Those .
articles were later published as Once There was a War. Cannery Row, another novel .
about California, was then published in 1945. The Winter of Discontent and Travels with .
Charley were his last books, both published in 1961.
Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. In his acceptance .
speech, he spoke of the "high duties and the responsibilities of the makers of literature." .
He said that writers should show people's faults and failures so that they can improve .
themselves, but at the same time they should "declare and celebrate man's proven .
capacity for greatness of heart and spirit.".
Steinbeck's writing style seemed to do just that, show the faults of men and .
women, but at the same time showed how great the power of the human heart is. He .
attempts to show some of this in East of Eden, although I don't feel it was the main .
purpose of the book. The book focuses more on the never ending struggle in ourselves .
between good and evil.
The book begins from Steinbeck's point of view, making many references to the .
way he remembered things himself from the Salinas Valley in California. He begins with .
a vivid description of the Salinas Valley, talking about every detail, the colors of the .
flowers and grass during different seasons to weather and conditions during different .
years to his own personal feelings of different aspects of the area.
He then moves into a little history of the valley, speaking of the American Indians .
who lived there first, then the Spanish explorers who later came, followed by the .
American colonists, of whom he says they were "even greedier because there were more .
of them.".
Through most of chapter one, he continues to talk about his grandparents and their .
children, but only his grandfather ever really enters the story at any point. The story itself .
is about Adam Trask, who enters the story in chapter two.
In chapter two, the point of view enters a more omniscient view and we learn of .
