Literature Review – Travels with Charley
In Search of America, John Steinbeck and French Poodle on Road Trip
Oct 15, 2009
John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley : In Search of America is a simple, heartwarming piece of literature that sits somewhere between a memoir, a travelogue, and an analysis of the country that the aging author had written about for so very long without taking the time to go see it again for himself.
Steinbeck's Travelling Companions, French Poodle Charley and Faithful Rocinante
A great deal of the narrative includes descriptions or allusions to Steinbeck's only travelling companions in his trek across America – a mature and distinguished french poodle by the name of Charley, and an enduring converted camper known only as Rocinante – also the name of Don Quixote's steadfast horse.
Easy to Read, Enjoyable and Pleasant Literature with a Wise Conscience
The book is extremely pleasurable to read and benefits from a very relaxed and humourous tone – when Steinbeck does engage in more serious themes such as racism or environmental decay these moments are bracketed off as incidental thoughts and reflections, rather than descriptive of the novel as a whole.
That being said, there is also a great deal of depth to the book as is true of much of John Steinbeck's literature. Early in the novel, he describes in great detail the growing problem of physical waste, consumerism, and planned obsolescence.
“American cities are like badger holes, ringed with trash – all of them – surrounded by piles of wrecked and rusting automobiles, and almost smothered with rubbish. Everything we use comes in boxes, cartons, bins, the so-called packaging we love so much. The mountains of things we throw away are much greater than the things we use. In this, if in no other way, we can see the wild and reckless exuberance of our production, and waste seems to be the index …
… The new American finds his challenge and his love in traffic-choked streets, skies nested in smog, choking with the acids of industry, the screech of rubber and houses leashed in against one another while the townlets wither a time and die … And I am sure that, as all pendulums reverse their swing, so eventually will the swollen cities rupture like dehiscent wombs and disperse their children back into the countryside. This prophecy is underwritten by the tendency of the rich to do this already. Where the rich lead, the poor will follow.”
This soulful and perhaps prescient discussion also extends in latter portions of the novel to the question of civil rights and racism – Steinbeck being a staunch anti-racist and nearly getting into a fist-fight with a young southern dandy who was lauding the actions of catcalling racists protesting the inclusion of blacks into the public school system.
Parallels with Tortilla Flat, Paisanos, Old Friends and Ghostly Memories
Travels with Charley also features a brief chapter wherein Steinbeck is called back to an old drinking haunt in Monterey amongst the dirt poor paisanos, the latino underclass and working class patrons sharing drink and memories that, like all bittersweet dreams, curl like tobacco smoke and waft away, or between the fingers of one who might try grasp at them to make them real.
A sobering discussion is had between Steinbeck and Johnny Garcia about the encroachment of change and urbanization on what remained of the old crew of boys become men – including references to many real persons made characters in John Steinbeck's earlier work, Tortilla Flat.
Johnny held his temples between his cupped hands, and his eyes were bloodshot.
“Where are the great ones? Tell me, where's Willie Trip?”
“Dead,” Johnny said hollowly.
“Where is Pilon, Johnny, Pom Pom, Miz Gragg, Stevie Field?”
“Dead, dead, dead,” he echoed.
“Ed Ricketts, Whitey's Number One and Two, where's Sonny Boy, Ankle Varney, Jesus Maria Corcorran, Joe Portagee, Shorty Lee, Flora Wood, and that girl who kept spiders in her hat?”
“Dead – all dead,” Johnny moaned.
“It's like we was in a bucket of ghosts,” said Johnny.
“No, they're not the true ghosts. We're the ghosts.”
This beautiful summation exemplifies what Steinbeck is trying to convey during the entire journey – that all things are transient, that even the most pastoral scene must change, and that in the cities – things change constantly and without regard for petty nostalgia or human feelings.
Other Articles Related to Literature and the Arts
Interested in more works by Steinbeck? How about reviews of The Pearl, The Moon is Down, and Tortilla Flat?
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