In Travels with Charley, Steinbeck is traveling through the U.S. in the early 1960s, when race relations and civil rights were a hot topic, so it's no wonder that race comes up quite a bit. We should warn you that Steinbeck hears and sees some pretty ugly things related to this topic while he's out there on the road, particularly in the South. In fact, in the great climax of the story, he comes across a group of women (the "Cheerleaders") who have made it their mission to protest school integration in New Orleans. Their method? Screaming obscenities. At small children. Yep, like we said: ugly.
Steinbeck seems to want to keep some distance and objectivity from the events he's describing, but he can't resist calling out the "Cheerleaders" for their inhumanity and vileness, and he overall seems disturbed by the racially motivated conflicts he witnesses and hears about.
Questions About Race
- Do you think it's problematic that Steinbeck deals with weighty topics like race in a story that's heavily fictionalized? Why or why not?
- What do you make of how Steinbeck intervenes (or doesn't intervene) in the racial conflicts he sees happening? What does he think his role is in documenting what's going on in New Orleans and the rest of the South?
- Steinbeck makes a big deal about not being racist. What do you think about his comments about race? Does he seem open-minded to you? Biased? Why?
Chew on This
Steinbeck might not be racist himself, but the fact that he's friends with people with questionable opinions—like the guy who defends separate but equal—combined with his naiveté about African Americans beyond the Coopers, make him seem hopelessly out-of-touch with the situation he's supposedly documenting.
Steinbeck's willingness to admit the limitations of his insights into, and knowledge of, race relations make him seem a lot more legit as a source about race relations.