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John SteinbeckA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Ethan Hawley is the protagonist and first-person narrator of The Winter of Our Discontent. He is a man who has fallen from familial wealth and power but is satisfied with his life until he notices other people pushing him to realize what they consider to be his full potential. While wondering what his full potential is, Ethan explores options to change his moral code and earn wealth and prestige for himself and for his family. His relative poverty frightens the town because he is the proof that a wealthy white family can experience poverty and diminished social status, and that birthright does not guarantee perpetual wealth. The novel follows his character development from apathetic to ambitious until he ultimately decides that his negation of his own moral code is not worth the guilt and the wealth he acquires. Ethan is easily swayed by other people, but he learns that only he can manifest his own destiny. Ethan also struggles with issues of masculinity. Feeling disconnected from his wife, Ethan turns to richer men to understand how to become greedy and therefore worthy of his wife and family. Ethan’s ultimate redemption is that, despite the immoral things he has done, he resolves to live for a more hopeful future.
By John Steinbeck
Cannery Row
Cannery Row
John Steinbeck
East of Eden
East of Eden
John Steinbeck
Flight
Flight
John Steinbeck
In Dubious Battle
In Dubious Battle
John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck
Sweet Thursday
Sweet Thursday
John Steinbeck
The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights
The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights
John Steinbeck
The Chrysanthemums
The Chrysanthemums
John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck
The Harvest Gypsies
The Harvest Gypsies: On the Road to the Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck
The Log From The Sea of Cortez
The Log From The Sea of Cortez
John Steinbeck
The Long Valley
The Long Valley
John Steinbeck
The Moon Is Down
The Moon Is Down
John Steinbeck
The Pearl
The Pearl
John Steinbeck
The Red Pony
The Red Pony
John Steinbeck
The Wayward Bus
The Wayward Bus
John Steinbeck
To a God Unknown
To a God Unknown
John Steinbeck
Tortilla Flat
Tortilla Flat
John Steinbeck
Travels With Charley
Travels With Charley
John Steinbeck