John Steinbeck was born to middle-lower class family in...

John Steinbeck was born to middle-lower class family in the farming community of Salinas, California. John’s Steinbeck Imagine†¦ your town is suddenly stricken with poverty. Your family business goes under because the economy of your local community can no longer support it. Herds of your closest friends continually move out of the town you grew up in due to a severe shortage of work. The basic necessities of life are so scarce that everyone around you reverts to their animalistic urges to survive. Those who you have came to trust, betray you and your family for selfish reasons. This chaos was typical every day life during the youth of one of America’s greatest writers, John Steinbeck. The environment that engulfed John†¦show more content†¦John was always very enthusiastic about school, and enjoyed all subjects as well as many extra circular activities such as football. as a child, he was always encouraged to pursue intellectual interests by his mother who was a schoolteacher. John’s interests slowly began to shift toward literature and he became very well-read for a high school student. By 1920, John was enrolled at Stanford University where he studied English and European Literature on top of his involvement in many English and poetry clubs. The president of the English club spoke highly of Steinbeck and claimed, â€Å"had no other interests or talents that I could make out. He was a writer, but he was that and nothing else(Benson 69). During breaks between semesters, John worked a variety of odd jobs on ranches, mills, and road gangs. He was known as a very personable man, and worked well with those of a lower socio-economic class than his own (Fontenrose 5). For a period of time John aimlessly switched occupations (including a Newspaper reporter) and returned home to California. John followed the same trend of temporary employment while he pursued his writing. John wrote countless pieces of fiction that publisher’s refused to invest in. It wasn’t until 1929 when John’s first book, Cup of Gold, was published. This piece was a fictitious biography about Morgan the pirate and did not draw the revenue that John