There is a specific author and book series that crosses the casualty of everyday instances yet manages to embellish his scenes with vivid elements of moral symbolism and bolden's these scenes with inventive and clever metaphors.
John Steinbeck’s Sweet Thursday is a fictional reading based in the early 1950s in a non-fictional Californian town called Monterey Bay. It was written relevant to the period that the book was published in 1954. It’s a continuation of the previous book Cannery Row which is, although helpful for context, unnecessary to read over to enjoy Sweet Thursday.
Sweet Thursday is read throughout in a third-person narrative on a specific portion in the lives of Mack and the boys, Doc, Fauna, Joseph, Mary, and Suzy, and how they interact with each other in this specific period to create an entire story arc. It begins with each of the character’s post-World War II development from the previous reading of Cannery Row. New character additions to the Cannery Row series are people such as Suzy, Joseph, and Mary who are described from the viewpoint of other characters, their disposition in a scene, and their history that lead them to Monterey Bay.
Sweet Thursday’s central idea is based on the town’s beloved Doc who has been experiencing identity and personality issues after coming back from serving in WWII. Doc’s personality change is not specifically identifiable by Doc or his friends but Steinbeck references his inner voices calling out to him and questioning his purpose. This crisis drives the book’s plot as Doc’s friends try to find a solution for his well-being. They make numerous attempts to bring Doc out of his sorrow without him knowing their concerns. but one will quickly realize what seems like a steady plan can fall into shambles.
Sweet Thursday is an exceptional read done in a narrative format that creates its scenes as if one was watching it right in front of them. Even with a simple conversation, Steinbeck often composes his sentences in a considerably poetic manner. This can specifically be seen with his avid use of adjectives that tend to be quite verbose at times but with context that is extremely appropriate. Often there will be phrases that require to be read over multiple times to understand the general idea of them. This is usually the result of his complex use of figurative language that may weave a few different strategies.
An example would describe the tone of Joseph or Partón’s tone as tenderness of the throat (122). In that example, Steinbeck compliments a synesthetic description of what his throat may sound like but also what it may look or feel like with an adjective such as ‘tenderness’. This is just one example of the plentiful examples of this type of style in his writings. The only drawback is the extra effort required to understand the readings as many sentences use devices that require great effort to fully interpret. From my experience, I haven’t necessarily picked up all the underlying messages that Steinbeck wanted to portray through his writings.
Steinbeck’s writing style in Sweet Thursday implements the philosophical values of humanity. He typically ends many of his chapters with a learned lesson from experiences of the Monterey Bay community or interactions within characters. Most of the time, these messages require some interpretation as they are rarely explicit. He will tell a story of a feud in Monterey and this has little relevance to the story at a quick glance. He ends his chapter by saying that “a thing isn’t necessarily a lie even if it didn’t necessarily happen.” (45) claiming that this entire account was fabricated but the lesson is very real. Morals such as these may be introduced ambiguously but it makes one consider more about what he’s trying to get at. With more consideration and effort, the morale is more solidified. In the quote, he is contradicting the facts of past events with events that didn’t happen. This contrast is proving that the importance of telling a message isn’t important on whether it is based on truth but rather the significance of that message whether it is conveyed factually or not. As a writer, Steinbeck had to sacrifice his messages lacking inherent clarity but under clever sentence structure and deliberate word choice, his messages are often more clear after recognizing the purpose of something like his allegories.
This book likely requires a few read-throughs just to get a good sense of all his messages. I have re-read some portions of the book and found my time well spent getting a completely new understanding of a section’s meaning. In any case, this book is a great source for improving proficiency in one’s writing with its prevalent device usage whether that be in storytelling or an academic essay.
Simply put, what may be interpreted as a downside due to the challenging nature of Steinbeck’s writing style Sweet Thursday is a work to appreciate. Steinbeck manages to convey many feelings with few words. This kind of strategy is quite a prominent trait in great authors. Sweet Thursday is a fantastic read and it is recommended for any reader that desires a great reading with a smooth narrative of small-town Californian life and beautiful orchestration of language to witness the happenings in Monterey Bay’s Cannery Row.
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