In Dubious Battle Analysis

Don't try to pin this one on Google Earth—it doesn't exist. And despite scholars' best efforts, there is no single location in Central or Northern California that quite matches Steinbeck's descri...

Outside the extensive dialogue, Steinbeck uses an objective third-person point of view to mimic a journalist's point of view. Of course, Steinbeck's not a reporter, and he's not really objective. D...

Steinbeck initially imagined this book to be a work of reportage, a first-person account of a London-like character who was a natural "boss" for a group of workers in the orchards. Steinbeck was pa...

Even when things go badly for our protagonists—and we mean really, really badly—there's a kind of stoicism in Steinbeck's narration that propels the story forward. This is a drama-free zone, so...

Because this work is primarily carried by dialogue, the writing reflects the personality and speech patterns of the workers. Steinbeck is careful not to be too "high-falutin'" with his language or...

Steinbeck gets the phrase "in dubious battle" from a line in John Milton's Paradise Lost (I.104). In that passage, Satan is talking about how he fought with God, lost, and wound up as King of Hell...

Innumerable force of Spirits armed, That durst dislike his reign, and me preferring, His utmost power with adverse power opposedIn dubious battle on the plains of HeavenAnd shook his throne. What t...

Oh, the ending. Spoiler alert: make sure you fill up with happy before you get to the end of this book.Jim's fate may not come as a surprise to you. After all, his wound doesn't seem to be healing,...

Steinbeck's feel for narrative and realistic dialogue make this book a pleasure to read, with very few hitches—except, of course, for the oppression, grinding poverty, and carnage on just about e...

Jim Nolan walks away from his failed attempt at a life and is accepted for membership in the Communist Party. He tells essential parts of his story to his recruiter, Harry Nilson. We learn that Jim...

Jim arrives at Harry Nilson's office in the hopes that working for the Communist Party will make him feel alive again after a lifetime of violence and hopelessness. He wants a life of purpose and u...

Jim joins the Communist Party and begins working with Mac. The two make their way to Torgas Valley to organize the disgruntled workers.Mac and Jim get the strike underway and move the workers to An...

Steinbeck's admiration for William Faulkner is fairly well known, but he was also influenced by—of all people—Thomas Malory. That's right: the author of the English version of the exploits of K...

We're mostly dealing with references to sexual behavior in this book rather than descriptions of the full monty. The larger issue is that the sexual behavior mentioned generally has a violent or un...

Karl Marx, Das Kapital (9) John Milton, Paradise Lost (epigraph, 139). The epigraph is taken from PL I.101-109. On page 139, Sam tells another picketer that he is "king of hell, now" which refers t...