The Winter Of Our Discontent

Allen is further proof of moral degradation at the hands of American capitalism. Family heritage is important in the novel, and Allen is the heir who will carry on Ethan’s regained family legacy. But Allen has other plans. He is part of a new generation more interested in popular culture than preserving the past. Allen’s motivation for entering the essay contest is the chance to be on television. Like Ethan, he convinces himself that his ends justify his means. Unlike Ethan, his cheating does not bother him. The revelation that Allen has plagiarized the entirety of his essay throws Ethan into despair. Allen defends his actions by pointing to the messages he receives in American media: that lying and cheating are effective ways to get ahead.

Ethan feels that he has failed to raise his son with proper moral values. Recognizing his own immorality in his son pushes Ethan to change. Instead of dedicating himself to making a positive change, however, Ethan sees no hope for the future and resolves to end his life. But Ethan’s daughter, Ellen, intuiting her father’s despair, replaces his razor blades with the family talisman. When Ethan goes to the harbor—a place that symbolizes his solitude—and finds the stone in his pocket, he realizes what Ellen has done. Ellen’s gesture saves her father’s life. Ethan decides to live because in his daughter, he sees purity and hope for the future. This twist is notable because Ethan struggles to relate to his daughter for the majority of the novel. He finds her silly, girlish, and selfish. His dismissal of her mirrors his lack of insight into the other women in the novel. Given Steinbeck’s emphasis on male perspectives, it is notable that he selects the daughter, not the son, as the symbol of hope for the future. Thus, Steinbeck uses his ending as yet another excoriation of American patriarchal norms.

The Winter of Our Discontent is one of Steinbeck’s most feminist novels. Ethan readily admits to not understanding women. He finds them mysterious and unknowable, pointing to a flaw within himself more so than in a problem with women. Though the first two chapters of each part are written in third-person, attached to Ethan’s point of view, the novel is mostly written in Ethan’s first-person narrative voice, Steinbeck writes one chapter for Margie’s perspective, told from an omniscient third-person point of view. This gives Margie a chance to reveal the layers of her inner self. Though Steinbeck confirms that Margie is actively seeking an affair with Ethan, Steinbeck clarifies that Margie does so out of her own need to survive and as a result of the limitations society places on  women. As a woman, Margie cannot work, so it is only through the favors of men and marriage that Margie can provide for herself. Margie is not proud of her reputation with the men in New Baytown, but Steinbeck provides Margie with a savior quality because men feel comfortable bearing their confiding in her. Margie fills a necessary role that highlights the loneliness and transactional nature of the relationships of the men in town.

Another social criticism Steinbeck asserts in these chapters is the xenophobia of the American mindset in the mid-20th century. In the years following World War II, when European countries were still rebuilding from the war, many European, particularly Jewish, immigrants came to the United States for security and opportunity. Marullo is one of these characters. Though he begins his career selling vegetables from a cart, he builds a small but lucrative empire for himself in New Baytown. He has a strong work ethic, excellent business savvy, and despite his rough exterior, he is very generous.

Another important symbol in these chapters is the Belle-Adair, a ship important to the origin story of New Baytown and Ethan’s forebears. Ethan, who lives too much in the past, dreams of rebuilding the ship. The ship is also a symbol of ruthless greed because it is rumored that the ship was purposely burned down for insurance money. If this rumor is true, then the very foundation of Ethan’s legacy of family wealth and power is built on fraud, highlighting the hypocrisy of Ethan’s entitlement and implying that the construction of America is itself a fraudulent act. Another family symbol saves Ethan’s life and points to the future rather than the past. The family talisman, a mysterious rock passed down through the generations, reminds Ethan of the positive side of his family legacy in his moments of deepest despair. Thus, family symbols are both productive and reductive in The Winter of Our Discontent.