Travels With Steinbeck

My favorite book of all time is East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I've always been interested in reading, but it wasn't until I read East of Eden that I became seriously interested in writing. Not only is the story excellent, but I found myself drawn to Steinbeck's writing style. A quote from his Nobel Prize acceptance speech that really speaks to me as a writer is, "I hold that a writer who does not passionately believe in the perfectibility of man, has no dedication nor any membership in literature."East of Eden is Steinbeck's modern retelling of the book of Genesis continually through several generations of the Trask family. One of the most powerful scenes is as follows:

Lee's hand shook as he filled the delicate cups. He drank his down in one gulp. "Don't you see?" he cried. "The American Standard translation orders men to triumph over sin, and you can call sin ignorance. The King James translation makes a promise in 'Thou shalt,' meaning that men will surely triumph over sin. But the Hebrew word, the word timshel-- 'Thou mayest'-- that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if 'Thou mayest' it is also true that 'Thou mayest not.' Don't you see?"

"Yes, I see. I do see. But you do not believe this is divine law. Why do you feel its importance?"

"Ah!" said Lee. "I've wanted to tell you this for a long time. I even anticipated your questions and I am well prepared. Any writing which has influenced the thinking and the lives of innumerable people is important. Now, there are many millions in their sects and churches who feel the order, 'Do thou,' and throw their weight into obedience. And there are millions more who feel predestination in 'Thou shalt.' Nothing they may do can interfere with what will be. But 'Thou mayest'! Why, that makes a man great, that gives him stature with the gods, for in his weakness and his filth and his murder of his brother he has still the great choice. He can choose his course and fight it through and win." Lee's voice was a chant of triumph.

The reason that I love the story, this scene especially, is because of what it means to characterization. By having the power of choice, it gives full responsibility over to the characters of their own lives. Ever since reading the novel, I have found that a large part of my writing revolves around the choices of my characters and how they must choose to be either bad or good.
        Obviously Steinbeck wouldn't have such a profound effect on me if I just liked one of his novels. I like his writing style a lot and unfortunately he is no longer alive so he doesn't have anything he has posted online. One website has 6 tips from when Steinbeck was still living that I like. My favorite is his comment on character speech. Whenever I write, I tend to mutter to myself the bits of dialogue to see what fits for each character. I also just really love his Nobel Prize acceptance speech in general because you can just tell of his love for the craft. You can also tell that he has such faith in the human race that I find so refreshing, especially with someone that saw the horrors of World War II as a war correspondent.