Perhaps one of the most prolific writes of our time, John Steinbeck many works provide a very real glimpse into the time in which he wrote. In a brief interview, San Jose State Library John Steinbeck Center curator Peter Nathaniel Malae commented saying, “Steinbeck was such a great author because he was such a great observer.” The truth of that statement can be seen in any of his works and even in those influenced by his work. A literary realist, Steinbeck wrote largely from true events and stories he collected from the many people he would meet. Surprisingly, the man hardly ever drew from his own experiences. He was largely a supporter of worker’s right and fair labor laws and as he lived in the “fertile crescent” of California, he was able to observe much of the changing times. In Dubious Battle was one of the first books he wrote specifically from the view point of men struggling for better wages in fictitious apple orchards in the fictitious Torgas Valley.
Now it would be easy to assume that In Dubious Battle was written in order to drum up support for the workers he was portraying, but that was not the case. Steinbeck true motive behind the book was to flesh out an idea he has about the way a group acts. In Dubious Battle is not just about two communist organizers fighting for better working conditions, although two actual communist organizers served to be the primary source for his writing. Instead it is a novel about two groups of men pitted against each other. And when you are trying to determine the motives of such men, it becomes a much more abstract theme to handle. Steinbeck wrote in a letter to his friend George Albee “I don’t know how much I have got over, but I have used a small strike in an orchard valley as the symbol of man’s eternal, bitter, warfare with himself. I’m not interested in strike as a means of raising men’s wages, and I am not interested in ranting about justice and oppression, mere outcroppings which indicate the condition. But man hates something in himself. He has been able to defeat every natural obstacle but himself he cannot win over unless he kills every individual. And this self-hate, which goes closely in hand with self-love is what I wrote about. (qtd. in Benson 304)”.
Steinbeck’s purpose behind this book was more of a personal exploration into the theory of group man. He called it the phalanx theory.
He drew inspiration from the actual stories of three workers and strike organizers from 1933. The first organizer was a man named Pat Chambers. Mac is loosely based on the events that transpired on the actual peach orchards at Tagus Ranch near the San Joaquin valley. In Dubious Battle mirrors the exact situation the peach pickers were facing in 1933, “insert quote about the scabs traveling down and having the wages adjusted.” Chamber’s job was to rally the peach pickers and temporarily halt peach picking until the growers increased the wages from fifteen cents an hour to thirty cents an hour. Since peaches spoil quickly if they are not picked the strike moved at a furious pace and was resolved in just four days. The workers won their raise in pay, but only to the tune of twenty-five cents an hour. Although the workers won a small victory, this would only be the fist half of the battle. Many of the farmers were angry at the organization of the workers and ripped up all their peach trees and planted cotton instead. The peach strike turned into the cotton strike and it is from that story than Steinbeck gets the rest of his characters as well as a better understanding of the issue at hand.
Steinbeck views on the issue at hand can be seen in the way he portrays his character Mac. By no means was Steinbeck trying to chronicle a blow for blow account of one of the many strikes sweeping across the central valley of California. Recall Steinbeck’s stated purpose. He was not looking to bring about change though this novel, or make a statement about any particular group of men as being better or more right than another group of men. Instead he was observing, like Doc Burton, the way group man moves and lives. Because of this In Dubious Battle has no hero. Pat Chambers, the man on who Mac is based, objected to Steinbeck’s portrayal of him in the book. “Quote from Pat” While Chambers may have been more concerned about the individual, Steinbeck was concerned with the group. None of the characters have any particular growth, though they all ponder their place in the bigger picture. In fact, the driving force behind Mac’s strike is the knowledge that even if they fail as an individual strike, their failure gives life to a different strike in a different part of the state. “Insert quote about national guard.” This can also be seen in the way Mac treats others striving towards the same goal as he, “Joy’s Sacrifice.” Indeed Mac is cast by Steinbeck to be a man on a mission, no matter what the cost.
The actual Jim Nolan.
Jim Nolan, a young and zealous organizer who is just happy to be a part of something bigger than him, but fails when circumstances claim his life,
Doc Burton and Steinbeck.
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