So when an opportunity arises for Ethan to change his economic and social position, he is tempted, even if it exists in a moral grey zone. At one point, Ethan ponders the fact that his own son will be merely the son of a grocery clerk, rather than an equal amongst the upper class citizens of New Baytown. While he maintains his local standing due to his family name, Ethan can see that he no longer has the prestige that he was once used to. The Hawleys were once one of the wealthy and powerful families of the town but after losing the family money Ethan has to work at the grocery store, owned by an Italian named Marullo. The year is 1960, in the village of New Baytown, a former whaling ship port. (Steinbeck makes the interesting choice to begin both sections of the book with an omniscient narrator before then bringing us directly into Ethan’s mind. Not just because it’s set in New England, in a WASPish type of town, dealing with larger upper class folk, but because it deals with the more subtle issues surrounding money and morality.Įthan Allen Hawley is our protagonist and narrator, most of the time. It’s been a while since I read either Steinbeck’s previous and more famous works but The Winter of our Discontent strikes me as quite different than his other novels. Can you make an immoral choice and still be a moral, good person? This is the question explored in John Steinbeck’s final novel.
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