The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck

‘The Winter of Our Discontent’ was John Steinbeck’s last novel and was written in 1960. It is about morality and how he felt American morals were decaying at that time. The book has a very solemn tone, a real downer. Yet it has a very powerful message, one that I find myself thinking about long after I’ve finished it. So if you are up for some dark introspection, this may be the book for you.

Ethan Allen Hawley lives in a small Long Island coastal town in the house of his ancestors. He is the descendent of New England shipping captains who once sailed the seas and brought treasures from faraway lands thus making them the wealthy aristocracy of the area. Ethan’s father lost the family fortune and Ethan lost the family grocery store, the last the Hawley’s businesses where Ethan is now a clerk. The old house filled with family heirlooms is the only material remains of his ancestors. His wife, Mary and their two children, Ellen and Allen, live in the old house with Ethan but often remind him what a failure he is: no car, no television, no family vacations, and no sense of adventure.

Mary has inherited $6000 from her brother and wants Ethan to invest it. But failure has made Ethan risk averse and he sees corruption all around him. The town leaders are all on the take and are positioning themselves to personally profit from the town’s planned expansion. Danny Taylor, his childhood friend and now the town drunk, holds a piece of property that developers are desperate to get control of for their future airport. The local banker approaches Ethan for help in getting the property away from Danny. The town vixen, Margie Young-Hunt visits his store a little too often and provides temptation both sexually and in business. She introduces Ethan to a food wholesaler who offers kickbacks to clerks rather than the owners. A bank clerk across the alley from the store gives Ethan a lesson on how to rob a bank and get away with it. Meanwhile, both of Ethan’s children enter a national essay contest to hail America’s greatness with a prize of notoriety and college tuition.

After many sleepless nights and several discussions with the canned goods in the grocery, Ethan slips off his moral high horse. The current owner of the grocery store is an illegal Italian immigrant who has grown to trust Ethan implicitly. Ethan anonymously turns him in to the immigration authorities and an investigation ensues. The store owner gives the store back to Ethan as the Italian prepares to be deported. Ethan gives Danny $1000 of Mary’s money for rehabilitation that he knows Danny will spend on booze and drugs. Danny deeds his property to Ethan before committing suicide. Ethan makes plans to rob the bank across the alley but is interrupted at the last moment without suspicion. Ethan visits Margie during one of his restless nightly prowls of the town but can’t bring himself to betray Mary. With financial success finally in his grasp, Ethan learns his son, Allen has won the national essay contest but was then disqualified for plagiarism. Ethan already guilt ridden slips into despair in the face of another failure, the failure as a parent.

This is the second time I’ve read this book. I read it before as a teenager, many years ago. It taught me some things about life and made me think about what kind of person I wanted to be. It scared me to think that just one or two bad choices could end so miserably. I think this was Steinbeck’s true gift; his ability to make his fictional dilemma your own. So while I don’t necessarily recommend you read this book (the critics have really torn it apart over the years) I do recommend you read something you read as a teenager. Maybe one of the classics you had to read for English class that impressed you in some way. It’s worth the trip to see what you’ve learned.