Contribution to Literature

In 1935, Steinbeck wrote his first successful piece, Tortilla Flat, which is a series of humorous stories about Monterey paisanos. In Dubious Battle was written in 1936. This novel deals with the strikes of California fruit workers. Next came the famous Of Mice and Men followed by a collection of short stories entitled The Long Volume. In 1939, Steinbeck wrote his most famous novel, Grapes of Wrath, which is about Oklahoma farmers who move to California to become migratory workers when they cannot find work in Oklahoma. Much of Steinbeck's writing was about the economic problems of rural labor and aspects of the Great Depression. Some of his other works included East of Eden, The Winter of Our Discontent, and Travels with Charley. John Steinbeck contributed greatly to the development of American literature and expressing the struggles of workers throughout eras including the Great Depression.