapes of Wrath__. This is supported by a critical review of Steinbeck’s other works as he talks about the themes of both stories (Wyatt). There is another theme presented in both of these stories, which is the unknown. Wyatt says, “"Curious warm pleasure," he wrote his publisher in 1938, is what he feels when his writing goes well. Through the repetition of this phrase, author and character happily share an acceptance of not-knowing.” (Wyatt). Upon making these statements, Wyatt is saying that there is a sense of not knowing what will happen in all of Steinbeck’s writing, including “Breakfast”.

The poem “Villanelle: The Psychological Hour” by Ezra Pound is a Modernist poem. This poem compares to “Breakfast” in the way the reader does not know what will happen (Bloom). There is a sense of loneliness during this poem from the tone that Ezra sends the readers, which is similar to the tone sensed in “Breakfast” (Steinbeck 868). In pounds poem, the character in the poem is waiting on some friends to visit him because they said that they would come to see him (Pound). Instead, these friends never end up showing and he finds a note saying that someone is going to England (Pound). This loneliness that the character is feeling directly relates to the tone and mood of the short story “Breakfast”.

In conclusion, John Steinbeck’s “Breakfast” is a great example of a Modernist story. The rough times of the Great Depression seemed to be the main focus of many of his works, but he still found glimpses of happiness in some stories. Steinbeck was able to use his own personal experiences in his stories because of where he grew up as well as his own financial situation. Steinbeck inserted similar points into many of his stories, while other Modernist writing has also be proven similar. “Breakfast” is a fascinating example of Modernist writing as it represents many qualities of the Modernism time period.

__Works Cited__

Bloom, Harold. "Bloom on Ezra Pound." In Bloom, Harold, ed. //Ezra Pound//, Bloom's Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 1987. (Updated 2006.) //Bloom's Literary Reference Online//. Facts On File, Inc. []= MCV0006&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 1, 2010).

Gordon, Stephanie. "modernist poetry." //The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry//, vol. 2. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. //Bloom's Literary Reference Online//. Facts On File, Inc. [] CAP299&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 1, 2010).

Pound, Ezra. "294. Villanelle: The Psychological Hour by Ezra Pound. Monroe, Harriet, Ed. 1917. The New Poetry: An Anthology." //Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More//. 2010. Web. 01 May 2010. .

Schultz, Jeffrey and Luchen Li. "'Breakfast'." //Critical Companion to John Steinbeck: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work//, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. //Bloom's Literary Reference Online//. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCJS010&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 1, 2010).

Steinbeck, John. "Breakfast." //Literature American Literature//. Columbus, OH: Glencoe, 2009. 866-70. Print.

Werlock, Abby H. P., ed. "Steinbeck, John." //Facts On File Companion to the American Novel//. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. //Bloom's Literary Reference Online//. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CANov0844&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 1, 2010).

Wyatt, David. "Steinbeck's Light." //The Southern Review// 38, no. 2 (Spring 2002): 399–412. Quoted as "Steinbeck's Light" in Bloom, Harold, ed. //John Steinbeck, New Edition//, Bloom's Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea

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in the camps of the depression nearly first hand.
In most Modernistic works, authors do not state the meaning of the poem or story clearly. The majority of the time the readers have to think about what the true morals of the works are. This can be a clever way to put out a message because people can interpret it in different ways. In this particular short story, Steinbeck tries to put across the message of how kind people can be, even if they are going through hard times. This relates to Modernism because even though these common working families were under the oppression of society and the government, they could still hold their human values and still offer kindness to others who were in need.

Another trait of Modernism found in //Breakfast// is imagery. Steinbeck describes the events in great detail in order for the readers to better understand the memories he has. For instance, Steinbeck went down to the smallest of details in order to help the reader picture the event. “Beside the tent there was a flash of orange fire seeping out of the cracks of an old rusty iron stove. Gray smoke spurted up out of the stubby stovepipe, spurted up a long way before it spread out and dissipated.”(Steinbeck, John 868)

“John Steinbeck was born and raised in Salinas, California, a small town nestled in a sprawling valley of lettuce farms.”(Glencoe Literature 866) This background that he was brought up in helped Steinbeck project the rural aspect of American history and aided Steinbeck in his writings. “Steinbeck’s odd jobs during the early 1920s gave him a firsthand look at the desperate working and living conditions forced upon most farm laborers. These observations helped Steinbeck develop the themes and plots of many of his major works. He wrote about the working person’s quest for dignity and about the stark challenges presented by nature, society, and fate.”(Glencoe Literature 867)

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This reins true in most of his other works. In //The Grapes of Wrath// Steinbeck describes the hardships of a farming family from Oklahoma who was forced to leave their homes and whose only hopes were to find work in California. The rural point of view that Steinbeck brought to Literature was vastly unique. Yet, it was not only Steinbeck who brought the suppressed individual’s perspectives to Literature, for this is a common trend found in Modernism. In //Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird//, Wallace Stevens also tries to plea to the readers of how important it is to break free from society and take a look at the individuals.======

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Melton Ph.D., Lili. "Modernism in Literature and History - by Lili Melton Ph.D. - Helium." Helium - Where Knowledge Rules. Web. 25 Apr. 2010. .======