In the Eyes of a Veteran
In Travels with Charley: In Search of America, John Steinbeck’s purpose is to journey across America in order to rediscover the nation by interacting with different people; he also describes the beauty of the landscape that he sees, and lets the readers meet the characters themselves with well-written dialogue. Finding that his health was declining, Steinbeck had the urge to be free before he was old and disabled, and this led to his visits to the Iowa hometown of Sinclair Lewis and a New Orleans stop where he observed the beginnings of the Civil Rights era, to camping in Maine and interacting with wild coyotes in the Arizona desert. Steinbeck has a way of letting the readers connect with America of 1960 the way he connected with it himself.
As recorded in these travels, he makes several reflections on the American culture, and some of them I think are very clever. At one point of the story Steinbeck accidentally trespasses and is caught by a guard. He thinks quickly about how their conversation will be unpleasant and cause an argument. This shows an American’s attitude related to their own belongings and how far they will go to keep them safe. I think that this is a general trait: how rich people in America are spending money on guard dogs and fences to really protect their property. Steinbeck acted in a calm way and relaxed the guard, which led the guard to trust him and they became friends. From Steinbeck’s attitude the reader can tell that he thinks that everyone should be friendly and not be so hostile to people about their property; perhaps during Steinbeck’s time people were more open about their property and not so hostile.
Another interesting cultural reflection that Steinbeck makes is when he describes the food and the radio. He says “We’ve listened to local radio station … it has been as generalized, as packaged and as undistinguished as the food.” Steinbeck is saying that the food and radio are very similar because they are the same from place to place and lack variety. He is making a reflection about the homogeneity of American culture – this perhaps is a new development that disturbs him. All this disappoints Steinbeck because it is dull. When Steinbeck was young he loved to play outside instead of staying inside and he loved to eat homemade cookies. Now everything is factory-made and the entertainment is colorless to Steinbeck.
When the author travels to California, he reflects on politics. He argues with his sisters over what party is superior: the Democrats or the Republicans. Steinbeck would say “You talk like a communist,” and his sister would say “Well, you sound suspiciously like Genghis Khan.” This reflects on the divisive political scene during 1960 and how Americans thought of foreign power and political philosophies differently. It further indicates Americans’ fear of foreign dictators.
Steinbeck describes human interactions and nature differently. Steinbeck describes nature by giving the reader a feel of the atmosphere. In Steinbeck’s stay in the redwood forest, he uses this style effectively. Steinbeck describes how there is almost no sound or movement in the forest and how “the thick soft bark absorbs sound and creates silence.”
Steinbeck describes human interactions in conversation and lets the reader feel what the characters are feeling. When he is about to enter Canada, a customs worker stops him and tells him that he needs a certificate for his dog.
The worker says, “Please step in.”
Steinbeck replies, “I told you I have not been to Canada. If you were watching, you would have seen that I turned back.”
The worker asks again: “Step this way, please sir.”
They argue even more and when Steinbeck leaves, the reader can feel the tension in the conversation and how furious Steinbeck is that he cannot go to Canada.
I think that in many places in the book, Steinbeck confronts multiple themes like community, human interactions, and perspective. In every chapter Steinbeck observes human interactions and reflects on the community. In the beginning of the book Steinbeck observes how people in Maine interact. He observes that people barely talk and when they do they say very little. Once when he was in Maine he talked to a waitress and noticed how all her responses were formalities.
Steinbeck talks about time and its passage in the beginning of the book. He says, “When I was very young and the urge to be some place else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch …” Then Steinbeck goes on to saying that the itch has not been cured. This shows that he has wanted to do this trip for a long time. Steinbeck looks into many views of humans and animals. At one point of the book he actually writes about how Charley, his poodle, would respond to his questions like “Where should we stay for the night?” and imagines how Charley would respond.
When one is reading it seems that Steinbeck is one of those wise men who have seen many different things and is observing these changes. He explores the nation and thinks about the past, present, and the future. If he were alive today he would be surprised. Why? Because the country has not changed as much as one may think it has.
As Steinbeck toured the country, he experienced people staying indoors with their radios and televisions. In the present day, entertainment also occurs indoors like video games and time spent on the computer. Mainly I think that the people in the US and their habits, haven’t changed. Americans’ willingness to spend money to protect their private property, for example, hasn’t changed. Over all America may have changed during Steinbeck’s life, but it has not changed dramatically after Steinbeck’s death.