The Rise of Materialism Exposed in Winter of Our Discontent :: Winter Our Discontent

The tog out of Materialism Exposed in Winter of Our Discontent   John Steinbeck understanded alarm and disapproval to the rise of materialism and the post-World War 2, capitalistic morals constitute in America during the 1960s. These views were expressed through various characters in his refreshed The Winter of Our Discontent . This book dealt with the downward spiral of a wide man, Ethan Allen Hawley. Pressured on all sides by influences once considered immoral, but now real in the 1960s, Ethan, a grocery store clerk from a family of sea captains and wealthy businessmen, ...traded a habit of conduct and attitude for comfort and self-worth and a cushion of security (257).Ethans son Allen embodies the ideals of the up and coming contemporaries in the 1960s. Growing up in the age of the supermarkets, game show scandals, and fixed traffic tickets, Allens view of Something for nothing. Wealth without effort (91) represented the take up opposite that of his pose. Ethan, a man perhaps too concerned with the past, was a character Steinbeck used to speak his voice. Ethan was a man accustomed to honesty, honourable business, and respect.Allen be intimated in a world much different than that of Ethan. Allen was raised mentation that being dishonest, immoral, and underhanded was accepted. Everybody does it. Its the way the cooky crumbles. (353), Allen said when confronted by his father about plagiarizing famous speeches for the I Love America Contest. The plainly real opposition came when a person got caught. It almost seemed as if bon ton allowed these illegal actions as long as the person(s) evaded punishment. The only reason Allen seemed crushed was because he got caught, not because what he had done was wrong. Steinbeck seemed to show that he matte family history to be very important. Ethan showed great persistence in inquire Mr. Baker about the sinking of the Belle-Adair , which Ethans predecessors felt to have been purposefully burn down by the Baker family for the insurance money. Ethans primary motivation to make a few immoral decisions came from internal pressure he felt to live up to the name of Hawley. He seemed very self-conscience and maybe even discredited of the fact that he was a lowly grocery clerk, in a foreign owned store, which his family had once owned. Ethan began to hate Mr. Baker when he ascertained that the Baker family had used the Hawleys trust in them to gain more disembark in New Baytown by giving bad investment tips.