In Dubious Battle essays

In Dubious Battle essays In Dubious Battle : Criticising Communism and Capitalism John Steinbeck in his great strike novel In Dubious Battle gives, Steinbeck does not just simply praise communism or capitalism for that matter. He is simply telling the positive and the negative of both. Steinbeck criticizes communism by showing how it dehumanizes an individual by making the person view people as simply objects to be exploited for the Party. He praises communism by displaying the intense dedication that Jim, Mac, and others have to the cause and by demonstrating the extreme oppression that the few rich landowners impress upon the working men. By proceeding in this fashion throughout the novel Steinbeck does give a truly accurate depiction of communism. One of the primary reasons for this meticulous illustration of communism is that Steinbeck sought and received information from actual communists. In a letter to his agents Steinbeck writes, " My information for this book came mostly from Irish and Italian communists whose training was in the field, not in the drawin g room. They do what they can under the circumstances."(Lisca 113) This explains the genius behind Mac's character and the genius that Jim acquired later in the novel. They both had the ability to do exactly what the Irish and Italian field workers did, and that was to use everything they possibly could to advance the communist cause. Mac and Jim used everyone and everything that came across their paths. They began using people as soon as they got off the train in the Torga Valley. They risked the lives of Lisa, London's wife, and her newborn child to get the men to work as a team and trust each other. Mac played doctor and acted like he knew how to delver a baby when the only thing he knew was to keep the area clean (Levant). He got the men to work together to help deliver the baby. Mac made sure that every man felt like he had done something helpful to the goal of delivering the baby, even if they...