THE IDEA OF POST-WAR AMERICA IN SELECTED NOVELS BY STEINBECK AND DOS PASSOS

Abstract

This article attempts to study the idea of the ‘Other’ according to John Dos Passos (1896-1970) and John Steinbeck (1902-1968). The researcher has analyzed the position of the two authors towardsmajor post-war issues. Throughout the article, the researcher highlights numerous social, racial, gender, political, and economic issues that arose as a result of the aftermath of the First World War. The appropriation of the New Historicist theory enablesus to make a historical and literary diagnosis of John Dos Passosand Steinbeck’s fiction. The researcher has endeavored to demonstrate that both Dos Passos and Steinbeck share the same idea, position, and vision towards a fragmented, class-based, ‘white supremacist’ and capitalist post-war America. The following novels have been analyzed from the perspective of racial and gender discrimination for the purpose of the research: Steinbeck’s Tortilla Flat (1935), Of Mice and Men (1937), The Grapes of Wrath (1939); and Dos Passos’ trilogy U.S.A (1938).This paper also explores another post-war theme - the proletariat vs. big business struggle.The proletariat theme is an influential part of Dos Passos’ fictional trilogy and Steinbeck’s epic novel The Grapes of Wrath. The researcher endeavours to demonstrate that the two authors share the idea that postwar America is composed of two-nations - ‘proletariat’ and the privileged.