존 스타인벡의 소박한 민주주의 사고에서 배운 교훈

Lesson Learned from John Steinbeck’s Simple Democratic Idea

John Steinbeck, a Nobel-winning novelist, is considered as a social critic with his cannon, The Grapes of Wrath, treating migratory workers during the Great Depression of America. As to his political orientation, many people are still aware that he was a Communist considering his career in the Communist Party USA in the 1930s. However, Steinbeck was not a Marxist from the beginning, but against any Fascism or mob mentality. This paper observes his political walk of life in light of the previous materials and reveals his liberal idea through his works. The process says that his philosophy is the individualism based on the freedom of thought and the vigilance on the mob mentality called Phalanx, which can be called simple because it is a human being’s natural aspect. Also, this research shows that the publication of The Grapes of Wrath seems to coincide with the decline of CPUSA and explains its reason by referring to Steinbeck’s idea.