Tortilla Flat By John Steinbeck

I had the pleasure to read two incredible essays, one by Ann Quinland titled “Homeless” and another titled “Tortillas” by Jose Antonio Burciaga. The essay I chose to respond to is “Tortillas” by Jose Antonio Burciaga because of the similarities that the Mexican culture and African culture share. In this essay, Burciaga discusses the role of the tortillas within his family’s culture. Tortillas have been a staple of Mexican cooking for thousands of years.

“One of the generalities most often noted about Americans is that we are a restless, a dissatisfied, a searching people,”(Steinbeck America & Americans) John Steinbeck stated this when discussing the topic of the American dream. He believes that numerous Americans are chasing after a dream that is nearly impossible to reach. John Steinbeck expresses his belief on the American dream through a general negative attitude toward the American dream and the failed dreams of his characters.

What is dialogue? Dialogue is when characters speak to one another in a book, play, or movie. Dialogue is very important to many books, movies, and plays and Of Mice and Men is no exception. The things that characters say shape their personality in the story. On way dialogue serves a purpose in Of Mice and Men is it reveals more about the characters. Another way is it allows the reader to experience the action as the character is experiencing it. One last way dialogue affects a story is it generates an impression of reality.

An image or a thousand words, which is more impacting? For decades now enthusiasts have participated in endless debates over films and novels. Whether it be a novel that is adapted into a film or a film that is converted into a novel, neither of the works will be an exact image of the other. Often the first piece will obtain mass amounts of popularity, thus influencing the production of itself in the opposing format; however, the mass majority of these occurrences end with a subpar recreation that is abhorred by fans. The Grapes of Wrath, on the other hand, was highly renowned and won awards as both a novel and a film. John Steinbeck published his novel in April of 1939, and it won the Pulitzer Prize and the

People with little in common can still be able to hold a strong and perfect relationship. There can be many differences in people but they could come together and put aside their differences to become good friends. This leads to John Steinbeck’s Of Mice & Men which has many relationships that are all unique and most of the characters are completely look, act, and think differently. The book Of Mice & Men has many themes, but one theme that stood out was people can be totally different, but still have a superb relationship. The characters in Of Mice & Men help unveil the theme by Lennie and his love for animals and George, George choosing to stay with Lennie, and Candy and his loyal canine.

Right from the beginning of human civilization, books had become the vital flame that ignited many great achievements. John Steinbeck, one of the greatest writers in the American history who won the 1962 Nobel Prize, understood the desperate need of reading of the migrant workers, so he wrote Of Mice and Men in 1937 with the

In Steinbeck’s ‘of mice and men’ set in 1930’s, both Crooks and Curley’s wife are defenseless victims of social prejudice which leads to their sadness and depression. Crooks, being a black man is discriminated and segregated towards by all the other ranchers “They play cards in there but I can’t play because I’m black- Crooks” whereas Curley’s wife being a woman is expected to stay at home and take care of the house “Why don't she get the hell back in the house where she belongs- Carlson”. Furthermore Steinbeck as well as the ranchers view Curley’s wife as “trouble” in Candy’s words and she is later referred as ‘jail-bait’ and ‘tramp’ by other men. Consequently both Crooks and Curleys wife choose to express their hurt in different ways: Crooks holes up in his room with his books in order to escape the harsh reality where he is treated as an outcast while Curley's wife does so by clamoring for attention and desperately trying to be noticed either by creating ‘trouble’ or flirting with the ranchers.

Steinbeck never graduated Standard and it would take years before he was truly recognized. In 1935 Pascal Covici declared he wanted to be Steinbeck's permanent publisher. When Covici published Tortilla Flat it soon became settled on the best-seller list, making Steinbeck famous (Swisher 17-19). Now Steinbeck was known and it helped him land good opportunities in the writing field. When the chef editor from the San Francisco News,

During the Great Depression, it was not uncommon to become morosely secluded while working. Men would go far away from their families in search of any jobs they could get, with only themselves to confide in; colleagues only filling in the void of friends and family partially. Naturally, John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, written during this period, would reflect this fact as a major aspect of the story. Loneliness would become the sinew of Of Mice and Men, manifested in some of the story’s main characters: Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife. These allusions to loneliness are found throughout the book, mimicking the rampant disease of isolation at the time.

The novels, Tortilla Flat and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck are similar yet different. The theme, character, and symbols were identical and distinctive.

In 1902, John Steinbeck, a renowned twentieth century novelist was born in Salinas, California. Before he was born his father moved to the West and became a manager at a flower mill; he later married a strong characterized woman named Olive Hamilton. Because the Steinbeck family became well known in Salinas, Mrs. Steinbeck was involved in many social activities. As a child, this caused Steinbeck and his two sisters to believe that she spent more time with others than she does with them. However, when she was home, Mrs. Steinbeck encouraged their literary efforts and kept them busy with books and magazines. John Steinbeck soon came to love Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur stories of the Kings at the Round Table.

They formed a family, they got to bond and learn each other's ways and personalities. From the beginning in the valley to the process of building Restrepo, and losing many friends during battle. The documentary is even named after their friend, Sergeant Restrepo, who died during battle, also they named the pathway they made for the people after him. They named those things after him, because they considered him to be a great soldier, a great man, and a damn good friend. To remember Restrepo they shot a few flares in the air where he was killed. Then Sergeant Rugel died while fire was still happening, and one of the soldiers that was close to him just started crying. Then many of them started to cry and comforted him, while the fight was still happening. That’s loyalty right there, the military does each you to look out for the ones nearest to you. During the documentary one of the soldiers said “What is gonna happen to me and the guy to the left and right of me?” So you can tell that truly care about one another, even during a time where most people would be worried about

The tortilla curtain is a wonderful book showing a typical life of both a Hispanic family chasing the American and a white family that is born in. The white wealthy stay at home father Delaney mossbacher is faced against life as a modern day America and an immigrant from Mexico, Candido rincon looking for nothing but to fulfill the American dream that for him and his young wife which begins to seem unreachable due to the constant troubles begin to face. These two character throughout the story show very similar traits both positive and negative, while both sharing ways they overcome struggles of living life in modern day America. Both being fathers and/or soon to be fathers, how they

John Steinbeck is the author of several very successful books, one of which being The Long Valley. Steinbeck wrote about what he knew, regardless of whether or not it was appreciated by others. Not everyone was immediately enamored by his writing, as his hometown of Salinas “burned his books” (Curwen) when he was first beginning to write. However, as the stories gained popularity, Steinbeck was able to return to his origins and found the National Steinbeck Center. The Long Valley is made up of twelve different stories that consist of entirely different characters, but many similarities can be found throughout the different stories in addition to the differences. “The Harness” and “The Murder” are two stories that have both similarities and differences. The first story, “The Harness”, tells the story of a model farmer named Peter Randall, who is highly respected within the community. In the beginning of the story, Peter’s wife, Emma Randall, dies, and Peter becomes predictably hysterical. However, throughout the rest of the story, the reader learns how Peter’s wife had dominated her husband and made practically all of his decisions for him. The second story, “The Murder”, tells the story of another married couple. The main character, Jim Moore, marries a sweet foreign girl named Jelka; however, due to the communication barrier between the two, Moore begins to frequent brothels in order to communicate with other women. At the end of the story, Moore finds Jelka cheating on

The Tortilla Curtain, written by T.C. Boyle is a dramatic story about an illegal immigrant from Mexico named Cándido Rincón, and Boyle demonstrates the effects of psychological stress Cándido suffered after getting exposed to a traumatic and stressful event. In Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), a handbook used by health care professionals to analyze mental disorders and it explains how posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is categorized in DSM-5 as a disorder related to trauma. The specifications incorporated in this category involves experience to a traumatic or stressful event as a diagnostic criterion. Cándido suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder after getting seriously injured from a car accident and