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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.
The family talisman in this novel refers specifically to a mysterious stone passed down through the generations. Believed to be originally from China, the stone is beautiful but unidentifiable. Ethan views it as a good luck charm. He instructs his children never to move it and closely analyzes Ellen as she caresses the stone while she sleepwalks. Ellen’s unconscious connection to the stone emphasizes the stone as inherently tied to the Hawley family and symbolizes its narrative importance. Ethan takes the stone on the day of his planned bank robbery. Because the robbery is thwarted, it can be proposed that the stone is not a talisman of good luck, but it can also be argued that the bank robbery was an impossibly foolish plan, so the stone’s luck was in its ability to thwart the robbery. The stone’s symbolic importance becomes clearer in the final chapter of the novel. Ellen, sensing her father’s distress, replaces the razor blades in his pockets with the family stone. The stone directly reconnects Ethan to his family, reminds him of his responsibilities to them and his love for them, and saves his life.
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