This article will seek to define what is John Steinbeck’s purpose in writing The Grapes of Paradise. John Steinbeck is a Nobel Prize winner and one of the most famous writers of our times. His work not only is enjoyed by people in the USA, but has also been widely appreciated around the world. A great deal of his work has been made into motion pictures, many of which have won awards at the Oscars. A great deal of his work has also been written into screenplays and he continues to work in this area even today.
One might expect to find in what is john steinbeck’s purpose in writing the essay symptoms of a love affair with America. After all, it is his view of America which pervades almost everything he writes. But, as is usual with great American writers, John Steinbeck’s view of America is much more complex and layered than simple. To understand what is steinbeck’s purpose in writing the essay symptoms of a love affair with America, it is necessary to closely examine some of the other elements of his view of America. And in doing so, we get to see what is perhaps his greatest achievement, his ability to weave American life and American culture within the larger framework of his own philosophical view of life and culture.
Most of what is john steinbeck’s purpose in writing the essay symptoms of a love affair with America comes from his great admiration of what Americans have achieved since the country was born. As he views it, the country has achieved far beyond anything that John Locke ever dreamt of when he wrote his famous treatise about government. In fact, he says that after reading the Federalist Papers he realized that all his ideas of what a virtuous society should be like had been realized by the framers and that they had in fact founded a model of government unlike any other in the world. And in this way, he argues, they achieved something beyond what Locke ever dreamt of.
So what is the purpose in writing the essay? The answer is clear. In a way, it is an examination of how ideas about individual rights and governmental structure influenced a man whose work almost single handedly inspired the idea of individual rights and the separation of powers in America. It is, in a way, an examination of the philosophical underpinnings of American exceptionalism.
This is not to say that John Steinbeck intended to launch a philosophical debate about government and its philosophy, and the separation of powers. He wrote an essay on the subject, and in so doing opened a door for debate about the nature of rights and their limitations. A close reading of his writings shows that his focus was on personal freedom, and the freedoms of individuals, and not on broader questions such as what is the purpose of the State or of government in general. Thus, his essay does not in any way answer the question “what is the purpose of John Steinbeck’s writing?” Rather, we can see in it an opening for another round of this debate, centered on the interpretation of personal freedom in a philosophical rather than a utilitarian basis.
It is of course a fair criticism that what is John Steinbeck’s purpose in writing the essay is not clear. And this criticism is on target. However, this criticism also points to a deeper problem with the philosophy of rights advanced by John Steinbeck. For, while it seems at times that his philosophy takes philosophy as a whole and shapes his meaning and his arguments according to that, and perhaps his interest in certain philosophical themes, such as those of Ayn Rand, whose philosophy is about government control of the economy, as opposed to a free market, or the theories of modern economists who believe that laissez faire does not lead to a free economy, and in fact causes more wealth inequality, then one can also argue that what is John Steinbeck’s purpose in writing the essay is to advance his own political ideas, and his own brand of Conservatism. After all, at the end of the essay he argues that, through the protection of individual rights, the government is better able to serve its people and to provide services which are necessary for the well being of all citizens.
Now this may be a reasonable point, but one could equally make the argument that what is John Steinbeck’s purpose in writing the essay isn’t necessarily his political ideas, but rather his personal and business interests. And while one could certainly make that case, I don’t find that to be a very satisfactory answer. Because I think that his purpose is much deeper than that. And content would submit to you that his purpose is in keeping in tune with the times and with the direction of our present social and economic structure.
Consider this; what is John Steinbeck’s purpose in writing the book? To show the evils of bureaucracy, and to frighten Americans out of their complacency regarding big government and the large number of agencies and departments that are required to operate in today’s complex society. And not to frighten American citizens out of the freedom to think for themselves, which is a right that we cherish, but to show how those freedoms can be abused if bureaucracy is allowed to run rampant. And this I think is exactly what is done in the book. I would submit to you, as do many people who have read it, that it is an excellent work of political philosophy and a wonderful introduction to government.