The Winter Of Our Discontent

Women feature prominently in this novel, mostly as symbols of Ethan’s lack of knowledge and his disconnection. Mary and Margie serve as mirrors to Ethan’s inability to understand others. Mary, his wife, is the source of both his frustrations and his potential. She pressures him to invest the money she inherited from her brother’s death because she wants to live a wealthy life. Despite this pressure, and their lack of open communication, Ethan reminds himself that he genuinely loves Mary. This love, as well as her money, give Ethan hope for his future. But he ruminates often on how disconnected he is with Mary. Mary is a direct challenge to his sense of self; he feels misunderstood by her while admitting to himself that he does not fully know her. Through this marriage, Steinbeck highlights the human conflict that one person can never truly know another person.

Ethan does not reveal his inner self. His public persona, even with Mary, is funny and outgoing while his internal musings are deep and often full of complex thoughts on morality, God, society, and identity. He does not share these inner thoughts with Mary, which highlights two themes: The first is his desire for solitude, and the second is the expectation that husbands and wives in the 1960s do not share their vulnerabilities with each other. Ethan’s role in the marriage is that of a stoic provider while Mary’s role is to take care of the children and network on behalf of Ethan. Ethan’s poverty makes Mary’s role more difficult, and they are at odds on the topic of this poverty. Ethan believes he has everything he needs or wants, but Mary dreams of more material goods and financial security for the family. Mary does not believe in her husband’s ability to achieve wealth. She wants him to entrust her money to men whom she considers more adept at business, such as Mr. Baker. Indeed, Ethan himself admits that decision-making is not his strong point. He has discovered that if he leaves a problem alone, a solution reveals itself naturally. This characterizes Ethan as reactive or passive rather than proactive, another characterization that challenges his masculinity in 1960s America.

Another woman, Margie further challenges Ethan. Like Mary, Margie tries to convince Ethan of his potential. She reads his cards for Mary and predicts that Ethan will make a great fortune. Whether this is true of her reading or not is irrelevant. Rather, Margie’s reading inspires Mary and Ethan to believe in the possibility of Ethan’s future success. Margie is a single and attractive woman. Ethan jokes to Mary that he is having an affair with Margie. Though he jests with Mary about Margie, it is true that Ethan finds Margie attractive. He believes that Margie flirts with him and imbues her with sexual prowess.

The Winter of Our Discontent is in some ways a departure from Steinbeck’s earlier work. It takes place in New York instead of California, and it has a smaller cast of characters, focusing on one man’s experience rather than creating a sweeping, multivoiced narrative, as in The Grapes of Wrath (1939). But certain aspects of the novel are representative of Steinbeck’s writing. Steinbeck places importance on dialogue; whole scenes are comprised almost entirely of dialogue. In his dialogue, Steinbeck characterizes the speakers by their rhythm, cadence, and personality. Vernacular language lends regional specificity to the work and establishes it in a particular time and place.

Humor, another element of Steinbeck’s writing, is important in the novel. Ethan himself provides most of the humor; he likes to joke with his wife to bring levity to serious situations. Ethan’s humor is a defense mechanism against more serious concerns. Steinbeck includes the activity of neighborhood animals to represent the monotony of the town. Each day is predictable for Ethan, a reality that is evident in his familiarity with the neighborhood pets. Also characteristic of Steinbeck’s writing are his descriptions of people and setting. New Baytown is depicted in great detail, with metaphors that imply the historical import of this seaside New England community. Descriptions of characters and setting help Steinbeck set up a foundation for Ethan’s character development. In learning about New Baytown, Steinbeck’s reader can better analyze Ethan’s journey.

Part 1 builds the tension that will culminate in the novel’s climax in Part 2. While Ethan has been reckoning with his morality, he has also been planning ways to acquire money quickly. One of these plans is a bank robbery, the possibility of which seems almost absurd given Ethan’s indecisive nature. His fear of peer judgment and his racial resentment of the wealth that Back residents and immigrants like Marullo are building push him to act outside his usual boundaries.