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The Winter of Our Discontent (Penguin Classics)
Binding: Paperback
Author: John Steinbeck
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Features:
Average Rating: 4.5
Total Customer Reviews: 88
List Price: $15.00
Our Price: $10.20
Sales Rank: 101295
Product Description
From a swashbuckling pirate fantasy to a meditation on American morality—two classic Steinbeck novels make their black spine debuts
IN AWARDING John Steinbeck the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Nobel committee stated that with The Winter of Our Discontent, he had “resumed his position as an independent expounder of the truth, with an unbiased instinct for what is genuinely American.”
Ethan Allen Hawley, the protagonist of the novel, works as a clerk in a grocery store that his family once owned. With the decline in their status, his wife is restless, and his teenage children are hungry for the tantalizing material comforts he cannot provide. Then one day, in a moment of moral crisis, Ethan decides to take a holiday from his own scrupulous standards.
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Users Product Reviews: |
Product Review Summary: Book fell apart on first reading I order many, many books from Amazon and this was the first time I was disappointed. I knew the book would not be in perfect shape, but I didn't expect it to fall apart from the first time I opened it. Each time I opened it to read, more pages fell out. Very disappointing. The book did come quickly and was packaged very well.
Product Review Summary: best of the post eden novels After writing East of Eden, JohnSteinbecks productivity in writing fiction tailed off. He seemingly had said what he wanted to say in his fiction.The novel about modern france was one of his weakest but he rebounds with his best post Eden novel, The Winter Of Our Discontent. Ethan Hawley is the clerk at a New England grocery store .The building once belonged to Hawleys family but the fortune has been lost andEthan s now a Harvard graduate working as a store manager. The scenario is rather implausible if you think about it a Harvard grad managing a small city grocery.However Steinbeck quickly gets you into Ethans mind and he does it in such a compelling you believe it. The story is about how motivated by a fortune predicted by a good friend of his wife leads Ethan to listen and pay attention to the world around him and conclude that ethics and morality do not mix well with business. Ethan does nothing illegal or criminal but he does things that are ethically and morally dubious. The last scene is deliberately ambivalent does Ethan kill himself or not In looking at moral poverty and how the consequences of being self aware of ones moral deterioratioc coupled by a desire for personal integrity for at one point it was Ethans most prized possession Steinbeck creates another 5 star classic if not as good as some of his other novels. I call it the weakest of his 5 star novels because of the implausibility I mentioned earlier but consider it a classic despite that flaw
Product Review Summary: Good reason it's a classic I went on a binge about a month ago and started reading Steinbeck's books, finishing with The Winter of Our Discontent. It's not my favorite Steinbeck story, but it is a great story told well. Sorry it took me so long to get to it.
Product Review Summary: "Man is our greatest hazard and our only hope" "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.
Product Review Summary: Steinbeck with a Twist The Hawley family is "Discontent". Ethan Hawley is working as a grocery clerk in the store he previously owned. The store now belongs to Marullo, an Italian immigrant who tries to teach Ethan what makes a successful businessman. Even Mr. Baker, the banker, has advice for Ethan: he tries to teach him how to be a good investor. It seems that everyone has an opinion on how Ethan Hawley can bring respect back to his family name. His wife is restless and doesn't like the fact that they are poor and living in a town where they were once respected. Ethan's son wants to go on television and get rich quick, his adolescent daughter is too secretive for his liking.
Steinbeck's protagonist, Ethan Allen Hawley, is a moral individual who has always done the right thing. This novel is set in New Baytown, a fictitious town near Long Island, a town that operates within a realm of corruption. Yet things have operated that way for so long that no one remembers that it is corrupt anymore. Ethan's family feels that he is too ethical for his own good. He has to choose between his current morals and adapting the definition of his morality.
Steinbeck captures a nation that is growing economically but bankrupt morally. Where this novel differs from other fall from grace novels is that the central character observes himself as a third party and slides down the slippery slope knowing full well the consequences. Steinbeck offers redemption in the form or Marullo, on being deported he gives the grocery store to Ethan Hawley. This happens just when Ethan is about to rob the bank.
A short novel worthy of praise addresses moral questions that really make you stop and think; the dialogue is brilliant.The characters are clever and witty, but at times I found the plot was very slow.
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