Storytelling and Hard Times

“What goes around comes around. For emotional urgency, evocative power, and sustained impact The Grapes of Wrath has few peers in American fiction. Seven decades later it has never been out of print and still sells by the carload." -Robert DeMott

DeMott’s recent BBC news article entitled "Grapes of Wrath, a classic for today?" discusses the role that classic literature can still play in modern times. As we approach hard and heavy economic situations, we must ask ourselves, what are the cultural artifacts that could and should be shaping this moment in history? What kind of stories do we need to hear? Particularly, what kind of stories should those graced with the gift of creative writing be sharing with the world?

Good books do something to us. They change us, leaving us forever imprinted with a message that encourages us to live for the better, and giving us a broader understanding of the human condition. Esteemed poet and former NEA Chair Dana Gioia portrays this sentiment quite eloquently in his essay Literary L.A., With No Apology:

Reading not only illuminates our souls, it makes the lives of others more real to us — in all their diversity and complexity. Books enlarge, enhance and refine our humanity, and slowly transform our society to match our dreams.

Robert Demott's piece on The Grapes of Wrath for the BBC illuminates this illustrative power that stories have to change our lives and our future. While some classic stories like Louisa May Alcott's Little Women talk of the growing up process, sharing difficult tensions-and later resolutions-inherent in almost all family relationships; others like Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath talk of financial strain, the human longing for for a better tomorrow, and hopefulness in the midst of suffering. These deep, rich stories can imbed themselves in our hearts and minds in a very significant way. It is no mistake that Steinbeck won the Pulitizer Prize. His work has stood the test of time and reminds humanity, in the midst of yet another season of immense financial difficulty, that life is worth living.

It seems that stories like The Grapes of Wrath are just the sort of stories we need today, as The New York Times reports an eerie quiet on Wall Street and increasing unemployment. The particular relevance of Steinback's work for a specific place in time affords readers a great deal of wisdom. Dispelling the myth that successful stories must remain detached from both place and time, DeMott suggests quite the opposite:

To become a classic, it is often thought that a book needs to transcend its contemporary origins and remain untouched by subsequent history. But it is more accurate to think that a book becomes a classic precisely because it keeps being informed by the most recent historical developments. A literary classic speaks directly to readers' concerns in successive historical and cultural eras.

To read Robert DeMott’s complete article, please visit: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7992942.stm