Final essay as i was not able to post it on Turnitin

Omar Abdulaziz

Ms. Knapp

19 Dec, 2011

Final Research Paper

A Reader-Response perspective of In Dubious Battle

John Steinbeck was one of the greatest authors of the late 18^th century. Steinbeck wrote many famous books, but perhaps one of his most famous publications was In Dubious Battle. There is a common belief that In Dubious Battle was created for the sole purpose of Communist propagation along with the belief that Steinbeck himself supported a revival of the Communist Party, but whether or not these beliefs are true is a very debatable point. This debate is also focus of my essay. From the perspective of a reader-response critic, I argue that Steinbeck was not a supporter of the revival of the Communist party or Communism itself, but merely an author trying to use Communist themes and philosophy as springboard for other themes. These themes include but are not limited to: activity and work as a group, moral orientation, creating and achieving goals, and accepting changes in life,

In Dubious Battle is set in the apple orchards of Torgas Valley during the Roaring 20’s. The story revolves around two Communist radicals named Mac and Jim. The story begins with Jim joining the Communist party, and since Jim is homeless, he is assigned to live in a safe house. The safe house is where Jim meets Mac, who takes a liking to Jim and becomes his mentor. In the beginning, Jim’s only duties are to write letters, and do any other chores that need to be done. But all that changes when Mac hears of the wage cuts on apple pickers in the Torgas Valley. Knowing that the great opportunity to make a change wouldn’t last long, Mac decides to go to Torgas valley in hopes of starting a protest and takes Jim along for the experience.

After Mac and Jim get to the valley, they come across a small camp of pickers. Mac and Jim help the one of the pickers’ daughter to deliver her baby. By delivering the baby, Mac and Jim win the trust of the picker’s and are accepted into picker group. After they apply for jobs and start working on the farm, they start to indirectly pass the idea of a strike around. Mac and Jim also befriend some of the natural leaders of the picker group, London and Dakin. With the help of the leaders, and constant talk about the strike, it finally breaks out, and all the workers abandon their jobs. There are many encounters after this between strikers and the orchard owners, violent and non-violent. Another member, also from the Communist party named Joy also comes to help Mac and Jim win some of the replacement pickers over to the side of the strikers but is immediately killed. Mac takes advantage of this and uses Joy’s corpse to rile up the workers. But everything that Mac does to keep the strike alive is impermanent, and things start to collapse. Due to the growers becoming angrier day by day, and the intensifying confusion of the strikers, a lot of tension is created. And because of this tension, Jim is shot and killed and the story abruptly ends with Mac using a Jim’s body to propagate aggression. Including a summary of the book is vital to the essay as many examples are used to display the different themes in the book.

As I explained before, the main theme in In Dubious Battle is thought to be Communism, or rather how Communism leads to success. Some examples of Communism include but are not limited to the use of equal shares of the benefits derived from labor in the striker camp, and the very Marxist idea of giving the poor a fighting chance or in our situation, a chance to fight. Keeping these ideas in mind, the reader might be convinced that In Dubious Battle may only be a communist propaganda, but I assure you it is not the central theme. There are much more important themes in the book to look at such as the theme of belonging to a group. A perfect example of this theme takes place during the birth scene. The way Mac involves everyone in the camp, assigning them tasks, makes everyone feel important. Mac knows that involving people in an activity creates excitement. And also after the delivery takes place, Mac has everyone burn the cloth used and unused to create a big bonfire. Mac states that, “Every man that gave part of his clothes felt that the work was his own. They all feel responsible for that baby. It's theirs, because something from them went to it. To give back the cloth would have cut them out” (49). Though the workers knew that that even the unused cloth was being burned, it didn’t bother them because they knew they were part of something bigger than themselves, and that as a group they bought life into the world, that feeling of belonging overpowered their need for something materialistic. Another great example of this theme of belonging to a group is demonstrated in the beginning of the story when Jim is being interviewed for membership. Jim’s explains his life as depressing and without meaning. Jim’s father is killed by the police and his mother follows soon after dying of depression. He explains that he wants to do belong to something again, not to his dead family but to a new family, and so with joining the party, he leaves all his depression and sadness behind. So again, we see the emphasis of belonging to a group.

As the story advances, Mac makes it obvious that it doesn’t matter if the strike succeeds or not. What Mac feels is that, just by giving the Pickers a taste of strike, he has spoiled them with self-confidence and most importantly, an identity. Mac understands the fact that without something to work towards and without an identity, people are lost. He clearly expresses his views in a conversation with London when he says “They know how much capital thinks of them and how quick capital would poison 'em like a bunch of ants.... We showed them two things- what they are, an' what they have to do.(327)” Even if the strike fails the idea and feeling the strikers felt would never die down, the idea of strike was planted and it would grow and grow, it no longer depended on Mac and Jim. What I extract from this is that knowing your objectives and your identity should be a goal in life, the workers were lost and Mac and Jim gave them an identity as strikers and an end goal which was to win the strike. This goal is as applicable in modern times as it was in this situation.

But going back to where Mac says that it doesn’t matter to him whether the strike is a success of failure, I would like to add that not only were the strikers given self-confidence and an identity, but also an understanding that they have rights. The reason there was never a strike before was because the workers failed to recognize these rights. Now that the idea was present, it would spread like an infection. This renders the matter of winning or losing the strike insignificant. Torgas Valley was just one of the many places that workers were being treated unjustly, Mac knew that even if this strike was a loss there would definitely be a victory. He clarifies when he says "We haven't a chance. I figure these guys here'll probably start deserting as soon as much trouble starts. But you don't want to worry about that, Jim. The thing will carry on and on. It'll spread and some day- it'll work.(161)” In this quotation and throughout the book, we always see that one lingering idea that is so strongly suggested by Communism, which is, if put very simply, to free the worker from the grasp of the Wealthy. Communism seeks to vanquish the social classes so there is no upper class, and to give power to the worker, and that is what In Dubious Battle seems to be all about, fighting against the Wealthy. But expressing this Communist theme was definitely not Steinbeck’s intention. Steinbeck is merely using this idea to show that a large war cannot be won in a single battle. Steinbeck perceives the minor strikes and struggles the Communist party went through as small bricks that fit into a much larger and stronger wall. Just because you lose a battle doesn’t meant that you should give up, the more you push while expecting to win the better your chances are of winning. Steinbeck provides the reader with something to relate their problems to by using Communist struggles of the 1920’s and the 1930’s. Whether it’s a family problem or a work problem, you can only win if you take it one step at a time.

I also noticed that at several places in the book, the strike appears to be collapsing around the strikers. But then every time the strike is saved because a new idea is introduced thus slightly changing the focus but keeping the strike alive. When the workers are going to jump Mac and Jim, London’s fight saves them, when the cops try to stop the strikers at the train station; Joy gets shot by a vigilante. This leads the workers to fight not only for them but also for the Joy. Even when Jim shows his face as a leader and is then shot, nothing ever slows down, Mac just uses his body as a symbol of the struggle through which everyone was going through, and gets the strike moving again. What these examples show is that to keep something moving, you can always change its direction by a little bit for the sake of keeping it going. This principle or theme can apply to any industry, warfare, and even moral principles. There are always options, and if you choose to step around or create a new path, you will keep on moving.

 Towards the ending of the book, which is Jim’s death, Steinbeck leaves the reader with many unanswered questions like what happens to Doc Burton, do the strikers succeed or not, and does London join the Communist party or not. I believe that Steinbeck’s purpose for these cliffhangers was to point us towards another significant theme, which is that certain things have no ending. Steinbeck displays this universal idea perfectly by not providing closure.

Steinbeck articulates many themes in In Dubious Battle, but Communism is not one of them. Communism is used as background to which the highlights (themes) are added. To sum it up, Steinbeck showed me that the need to belong in a group and have my own identity along with objectives is my basic need as a human; he showed me that not every war can be one with a single battle and to overcome your problems you have to take it one step at a time. Lastly, by leaving an uncertain ending, Steinbeck shows us that closure is not as important as it seems to be, and that not knowing is sometimes better than knowing. Ignoring these themes as you realize how deeply they are rooted in the essence of modern society is impossible. And thanks to Mr. John Steinbeck, they will remain there for many centuries to come.

Work Cited

Blunden, Andy.  The Principles of Communism.  2005.  12/17/11     <http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm >.

Downing, David.  Communism.  Not Given: Heinemann Library, 2002.

Not Given.  The Martha Measely Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies.  Not Given.12/13/11      <http://as.sjsu.edu/steinbeck/society/index.jsp>.

Steinbeck, John. In Dubious Battle. Rose bank, Johannesburg: Penguin Books, 2006.

Jim's Progression

Editor's Post

Central Theme: Move Forward Look toward the future.

Tom is about to leave and feels conflicted. Anastasia convinces him that he is making the right decision.

Scene: Very early morning, before sunrise. Clear night, Tom has just left his house to travel to a place far away. He walks up to the boarding plank of the ...ship and pauses at the foot of the plank. He looks back and forth, nervous almost like someone is following him.

Tom: (pacing back and forth with nervous energy) When's that blasted boat leaving? I got places I need to be!

Anastasia walks on stage, swinging an umbrella and a suitcase, smiling widely. She is a woman of about thirty years. She hears Tom's last sentence.

A: Where do you to have to be, young man?

T: (looks up, startled) Do I know you, ma'am?

Anastasia: No. But you look like you're leaving, same as me. Catching the first boat out of North Carolina huh?

Tom: Yeah... (long pause)

A: Where are you going?

T: I joined the merchant's association. I guess I'll go wherever they need me. At least it's away from here.

A: What's wrong with staying here?

T: Nothing for me.

A: What about your family?

T: They're back in Tennessee, where the rest of my problems are.

A: You don't look like the type to have problems.

T: Well, I do. And if you knew half of my story, you'd agree.

A: Huh. Does your family know where you are?

T: Not exactly. But by now, they know that I'm gone.

A: So you're leaving your poor old ma out in the wilderness by herself. Very noble of you.

T: She's not alone. She's got my sister. Not my dad, though.

A: Hmm....sounds like you do have problems. You think going away is going to help?

T: I don't know...I'm sure they'll be alright... (under his breath) I hope.

Anastasia sits down next to him, leaning close. Tom leans away nervously.

A: I left home when I was your age. I was the oldest of three and sick of hanging around. Thought I was leaving for something better. I went to New York, New Orleans and Chicago. Had me a fine time of it, champagne, pretty clothes and lots of men to keep me company. Decided to go home a few years ago, and when I got back, my brother and sister had married, had kids, and my ma and pa were dead. My nephews and neices didn't even know me. I'd missed it all.

T: I'm sorry to hear that.

A: I'm sure you are. But I'm not looking for pity.  Now I'm not gonna get into a contest with you about who's had the worst time of it, but if you feel like leaving the best thing for you, I guess you should go on and make your own way.

T: Thank you! My sister and mother don't understand. I have to go! I need to support myself without worrying about them. They were just dragging me down, all the time, trying to take care of them, support them. I don't want that for the rest of my life.

A: Well, you can put all the distance between you and your mother and sister that you want, all the oceans in the world, as far the Merchant's Assiocation will take you. But they're still gonna be your family, for all your leaving.

Tom looks down dejectedly.

T: I know. But I feel like I should. (getting angry) Who are you to tell me what to do anyways? I don't even know you. This is my life, I'll live how I want.

A: I'm not saying you gotta go back. I'm saying, don't forget. You and me, we're cut from the same cloth. We both left, looking for something better. Wherever you go, young sir, I hope you find what you're looking for.

T: That's just it--I don't know!

Foghorn sounds from behind them.

A: Sounds like that's your boat.

T: Yeah, it is.

A: You gonna leave?

Long pause. Tom looks down and then back up to Anastasia.

T: Yeah, I'm gonna leave. Find what I'm looking for.

A: Then I wish you all the luck in the world. And remember--don't forget.

Anastasia gets up and leaves Tom alone. He looks up at the boat and slowly begins to board.

All credit goes to Adam Flores

Rough Draft: Week 6

Marjane Satrapi is a child who lived through the Persian revolution and the Iraq-Iran War. She is a rebellious little girl and her parent's decide that Iran is no longer a safe place for her. I am going to try to examine the specific reasons her parents opted to OR chose to send her away and weigh the external cause and internal effect of these situations. And I will also explain to you what exactly was Marjane rebelling against? School? Religion? Government? Her parents?

            Marjane’s story starts when she is a 10 year old in school, and the Islamic revolution Is taking place. Marjane’s life before the Islamic revolution was very different, she used to go to a Non- religious French school, her mother never wore the scarf, and all in all her family considered themselves very modern and as she puts it “Avant-garde” (p.6). Marjane is raised to think with science and logic which religion interferes with. But despite this fact, Marjane thinks of herself as a very religious person and believes that she is the last prophet of god because she talks to him in her imagination. From a historical background she comes from a line of royalty. Her Great grand-father was the king of Iran until Shah Reza overthrew him. After that, He made Marjane’s Great-Grandfather’s son, Marjane’s Grandfather his Prime Minister. Marjane’s Grandfather angry and rebellious is frequently thrown in jail and her family suffers deeply from it. Marjane is told the story of her Family at a young age, but she is still far too young to connect dots between her family’s struggle and the Revolution. She has no idea how much her parents truly believe in the Revolution.

            Going back to Marjane’s childhood, one of the first things Marjane mentions is that she doesn’t like to wear the mandatory scarf at school because she didn’t understand why she had to. Her relationship with god was different than what society at that time believed to be. For the society, The scarf was a part of the Fundamentals of Islam, and it was enforced to make people accept the religion. Marjane already considers herself very religious, so she assumes that she is doing nothing wrong by god by not wearing the scarf.

            As I mentioned before, Marjane believes she is the last prophet of god and that she frequently communicates with him in her imagination. Marjane is pretty confident about this belief and she doesn’t think any different because her Grandmother, becoming her follower, clears any doubt from her mind that she is wrong. So when Marjane is asked in class what she wants to be when she grows up, Marjane confidently answers that she is going to be a prophet. The class and teacher’s reaction is shocking to Marjane; The teacher notifies her parents and the kids laugh at her. The Internal affect of this is that Marjane starts to lose faith in god, when asked by her parents what she wants to do in the future, she lies and tells them that she wants to be a doctor. Her parents’ approval shows her that they are relieved she isn’t thinking about being a prophet anymore. She feels guilty towards god and tells him she still wants to be a prophet, but the doubt has seeped in.

Marjane takes a break from thinking about her duties as a prophet and holds a protest in her backyard, seeing her interest in the protest; Marjane’s parents buy her books to “enlighten” her. Marjane becomes absorbed by these books and is absolutely fascinated with history. In her next conversation with god, Marjane doesn’t even want to talk about being a prophet anymore. (Because) Marjane is most influenced by the theory of Dialect materialism by Descartes, She know unsure if whether god even exists because as the theory goes, even if you see something it doesn’t exist because its only your imagination. Marjane cries later on that night because her parents won’t let her go to the protest, Marjane seeks refuge in gods comforting words whenever she is troubled , but this time God doesn’t come to her. Marjane loses hope and basically abandons religion at this point and her focus shifts completely towards the revolution.  Her parents go to protest every single day and they come back exhausted. Marjane becomes angry that they don’t spend time with her. And she naughtily claims to love the king because he is chosen by god; of course she knows that her parents don’t agree with this. But her father anyway explains to her how the king was actually chosen. He tells her about her family history and how her great grandfather was overthrown by the shah and how his son, her grandfather was the prime minister. Marjane’s grandmother elaborates more on the situation and the challenges she faced without her husband. This is a lot of information for a little girl to handle, Marjane still isn’t clear on why the revolution is there, and what it means to her, she definitely feels sorry for her grandmother and grandfather, but she cannot link it to the revolution.

 While this is taking place, Marjane’s Mother reveals to Marjane’s grandmother that her dad went out to take photos of the rebellion which is strictly prohibited and that he is very late, Marjane catches on and soon she starts to think of her father as a dead man. But to her satisfaction, her father finally shows up and her mother and grandmother are happy again. Then after the mood settles down, Marjane’s father explains why he was late with sad story about a widow whose husband died of cancer but some protesters mistook him for a martyr. To Marjane this sounds like a serious and sad story, but then all of a sudden her parents start to laugh, this is a turning point in the book because Marjane realizes that there is something humorous about the story but since she can’t understand it, she know knows that she has no idea about what the revolution is actually about. This realization she experiences drives her to acquire a better understanding of the revolution. After extensive research and contemplation, Marjane understands the reason for the Revolution, but not before she also finds the reason for the guilt she feels when she sits in her father’s Cadillac and the sadness Mehri feels when she is deprived of her relationship. The reason for the Revolution as Marjane figures is the difference between social classes. Now that Marjane has a clear understanding of the Revolution, she takes a bold step by going to a protest alone with Mehri without notifying her parents. This is Marjane first act of true rebellion. She is no longer protesting under the influence of her parents or the people around her, but she is protesting for a reason that she has firm belief in.

After the triumphant end of the revolution, Marjane and her family go through some very emotional experiences such as, Marjane’s dad losing his two oldest friends through murder and Marjane losing her Uncle Anoosh because of state execution. Through conspiracy and cunningness the New Republic created by the revolution once again becomes a Dictatorship led by Fundamentalists and the protests start all over again. Marjane’s mother convinces her husband to let Marjane go with them to the protest, and so Marjane goes with her parents to a protest for the first time. It turned out to be that the protest got so violent so fast that Marjane and her family were forced to leave. After that first protest, the situation in Iran got worse day by day until Marjane and her family decided to take a vacation Italy. The point I am trying to make here, is that this is probably one of the contributing factors to the Decision Marjane’s parent’s make of sending her to Austria. The fact that they had to seek refuge in another country, because the condition in their own country was so dangerous, lead (Internal Effect) them to ask the question of whether it was okay to raise a child in this atmosphere.

After Marjane and her family come back from their “vacation”, they discover some shocking news; Iran and Iraq are at war, the Second Arab Invasion in 1400 years has started. Marjane is furious at this fact and wants to fight for her country. In a sense of the word rebellion is a refusal of obedience or order and it may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state. Since Iran is fighting Iraq, its goal is to destroy the authority of Iraq. In other words Iran is rebelling against Iraq. Therefore, Marjane wants to “rebel” for her country and this is why I consider it an act of rebellion.

  We can see just how devoted she is to her country in the scenes where Marjane and her family are listening to the radio or watching the news about the war, she is happy when Iran makes progress and she is sad when Iran retreats. The atmosphere that’s created in these scenes is very similar to the atmosphere of the scenes that take place during the Islamic Revolution; based on the fact that Marjane is celebrating “with” her family just as she was before, and she is excited when they are excited and she is sad when they are sad. But the difference here is that Marjane is actually feeling these emotions independently, they are no longer driven by what her friends or parents feel but rather because she understands what a victory to Iran means and what a Loss means to Iran, she even has a difference of opinion with her father in one of these scenes and declares him a defeatist. I think this fact is important to point out because Marjane’s parents probably start to notice that she is starting to think independently, and take this into consideration when deciding on sending her to Austria or not because it could bring her harm. Even though they don’t realize that she is thinking independently now, the fact that she labeled her father a defeatist is proof enough.

After these events event’s showcasing Marjane’s independent thinking and rebelliousness take place, we are finally at a point in the story where we see Marjane rebelling against things other than the government which begs to ask the question: What is Marjane Rebelling against? In order, the first entry should be the shah but that revolt was a success and is now irrelevant. So the first thing Marjane rebels against is Iraq. The second would be the school, the third would be her Mother, and the final would again be the school; a very confusing pattern indeed.

In the same way that the school enforces these practices such as the torture sessions and making winter gear for the soldiers onto the students, the government enforces these practices on the school. Yes, Marjane does rebel in school by goofing off in the torture sessions and saying inappropriate things, but what she is actually rebelling against is the practices the government enforces on the students. I believe that Marjane is rebelling against the ideas and themes of Fundamentalist Islam that are oppressed upon her by the government. Ergo, she is rebelling against the government.

There is also a scene in the book where Marjane’s mother is angry with her for ditching class, Marjane has a fit, and rebels against her mother by smoking a cigarette in the basement. Marjane is rebelling because she is angry at her mother, but her temper is short –lived, she completely forgets about it after a while and her focus moves back to the school. So Yes, Marjane does rebel against her mother out of anger, but it begins and ends so quickly that it is insignificant.

In the end, Marjane’s behavior and actions at school are responsible for the final push her parents needed to send her to Austria. But not for the minor things that I mention in the earlier paragraph, they are definitely a small part of it but the more significant events occur when Marjane is out and about one day when a bomb hits her street, she quickly rushes back fearing the worst but she finds her family and is calmed. But then, Marjane notices that her friend Baba-Levy’s house is destroyed and as she is walking past it, she sees Baba-Levy’s Bracelet lying in the rubble, she also sees the wrist that its attached to…Baba-Levy and her family are dead and Marjane is devastated.

After this incident Marjane realizes that what happened to Baba-Levy could have easily happened to her as well, she also realizes that if she could die at any moment, then she has nothing to be scared of, this idea takes her rebelliousness to a whole new level. It starts with her wearing jewelry to school after explicitly being told not to, then Marjane gets physical with her principal which results in her getting expelled, and her final act of rebellion happens when she criticizes her teacher in the middle of religion class. After Marjane is sent home that day, her parents gets a call from her teacher cautioning that Marjane’s objection in class was a serious offense and that even though she hadn’t sent a report to authorities this time, the situation would be different next time.

Week 4 : What do you think Marjane is going to do about her situation : Make a prediction. What would you have done, if you were in Marjane's position

I think that Marjane is definitely going to be deeply affected by what she has been through as a child for the rest of her life. She will never forget the sadness she felt when her friends were killed, or when they were imprisoned and taken away. But I also think that she is going to be a more content and happy for the rest of her life. What I Mean is that she will appreciate the having a “choice” in the matter of whether she wanted to wear a scarf or not, or having the freedom to play cards without hiding from the neighbors, drinking and smoking with friends, basically things we take for granted because she knew she would be put in jail for or worse if she did or did not do them. So in that way I think Marjane is going to make the best of her time in Turkey, going to school, missing her parents and enjoying life, but I am certain that she is not aware of how lucky she is to be safe and sound in Turkey, many kids her age and their parents were not so lucky. I predict that Marjane’s parents will not live to see the end of the revolution and that Marjane will go back to Turkey to start her life as a young woman. If I was in Marjane's position , I think I would not have the same kind of courage this little girl did . The places she acted defiantly like mocking her teachers and riling up her fellow students, I would stay silent and follow the rules for fear of putting my self at risk/ harm and also my parents . I would probably show my defiance inside closed doors, specifically in my room , decorating it with posters and listening to music like Marjane does. Throughout the book , we see these scenes where Marjane is talking to other children, what I find fascinating about these scenes is that Marjane is always the one who is leading these scenes, like everyone is answering her questions and they are all listening to her, and whatever she hears, she first goes and confirms with her parents whether she should believe this or not. If I was in that position , I would probably believe anything my friends told me and probably not discuss anything with my parents.