I have chosen to read and compare The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck which was set in 1960 in New Baytown, a reflection of his hometown of Sag Harbor, New York starring Ethan Allen Hawley and Nobody’s Fool by Richard Russo which was set in 1984 in North Bath, New York starring Donald Sullivan aka Sully. In each story, there is a main male character from a small town down on its luck town in the northeast part of the country and while the time frame is a difference of 20 or so years each story the main character is regardless in need of changing who he is. Both of these two main characters have gotten into a rut that he can no longer justify being in. A rut that by way of subtle outside circumstantial evidence has shed light on each mans situation and need for life change.
In the story The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck it is stated within the first 15 pages just how much the main character Ethan Allen Hawley doesn't like his current position in life. Thus, stating the conflict in my opinion as "I went under all right. It's the first time in history a Hawley was ever a clerk in a guinea grocery." (Ethan pg. 14) This statement screams how much he is unhappy and how he comes from a heritage line that was more valuable than grocery clerks. It also lets us know that he is in his current position because he allowed himself to go under. The central conflict arises quickly from this point and erupts, in my opinion, on page 34 when Ethan is having a discussion with his wife Mary. This conflict is not divulged in one sentence as much as it is through the conversation.
In the story The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck it is stated within the first 15 pages just how much the main character Ethan Allen Hawley doesn't like his current position in life. Thus, stating the conflict in my opinion as "I went under all right. It's the first time in history a Hawley was ever a clerk in a guinea grocery." (Ethan pg. 14) This statement screams how much he is unhappy and how he comes from a heritage line that was more valuable than grocery clerks. It also lets us know that he is in his current position because he allowed himself to go under. The central conflict arises quickly from this point and erupts, in my opinion, on page 34 when Ethan is having a discussion with his wife Mary. This conflict is not divulged in one sentence as much as it is through the conversation.
"And money would prop up your head?"
"It would wipe the sneers off the faces of your holy la-de-dad."
"No one sneers at Hawley."
"That's what you think! You just don't see it."
"Maybe because I don't look for it."
"Are you throwing your holy Hawleys up at me?"
"No, my darling. It's not much of a weapon anymore."
"Well, I'm glad you found it out. In this town or any other town, a Hawley grocery clerk is still a grocery clerk."
"Do you blame me for my failure?"
"No. Of course, I don't. But I do blame you for sitting and wallowing in it. You could climb out of it if you didn't have your old-fashioned fancy-pants ideas. Everybody's laughing at you. A grand gentleman without money is a bum."
Because this conversation occurred and Ethan felt the true depth to his wife's humiliation at what her family (being her, Ethan, and their two children Allen and Ellen) had become he came to a quick resolution that became the premise for the rest of the book. "I'll rob a bank." (pg 34) Ethan says and his wife is the type to put no stock in his “silly” words because how many people say that very statement yet go thru with it.
In order to have this heist go off without a hitch Steinbeck must weave in a cast of supporting characters that each alone are just a character but as you go through Ethan's Easter holiday in part one and Ethan's fourth of July holiday in part two the reader realizes just how entwined everyone in Newbay Town really is; also how much of an impact they all have on Ethan's life. Meaning it takes Joey Morphy to plant the seed of how to rob a bank in Ethan's mind right off the bat on their walk to work on Good Friday morning. This followed by bank owner Mr. Baker grilling Ethan about his financial situation stating to Ethan "Now that's what I don't understand, Ethan. Anybody can go broke. What I don't see is why you stay broke,.." (pg 14) This angering Ethan because Ethan a man of Mr. Bakers means can't walk a mile in a man like Ethan's shoes. But Mr. Baker doesn't back down, he says "Wake up, Ethan." and "Risk isn't a loss." (pg 15) He gives Ethan things to think about. Then it takes Margie Young-Hunt to read his wife's fortune that same day convincing her that Ethan will come into large sums of money by July; which she told his wife that as a get back to Ethan for not accepting her advances. Then the grocery store owner, Mr. Marullo, stops by to see his employee and talk about business. "You got to learn kid." (pg 20-22) He tells Ethan repeatedly till Ethan pops his cork, then hears himself speak in retort to Mr. Marullo, then realized how much he sounded like a child. Then Biggers, the new black-market dealer in town, enters, and bribes Ethan onto the dark side of American economics of a cliché you scratch my back and I'll scratch your's kind of deal. ""Don't be a fool. Everyone does it." he said "Everybody!"" (pg 25) to which Joey Morphy reiterates this point when Ethan tells him what had happened. He then goes home to have a conversation with his wife that exposes her humiliation. Had each of these characters acted alone on different days they wouldn't carry the weight in the story as they do all surmounted together on one day. This is how Steinbeck swoops in quick with his narrative structure and uses realistic character development strategies to keep the characters simple yet powerful. It doesn't take a lot of explanation to describe who a character is if you give them an objective and simply let them speak.
Steinbeck uses a slew of great storytelling elements in this work that truly bring this book to breathing life. Centering the premise of this story on Ethan's self-deception and need to evolve from a too nice guy to a businessman, I believe, sets the tone for the diverse character lineup he has to neatly and orderly push Ethan right along.
In order to have this heist go off without a hitch Steinbeck must weave in a cast of supporting characters that each alone are just a character but as you go through Ethan's Easter holiday in part one and Ethan's fourth of July holiday in part two the reader realizes just how entwined everyone in Newbay Town really is; also how much of an impact they all have on Ethan's life. Meaning it takes Joey Morphy to plant the seed of how to rob a bank in Ethan's mind right off the bat on their walk to work on Good Friday morning. This followed by bank owner Mr. Baker grilling Ethan about his financial situation stating to Ethan "Now that's what I don't understand, Ethan. Anybody can go broke. What I don't see is why you stay broke,.." (pg 14) This angering Ethan because Ethan a man of Mr. Bakers means can't walk a mile in a man like Ethan's shoes. But Mr. Baker doesn't back down, he says "Wake up, Ethan." and "Risk isn't a loss." (pg 15) He gives Ethan things to think about. Then it takes Margie Young-Hunt to read his wife's fortune that same day convincing her that Ethan will come into large sums of money by July; which she told his wife that as a get back to Ethan for not accepting her advances. Then the grocery store owner, Mr. Marullo, stops by to see his employee and talk about business. "You got to learn kid." (pg 20-22) He tells Ethan repeatedly till Ethan pops his cork, then hears himself speak in retort to Mr. Marullo, then realized how much he sounded like a child. Then Biggers, the new black-market dealer in town, enters, and bribes Ethan onto the dark side of American economics of a cliché you scratch my back and I'll scratch your's kind of deal. ""Don't be a fool. Everyone does it." he said "Everybody!"" (pg 25) to which Joey Morphy reiterates this point when Ethan tells him what had happened. He then goes home to have a conversation with his wife that exposes her humiliation. Had each of these characters acted alone on different days they wouldn't carry the weight in the story as they do all surmounted together on one day. This is how Steinbeck swoops in quick with his narrative structure and uses realistic character development strategies to keep the characters simple yet powerful. It doesn't take a lot of explanation to describe who a character is if you give them an objective and simply let them speak.
Steinbeck uses a slew of great storytelling elements in this work that truly bring this book to breathing life. Centering the premise of this story on Ethan's self-deception and need to evolve from a too nice guy to a businessman, I believe, sets the tone for the diverse character lineup he has to neatly and orderly push Ethan right along.
From his wife's naive bubbly personality that solidifies Ethan's reasoning for changing. Joey Morphy's subtle teaching style of how to rob a bank and get away with it. Mr. Bakers with his nebby, inquisitive, personality that kept him always needing to be involved in Ethan's finance’s, about Mr. Marullo, and Danny Taylor's whereabouts. Mr. Marullo’s hard, straightforward teaching style that tells Ethan he has to weigh the meat before he can trim the fat. In Mr. Bakers' eyes, Ethan was a lame duck and in Marullo's eyes, he was a kid. Ethan was starting to take shape in his own eyes as he was taking shape in ours. I would be inclined to think our antagonist was Mr. Baker with his constant prodding or Miss Margie Young-Hunt with her vixen ways but even after all her trying to break Ethan's loyalty shell she wasn't even the books perfect antagonist. Ethan was his own worst enemy in this book and it is so blatant by the end of the book when his son cheats on an essay contest and gets caught for it by his snitching sister. Ethan confronts his son and says:
"Did you hear what you did?"
The driven mouse attacked. "Who cares? Everybody does it. It's the way the cooky crumbles."
"You believe that?"
"Don't you read the papers? Everybody eight up to the top- just read the papers. You get to feeling holy, just read the papers. I bet you took some in your time, because they all do." Pg. 276
Had Ethan stayed true to his nice guy self and not made Margie Young Hunt's card readings of his wife come to fruition by listening to the un-pointed yet extremely detailed directions from bank worker Joey Morphy on how to rob a bank, (which he did over July fourth weekend) Ethan might have been able to digest his sons statements better. But, Ethan's reality was not so digestible. He had just robbed a bank, and accepted bribery from a man named Biggers after charismatically regaining control of his grocery store he had previously lost to Mr. Marullo charging Biggers an extra percentage of market share without letting on that Mr. Marullo didn’t own it anymore. Then blackmailed Mr. Baker into the ownership of 51% of the land for an airfield the corrupt people running New Baytown wanted. Land that had belonged to his best friend, the town drunk Danny Taylor, who Ethan managed to catch before Mr. Baker could, on a sober moment and had Danny sign the land over to Ethan before he went on another bender where he died of his own alcoholism.
This all happened because his wife finally spoke her mind about how she felt about her current lifestyle and Ethan was slapped out of his wallowing self-loathing. To her "A grand gentleman without money is a bum." Pg 34
Had all these characters not whispered in Ethan's ear over and over again that nice doesn't pay bills and his wife couldn't hold her head up, Ethan probably would have continued to wallow along and his sons' actions would have been punishable. But, because he was no better then what was written about in the papers he couldn't hold his head up.
Had all these characters not whispered in Ethan's ear over and over again that nice doesn't pay bills and his wife couldn't hold her head up, Ethan probably would have continued to wallow along and his sons' actions would have been punishable. But, because he was no better then what was written about in the papers he couldn't hold his head up.
All of this took place within the span of 4 months and all in Ethan's own hometown where he was born and raised; where his ancestors were from. Where everyone knew who he was and where his family had been. Nothing was secret except for all the secrets being told. In this town, at this time, Ethan searched for a way to be what he needed to be by everyone else's standards despite his core self and what he found was a beast who superseded the whispers that floated through his ears about what he should do and who he should be. He took all the advice and executed his plan flawlessly (bank heist and land security) as finally acknowledged by Mr. Baker when he addressed Ethan about Danny's death and his outstanding land. Mr. Baker was taken aback when he was shown the papers giving Ethan Danny’s land and Ethan replied: "You'll feel better, sir, when you have got used to the fact that I am not a pleasant fool." (pg 260)
Steinbeck kept this book in constant flow through each of its two sections. It was all getting worse then better then the bottom dropped out when his son Allen plagiarized his essay and Ethan realized he had no further will to live.
Steinbeck does an amazing job on the conflict in the story because it is subtle. It is an intellectual conflict because Ethan isn't a fighting man. He couldn't box a man out of the ring or street fight a gang for his life, but he can outwit the dimwitted on any day of the week. On page 34 he has a conflict with his wife when he finds out her feelings about her lifestyle which he baited her into expressing using his clever wordplay. When she spoke her feelings he didn't fight her words he just spoke the truth "I'll rob a bank." On page 73 Ethan again baited his wife into conflict when he exposed his wife's proclaimed best friend Margie Young-Hunt for the possible man-eater and psychic fraud she could be. When he told his wife that Margie had been into his store earlier Mary didn’t believe him so when Margie came over for dinner that evening as planned Ethan stacked the conversation deck so Margie would verify that she was indeed in the store earlier. Ethan could see this burned his wife's blood. But Ethan remained calm on the outside the whole time. Then on page 259 when he stopped Mr. Baker from being able to take control of Danny's land he simply corrected Mr. Bakers' thought-process and hit him where it really hurt, his pocketbook amongst other things. Ethan doesn't scream, yell or carry on in creating this conflict; he simply remains that nice guy on the outside. On page 276 the conflict was there because his son Allen was infuriated when he found out that his sister snitched on him causing Ethan to confront him about what he had done. The contempt in Allen's words could be felt about his sister and the fact that he didn't get away with it. That Ethan just fixed his daughter's bleeding nose, which Allen caused him to have before Ethan decided to leave on a mission to kill himself. Ellen pleaded for him not to go or take her with him. Ethan had a running conflict with himself the whole story through that he used his dead aunt Deborah as his conscience to talk to.
There was also a symbolic talisman in the book that Ethan had for good luck and only on rare occasions was it touched. But when you read the very last chapter of the book his daughter knew her father was on his way out to kill himself and without Ethan knowing, slipped the talisman in his pocket, and for that, she became the hero of the story. She became the antithetical beacon of light to Ethan's constant protagonist wallowing. In the end, as Ethan is searching his pockets for his razorblade in the water, on his way out to sea to drown, he finds the talisman instead and has to fight the sea to get back to his daughter.
All of this literary creativity is done fully within the context of the time period. Not only does he use a dialect of the time and continental placement but he captures the mood of that time period which was complacency. It was post-war from when the soldiers came back to those women who had waited for them like Mary and they tried to make that American dream of an American fortune come true. It was a time where people either sank or swam and you were damned if you did and damned if you didn't because there was always someone like Biggers and Ethan's son chanting "Everybody does it" because it was impossible to hold down a household and be empathetic. It was a time of business and to be a businessman as Marullo and Mr. Baker kept preaching to Ethan. Thematically Steinbeck made this book about survival through that time period and how a person goes about finding it in them to do whatever is necessary and still is able to live with themselves after it’s all said and done.
Steinbeck kept this book in constant flow through each of its two sections. It was all getting worse then better then the bottom dropped out when his son Allen plagiarized his essay and Ethan realized he had no further will to live.
Steinbeck does an amazing job on the conflict in the story because it is subtle. It is an intellectual conflict because Ethan isn't a fighting man. He couldn't box a man out of the ring or street fight a gang for his life, but he can outwit the dimwitted on any day of the week. On page 34 he has a conflict with his wife when he finds out her feelings about her lifestyle which he baited her into expressing using his clever wordplay. When she spoke her feelings he didn't fight her words he just spoke the truth "I'll rob a bank." On page 73 Ethan again baited his wife into conflict when he exposed his wife's proclaimed best friend Margie Young-Hunt for the possible man-eater and psychic fraud she could be. When he told his wife that Margie had been into his store earlier Mary didn’t believe him so when Margie came over for dinner that evening as planned Ethan stacked the conversation deck so Margie would verify that she was indeed in the store earlier. Ethan could see this burned his wife's blood. But Ethan remained calm on the outside the whole time. Then on page 259 when he stopped Mr. Baker from being able to take control of Danny's land he simply corrected Mr. Bakers' thought-process and hit him where it really hurt, his pocketbook amongst other things. Ethan doesn't scream, yell or carry on in creating this conflict; he simply remains that nice guy on the outside. On page 276 the conflict was there because his son Allen was infuriated when he found out that his sister snitched on him causing Ethan to confront him about what he had done. The contempt in Allen's words could be felt about his sister and the fact that he didn't get away with it. That Ethan just fixed his daughter's bleeding nose, which Allen caused him to have before Ethan decided to leave on a mission to kill himself. Ellen pleaded for him not to go or take her with him. Ethan had a running conflict with himself the whole story through that he used his dead aunt Deborah as his conscience to talk to.
There was also a symbolic talisman in the book that Ethan had for good luck and only on rare occasions was it touched. But when you read the very last chapter of the book his daughter knew her father was on his way out to kill himself and without Ethan knowing, slipped the talisman in his pocket, and for that, she became the hero of the story. She became the antithetical beacon of light to Ethan's constant protagonist wallowing. In the end, as Ethan is searching his pockets for his razorblade in the water, on his way out to sea to drown, he finds the talisman instead and has to fight the sea to get back to his daughter.
All of this literary creativity is done fully within the context of the time period. Not only does he use a dialect of the time and continental placement but he captures the mood of that time period which was complacency. It was post-war from when the soldiers came back to those women who had waited for them like Mary and they tried to make that American dream of an American fortune come true. It was a time where people either sank or swam and you were damned if you did and damned if you didn't because there was always someone like Biggers and Ethan's son chanting "Everybody does it" because it was impossible to hold down a household and be empathetic. It was a time of business and to be a businessman as Marullo and Mr. Baker kept preaching to Ethan. Thematically Steinbeck made this book about survival through that time period and how a person goes about finding it in them to do whatever is necessary and still is able to live with themselves after it’s all said and done.
In the story Nobody’s Fool by Richard Russo we are taken through two weeks in the life Donald Sullivan aka “Sully”. A bum of sorts that has fathered a family and maintains the bare necessities for small economically busted town living. He is surrounded by a wonderfully dysfunctional cast of characters that help Sully realize that there is more to life than just survival. This story is told in narrative third person by the author Richard Russo. It seems to me that the conflict lies in man versus self as Sully knows who he is but has a hard time learning what people in his life expect from him and why and how he needs to be there for these people and not only care for just himself. The crisis seems to come to its brink when Sully’s ex-wife Vera has a breakdown.
Therefore the resolution came when Sully realized on Friday of part three that his son of all these live long years, was his “savior” (pg 487). Though, like most people, it is a hard pill for the pride to swallow when you have to concede that you need another person to survive. So Sully decided to encourage his son to stay in North Bath while his son was getting back on his feet in life that way they could help each other out, Sully accomplishes this without actually stating this is what he needs to happen. Then when Peter told his father that he had won the lottery Sully’s pride again didn’t want to make money from his son because he was sure his son bought the ticket, he struck a deal with his son. “Why don’t we call it a loan?” (pg. 491)
Through all the secondary characters and backstory to set up the stories the main theme of survival, responsibility, and dysfunctional family love, nothing explains this clearer then Vera’s breakdown on page 155, her conceding to Sully “Just to say you win.” on page 360 and Sully finally realizing it was his son’s devotion he won on page 487 though he couldn’t let Peter be his “deliverer” on account of that pride on page 491.
“Vera was able to identify this fear because she shared it. She had always carried with her the knowledge that Sully possessed the power to destroy them all, possibly through carelessness, perhaps even through misguided good intentions. Her most nagging fear when Peter was growing up was that Sully might one day wake up and take an interest in their son.” (pg 149)It seems that Vera’s fear of Sully ruining her well thought out life stipend her quality of life as well as her son’s while leaving Sully fearless of responsibility. His ex-wife didn’t need him to grow up and take care of his son, nor want him to, so Sully didn’t need to worry about anything. Though in Vera allowing this thought process to manifest it put guilt on Sully’s conscience that he didn’t know what to do with or deal with just as much as it put guilt on hers. As for Peter, their son, when his life fell apart in his adult life it was Sully he ran to for help against all of Vera’s stressful efforts.
“You treat him as if he didn’t exist,” Peter said quietly.
For a moment Vera was unable to respond. “I don’t mean to,” she finally managed. “I mean, I do mean to, but I don’t know why.”
Neither said anything for some time.
“Everything’s coming apart, isn’t it,” she said when she could finally locate her voice.
“What, Mom?” Peter said, not bothering to disguise the frustration in his voice. “What’s coming apart?”
“Me,” she told him, grinning now. “Can’t you tell?” (pg. 155)
Therefore the resolution came when Sully realized on Friday of part three that his son of all these live long years, was his “savior” (pg 487). Though, like most people, it is a hard pill for the pride to swallow when you have to concede that you need another person to survive. So Sully decided to encourage his son to stay in North Bath while his son was getting back on his feet in life that way they could help each other out, Sully accomplishes this without actually stating this is what he needs to happen. Then when Peter told his father that he had won the lottery Sully’s pride again didn’t want to make money from his son because he was sure his son bought the ticket, he struck a deal with his son. “Why don’t we call it a loan?” (pg. 491)
Through all the secondary characters and backstory to set up the stories the main theme of survival, responsibility, and dysfunctional family love, nothing explains this clearer then Vera’s breakdown on page 155, her conceding to Sully “Just to say you win.” on page 360 and Sully finally realizing it was his son’s devotion he won on page 487 though he couldn’t let Peter be his “deliverer” on account of that pride on page 491.
Russo takes us all through the small town of North Bath and the many lives that Sully touches and impacts and it definitely lends itself to interesting side stories. Sully is a hard worker and a loyal person and to convey that Russo introduces us to Sully’s world that consists of his boss Carl (who’s snow-blower he steals by drugging Carl’s’ dog with the help of Peter), and his best friend/co-worker Rub (who gets jealous of Peter when he comes to work with his father after Peter’s break up with his wife Charlotte) are the men who give Sully’s character his edge. The diner employees, who give Sully his compassion is where he helps out at and serves food in the morning to loosen up his bum knee before doing construction for Carl (when he isn’t running after the diner managers mother Hattie, the owner of the diner. 3 out of the four times she ran away from her daughter Cass, Sully was the one to bring her back, pg 205). Sully’s landlord Miss Beryl, whose husband was Sully’s football coach is the character to bring Sully a past. She is also Sully’s biggest fan like her belated husband was; so she left herself a note that says “Don’t let Clive Jr. talk you into evicting Sully, who is fond of you, just as you are fond of him. If Sully burns your house down with you in it, he will not have meant to.” (pg 268) Miss Beryl left herself this note in case she loses her scruples one day and the things that her son Clive Jr. says make sense, she wanted a back up to remind her that her son doesn’t even make sense. Also his sometimes girlfriend Ruth is married with a grown daughter but still depends on Sully because she can’t depend on her husband.
Then there is Vera’s secondary cast of characters that consist of her husband Ralph who puts up with everything that Vera dishes out and she is in desperate need of psychotherapy and her father Robert Halsey. Ralph is needed to ground Vera’s character and Robert explains how Vera became Vera, “Her love for him was the most terrible thing he’d ever witnessed, and he could think of no way to combat it, no way to prevent her from injuring herself further. By selling the house and giving her and Ralph the money, by moving to Schuyler Springs and into the VA home, he had fled her devotion and helped his daughter and her second husband get out from under the burden of debt brought on by her earlier lapses in judgment.” (pg 148-149)
Lastly, there was Peter and his secondary character list that consisted of his wife Charlotte who was Peter’s rival giving him his personal conflict, and their kids. Will, one of their kids, is an important part of the story because he saw Grandpa Sully as his hero. Early on in the book, Will defines the depth of Peter’s dilemmas when Will jumped into the back of Sully’s pick-up truck to run away from Thanksgiving at Grandma Vera’s and his home in general. Sully had no idea until he was already driving down the road. When Sully heard something and realized Will was there in the truck with him they stopped for ice cream and Will said: “I’d rather live with you.” Will is around for most of the book acting as what seems to be a reminder to Sully of what’s important. Not always at the forefront of Sully’s mind, but always there easing Sully into an easier understanding of father-son relationships as he watches Peter and Will interact as well as how he interacts with Will himself. Aside from his actual family, we are introduced briefly to a college student that Peter was having an affair with that signifies the lengths Peter was willing to go to try and achieve the feeling of desire over responsibility. A parallel to his father's relationship with Ruth, it was nothing of meaning just something to fill a void.
Russo provides us with a great visual of how important Sully was to those around him and it was that way whether Sully liked it or not. He was our protagonist on a one day at a time kind of journey and while due to her attitude towards Sully, the reader might be inclined to think Vera was the antagonist, however, it was Sully. While Vera made it clear on several occasions to most everyone in her life including Peter and Sully that she hoped Sully would disappear from Peter and her lives, it was Sully who never protested this. Sully even admitted that Peter was “the son whose existence he’d often allowed himself to forget for many months at a stretch” (pg 487) by addressing this issue with these strong statements Russo effectively, in my opinion, conveyed the man versus self-conflict of the story. It was never Sully against the small world of North Bath, it was always Sully against his own self-pity.
All of these elements together with his use of things such as the type of car, the El Camino, the battle with his boss’s snow-blower, the town’s battle to want a theme park to entice more tourism against the rival Schuyler Springs established time period. Russo chooses a topic that is very fitting for the times, depletion of old towns, and depletion of old family values/theories. On the first page, Russo successfully sets the stage for setting with “were mostly dinosaurs, big, aging clapboard Victorians and sprawling Greek Revivals that would have been worth some money if they were across the border in Vermont and if they had not been built as, or converted into, two- and occasionally three-family dwellings and rented out, over several decades, as slowly deteriorating flats.” Much like old towns and property in the early ’90s families were becoming the same way. The whole family was a dinosaur concept that was big and aging and iconic-ly worth money if it was across the ocean in Europe, but as of when Russo wrote this book, families were being converted into split families of deteriorating theories of family values.
Then there is Vera’s secondary cast of characters that consist of her husband Ralph who puts up with everything that Vera dishes out and she is in desperate need of psychotherapy and her father Robert Halsey. Ralph is needed to ground Vera’s character and Robert explains how Vera became Vera, “Her love for him was the most terrible thing he’d ever witnessed, and he could think of no way to combat it, no way to prevent her from injuring herself further. By selling the house and giving her and Ralph the money, by moving to Schuyler Springs and into the VA home, he had fled her devotion and helped his daughter and her second husband get out from under the burden of debt brought on by her earlier lapses in judgment.” (pg 148-149)
Lastly, there was Peter and his secondary character list that consisted of his wife Charlotte who was Peter’s rival giving him his personal conflict, and their kids. Will, one of their kids, is an important part of the story because he saw Grandpa Sully as his hero. Early on in the book, Will defines the depth of Peter’s dilemmas when Will jumped into the back of Sully’s pick-up truck to run away from Thanksgiving at Grandma Vera’s and his home in general. Sully had no idea until he was already driving down the road. When Sully heard something and realized Will was there in the truck with him they stopped for ice cream and Will said: “I’d rather live with you.” Will is around for most of the book acting as what seems to be a reminder to Sully of what’s important. Not always at the forefront of Sully’s mind, but always there easing Sully into an easier understanding of father-son relationships as he watches Peter and Will interact as well as how he interacts with Will himself. Aside from his actual family, we are introduced briefly to a college student that Peter was having an affair with that signifies the lengths Peter was willing to go to try and achieve the feeling of desire over responsibility. A parallel to his father's relationship with Ruth, it was nothing of meaning just something to fill a void.
Russo provides us with a great visual of how important Sully was to those around him and it was that way whether Sully liked it or not. He was our protagonist on a one day at a time kind of journey and while due to her attitude towards Sully, the reader might be inclined to think Vera was the antagonist, however, it was Sully. While Vera made it clear on several occasions to most everyone in her life including Peter and Sully that she hoped Sully would disappear from Peter and her lives, it was Sully who never protested this. Sully even admitted that Peter was “the son whose existence he’d often allowed himself to forget for many months at a stretch” (pg 487) by addressing this issue with these strong statements Russo effectively, in my opinion, conveyed the man versus self-conflict of the story. It was never Sully against the small world of North Bath, it was always Sully against his own self-pity.
All of these elements together with his use of things such as the type of car, the El Camino, the battle with his boss’s snow-blower, the town’s battle to want a theme park to entice more tourism against the rival Schuyler Springs established time period. Russo chooses a topic that is very fitting for the times, depletion of old towns, and depletion of old family values/theories. On the first page, Russo successfully sets the stage for setting with “were mostly dinosaurs, big, aging clapboard Victorians and sprawling Greek Revivals that would have been worth some money if they were across the border in Vermont and if they had not been built as, or converted into, two- and occasionally three-family dwellings and rented out, over several decades, as slowly deteriorating flats.” Much like old towns and property in the early ’90s families were becoming the same way. The whole family was a dinosaur concept that was big and aging and iconic-ly worth money if it was across the ocean in Europe, but as of when Russo wrote this book, families were being converted into split families of deteriorating theories of family values.
Russo uses the narrative storytelling element that allows the reader to watch what Sully is going through which lends to what Russo wanted to achieve in having us see the optimal big picture. How a family interacts, how a town interacts, and how it all comes together to influence even the smallest of family units because units are becoming sprawling vines instead of solid tall oak trees.
Comparatively, both of these two authors are similar in their conversational writing styles for their use of realistic cynicism and sarcasm. It’s unfortunate blue-collar romanticism. Both Steinbeck and Russo write dialogue in a humorous way depicting a reality that most working people speak amongst themselves daily that is undeniable. In The Winter of Our Discontent, Ethan Allen Hawley was at the top of his game until he lost the game. Then he let his mind wrap him up in words that Joey Morphy seemingly selectively picks. Joey Morphy is the quintessential seed dropper and Ethan Allen Hawley is the exact depiction of the great American scorned and depressed by crappy luck just eager to soak up suggestions, whether right or wrong. This book is a classic for a reason. Despite its age, the theme is still prevalent today. The need to read John Steinbeck's words in an effort to comfort and clarify the still befuddled mind of and about humanity is still present. This book and Nobody’s Fool are both what I consider to be real book t.v. for the educated mind. In Nobody’s Fool Sully finds himself in a huge rut trying to muddle through life with a cast of characters all blue-collar America seems to have to lurk up their family/friend tree. It’s the way he chooses his battles and the way he addresses the solutions that form the humor of the book because they’re as plausible as eating at McDonald's and spilling a milkshake on your pants and walking around with a big wet stain on them because stuff just happens. Both authors tell impactful stories that span time generation after generation through an array of storytelling elements that may tell two stories from different era’s but they’re told in a similar way. Each main character is in a different age bracket in life, Ethan being a father of two children still at home, and Sully the father of one child grown with children of his own. With Ethan being from the '60s and Sully in the '80s each author is able to set a different psychical stage but with similar reflective character thought processes. This allows each author to also convey similar human emotions, such as the depression both Ethan and Sully endure from the choices they’ve each made in life. Both authors express their lead male character's role in life perfectly by mirroring each other grasp on how life can be one big cynical sarcastic roller coaster. Both Steinbeck and Russo present men whose roller coasters start with a financial obligation to themselves and their families for survival and end the ride in a grown-up realization about the reality of the choices they’ve made. Both authors set a tone of two men that know what they're doing for being two men who have no clue what they’re doing. Ethan may rob a bank and Sully may only steal Carl Roebuck's snowblower but each knows exactly what they are doing. Ethan may work as a clerk in a grocery store he used to own and Sully as a help at the diner he doesn’t own but they are both jobs that expose them to the people they each need to know. Ethan’s wife is a bubbly woman who trusts her husband implicitly while Sully’s ex Vera is troubled and the complete opposite of bubbly, however, both women shape the main characters in tremendous ways. Ethan’s son forges an essay that his daughter reveals bringing Ethan to a crashing conclusion in life, while Sully’s son teeters on divorce after banging a grad student and goes to Sully for guidance bringing Sully’s to a crashing conclusion about life. Each story is vastly different yet the message is still the same and it matters not how old you are or what year the calendar says, these problems occur without bias or prejudice.
Each author has his own style of writing that is, of course, individualistic in that Steinbeck can capture the mood and tone in conversation quicker than Russo can capture it with all his in-depth picturesque details but each has a style for animating a character realistically. With both authors, the reader will be carried through the story at an even pace. Steinbeck has a knack for comedy in his words through satire and figurative language while Russo has a more dry comedy that is more every day non-figurative but literal coincidences and ironies to life. They both write in the contemporary realistic fiction genre that pulls, successfully, bits and pieces of each main character's surroundings together to help build a solid street for Ethan to walk to work down and a solid house for Miss Beryl to house Sully in. Without these two elements giving light to each character's past we wouldn’t know how exactly these two characters got to be such characters. Both writers have a wonderful way of capturing each main man's ability to have created a world around themselves full of blinders that stayed thoughtfully intact until their kid shattered all the tinted glory. Both authors do this while also capturing the frailty of each books strong woman. A man is only a man with a strong woman behind him and the thought that he must keep that woman safe from harm, even if that harm is himself. Thematically both Steinbeck and Russo create characters who are self-destructive for a man verse a self-style narrative. Steinbeck allows Ethan to tell his own story while Russo tells Sully’s story for him, but in either case, the self-reflective of surviving life’s hard lessons and being able to accept one's own self and choices is clearly depicted to be the central point to both.
Works Cited:
Each author has his own style of writing that is, of course, individualistic in that Steinbeck can capture the mood and tone in conversation quicker than Russo can capture it with all his in-depth picturesque details but each has a style for animating a character realistically. With both authors, the reader will be carried through the story at an even pace. Steinbeck has a knack for comedy in his words through satire and figurative language while Russo has a more dry comedy that is more every day non-figurative but literal coincidences and ironies to life. They both write in the contemporary realistic fiction genre that pulls, successfully, bits and pieces of each main character's surroundings together to help build a solid street for Ethan to walk to work down and a solid house for Miss Beryl to house Sully in. Without these two elements giving light to each character's past we wouldn’t know how exactly these two characters got to be such characters. Both writers have a wonderful way of capturing each main man's ability to have created a world around themselves full of blinders that stayed thoughtfully intact until their kid shattered all the tinted glory. Both authors do this while also capturing the frailty of each books strong woman. A man is only a man with a strong woman behind him and the thought that he must keep that woman safe from harm, even if that harm is himself. Thematically both Steinbeck and Russo create characters who are self-destructive for a man verse a self-style narrative. Steinbeck allows Ethan to tell his own story while Russo tells Sully’s story for him, but in either case, the self-reflective of surviving life’s hard lessons and being able to accept one's own self and choices is clearly depicted to be the central point to both.
Works Cited:
- Steinbeck, John, and Susan Shillinglaw. The winter of our discontent. New York: Penguin, 2008.Print.
- Russo, Richard. Nobody's fool. New York: Vintage, 1994. Print.