The Winter of Our Discontent

The Nobel Prize winning novel (1962) examines this question: Can one take a respite from good morals, do things totally out of character, and then switch back to good? That is the dilemma our protagonist, Ethan Allen Hawley, faces as he struggles to regain past family wealth and prominence. Published in 1961, this was the last novel that John Steinbeck finished. As with most of his novels, he was initially criticized for `making a mountain out of a molehill.' Steinbeck stated that he wanted to expose "the moral degeneration of American culture." He was later exonerated when the details of Watergate and Richard Nixon proved his point. This is the writer that also wrote 'The Grapes of Wrath' (1939), displaying capitalism in a negative way and 'Of Mice and Men' (1937), emphasizing man's inhumanity to one another. If you haven't read a Steinbeck novel...start with this one.The novel's time period is from Easter to the Fourth of July (1960) in the fictional town of Baytown, NY. Steinbeck fashioned this town out of his own hometown of Sag Harbor, NY. We find ex-GI, Ethan Allen Hawley, working as a clerk in Marullo's Fruit and Fancy Groceries. While Ethan was fighting overseas in World War II, his father lost all the family's wealth via wild wartime investments. The language of the times is sometimes offensive, such as, Ethan referring to his boss as the guinea, wop, or dago. Two other families of prominence in the novel are heading in different directions. Mr. Baker is the town's banker and future political power, while Danny Taylor (from a good family) is now the town drunk. Ethan's wife, Mary (of many cutesy names), has been putting pressure on Ethan to improve the family's position.His children, Allen and Mary Ellen, have entered a `I love America' essay contest and also champion for a better life. Mary's friend, Margie Young- Hunt, has read her fortune cards and states that Ethan is going to be rich. Does Margie have a crush on Ethan? Mr. Baker wants Ethan to start investing in the town, and Ethan's friend Joey Morphy (a bank teller) informs Ethan how the perfect bank robbery could be done. Ethan learns that Marullo might have come to the USA without papers (thus the term WOP). Can he get the store for himself, if he `rats out' Marullo? Should he follow Mr. Baker's seemingly wrong and nefarious advice. Are the kids writing their essays on the up and up? Why is Mr. Baker bribing Danny Taylor with booze and what is that paper he wants Danny to sign? Is Ethan contemplating a bank robbery?Since this is a story of the decline in American morality, there are many flaws in the eight main characters. Ethan is not the only one with morality issues, but he is the only one with a guilty conscious. On page 201, Ethan thinks to himself, "Temporarily I traded a habit of conduct and attitude for comfort and dignity and a cushion of security." He thinks he can change back to a good guy, since he killed people during the war and didn't become a murderer when he was discharged. The only shortcoming I found with this novel was that too much was packed into the last 59 pages. If he could have added a hundred pages, or so, the reader would have time to savor the many twist and turns that come at you one after another. The title of this classic comes from William Shakespeare's 'Richard III' . On page 264, Ethan toasted his son by saying, "Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York." He will think different in a few pages. All in all, this is a marvelous story, so typical of a John Steinbeck novel.

"In business and politics a man must carve and maul his way through men to get to be King of the Mountain. Once there, he can be great and kind - but he must get there first."The title of this book is a link to Shakespeare's Richard III - which opens with "Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York; and all the clouds that lowered upon our house in the deep bosom of the ocean buried." This is (future king) Richard celebrating an upturn in his family's fortunes - basically saying that our dark days are behind us (winter) and the future is now turning bright. It begins his accession to the throne, which he briefly attains, through murder, manipulation, and treachery.The Winter of Our Discontent's main character, Ethan Allen Hawley, makes a similar shift to achieve material desires. At the start of the novel, Ethan is a moralistic, but ordinary, man. Like his father and grandfather before him, Ethan is fair and honest in a world that has increasingly become materialistic and corrupt. He is married with two kids, working as a clerk at a grocery store his family used to own. He failed early at business - losing the grocery store and what was left of his family's land in the town (except his house) - which created a chip on his shoulder that everyone in town seems to want to wedge deeper. His family harps on him about their lack of money and status in the town. The town banker questions what Ethan is doing working as a clerk. Ethan's boss stresses business prowess and the need to "look after number one." A local vender even offers a bribe and kickback to Ethan for some business, as "everybody's got a right to make a buck." Ethan is an outlier in the town his family essentially founded - as the old is constantly being moved out for the new, and Ethan is stuck looking into the past.Ethan begins to tire of being the town doormat - and like most of the town before him, begins to break down and rationalize that morality is relative. He asks if "the eaters (are) more immoral than the eaten? In the end all are eaten - all - gobbled up by the earth, even the fiercest and the most crafty." He questions what one gains by being a moral individual, when we all share the same fate. With the help of an opportunistic amateur fortune-teller, Ethan rebuilds himself in efforts to capture the respect of and successes of those around him - like a snake "changing its skin, part dusty and ragged and part fresh and new." He falls in line with those around him - letting his animalistic nature control his behavior.He is able to make this change naturally, and he gains success and wealth outwardly but finds that he has morally depleted himself in the process. He manipulates his childhood friend, now a drunk, into giving Ethan his (very valuable) land in exchange for enough money to drink himself to death. He reports his boss (the grocery store owner) to the government as an illegal immigrant, so he can take back ownership of the store. He even contemplates robbing a bank before fate intercedes. All these actions are rationalized by Ethan, as "all men are moral, only their neighbors are not." These actions let him achieve the wealth and status that he feels he's been missing, but he finds it unsatisfying given what he had to give up. Ethan realizes that even in a relative world, there are still acceptable and unacceptable moral standards for oneself.Ethan is finally both taken over the edge and then brought back by the future - his children. His son, Allen, has inherited the same moral standards of those around him, having plagiarized his essay in an essay contest. Ethan is disgusted - and at this point realizes his hypocrisy - that while he has justified immorality within himself (due to relative moralism), he finds the same behavior in others detestable. His daughter, Ellen, saves Ethan by representing moralistic hope in the future - a light that has not gone out, and in the end, Ethan puts his own needs aside in order to provide hope for the next generation.A good story that underlines what Steinbeck considered the "moral flabbiness" spreading from corporate America to everyday American life during the 50s (and 60s). Through Ethan we experience the collapsing of a moral man into the relative morals that has overtaken everyday life. The message Steinbeck is sending is a relevant one - that no matter what relevant morals are prevalent in society, it is up to the individual not to fall into a relative moral trap, but to be guided by a constant set of absolute morals.The weakness of the novel is in its characters and relationships, which are lacking in my opinion. The novel's characters, beyond Ethan, are trivial and not well developed - seeming to only be there to prove a certain point. Part of this probably stems from the fact that most of the book is told from Ethan's point of view - but even he appears to be lacking something, specifically in his relationships. His only connection is with his past - he has no connection with his wife or his kids - their interactions seem contrived. The only connection he makes is at the end - through the talisman, with his daughter - but it seems like a reach given their prior lack of depth. The relationships lacked to me - maybe this was how Steinbeck envisioned Ethan, but I thought his character (and others) could have been filled out better.A lot of criticism of this book also stems from comparing it to his other works (mainly Grapes of Wrath) - which I have not read, but now plan to. I think that is a little unfair though - this book stands on its own, depicting its period with universal moral themes, and delivers its intended message.

A Johny le falló mucho a la psicología del personaje, lo acabó convirtiendo en una persona egoista y de pocas luces. Lo convirtió en una persona derrotista y desesperada de ser redimida. No concuerda el final con su manera de pensar y reaccionar. Ante el amor hacia su mujer, simplemente lo borra como si nunca hubiera existido. Mal final. No supo que hacer con su novela y su personaje principal. Desesperó.

The story of Ethan Hawley, working behind the counter of a grocery shop owned by an Italian immigrant in a town the Hawleys used to partly own. Upright and scrupulously honest, to the sometime frustration of his otherwise loving wife and his acquisitive children. In a town where petty corruption is so deeply embedded it is no longer seen as corruption honesty doesn't get anyone anywhere. But is Ethan's moral rectitude and apparent lack of ambition down to laziness, as he himself ponders, or even a form of cowardice? When he starts down the slippery path it is partly by chance and partly by stealth, until it leads him to a very dark place. Some of the plot jarred, to me: that a man like Ethan would contemplate a heist, and the fact he did not suspect his son's deception from the start (as I did). Always complex, always ambiguous - the ending not least - this is Steinbeck at his best. Powerful, poetic, funny, humane, unexpected, as gripping as a thriller. So totally engrossed I found myself uttering 'Don't do it Ethan!' more than once. A mesmerising page turner.

Da meie alte deutsche Übersetzung so schrecklich war, habe ich das Original gekauft.Sehr lesenswert

I read this one three times as I felt I needed to extract all the juice it had to give. I have read other novels and short stories by Steinbeck, and I rate him as one of my favourite writers. He has such wonderful turns of phrase.Some reviewers do not think this his best work although he wrote it late in his writing career. It is a story that is strongly character- driven and I would class it as psychological drama. It is deftly developed. Perhaps not to everyone’s taste, but it unfolded like a Shakespearean tragedy: Macbeth comes to mind although it’s title refers to Richard the Third. Chilling how predatory and ruthless the main character becomes to achieve his aims. A must-read for those who like to delve beneath the surface or character and situation. His writing is simple but highly evocative.

No es la mejor novela de John Steinbeck, pero los amantes de este escritor disfrutarán de su lectura. Muy recomendable.