The Winter of Our Discontent
Description
In this penetrating exploration of the American Dream, Ethan Allen Hawley finds himself working as a grocery store clerk in a position far removed from his family's former aristocratic standing on Long Island. Pressured by his restless wife and children's desires for material comforts he cannot afford, Ethan faces a profound moral crisis that forces him to question the very principles that have defined his character. When he decides to abandon his scrupulous standards, Steinbeck masterfully examines the fragile boundary between private integrity and public deception in 1960s America. Through Ethan's internal struggle, the novel offers a searing critique of American society's obsession with wealth and status, revealing how desperation can erode even the strongest moral convictions. Steinbeck's final novel stands as a powerful meditation on ambition, family, and the cost of compromising one's values in pursuit of the good life.
Available Editions
paperback
Penguin Classics
Published Dec 26, 2006
304 pages
ISBN: 9780143039488
ebook
Penguin Group USA, Inc.
Published Jan 1, 2008
337 pages
ISBN: 9781440638671
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Details
First Published
1961
Language
eng
Content Warnings
Content and trigger warnings for The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck.