What would Steinbeck write about today?

When I was in college I did a paper on “Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck. Steinbeck wrote the award winning novel in 1939 as a chronicle of the great struggles suffered during the dust bowl days of the Great Depression. The conventional wisdom was that Steinbeck meant the novel primarily as a social commentary about the conditions of the times. That was what the college professor that I had at the time expected to get back in the papers that she assigned,

What I wrote about was the use of the times as a vehicle for Steinbeck to write about the ability of people to survive and persevere in times of great hardship. I got an “A” on that paper for seeing the novel in a whole different light, perhaps one that even Steinbeck didn’t realize as he penned it (although I really believe that he did).

I wonder what Steinbeck would right about today. I’ll bet he would find another award winning novel in the hardships being suffered today by the displaced homeless. He wouldn’t have a bunch of hard scramble sharecroppers to use; but, I’ll bet he could find plenty of material within the families of the laid off auto worker, or the struggling middle class family whose mom just lost her job and the family can’t afford the house payments any more. These are our generation’s “Joads”.

And just like the Joad family in Steinbeck’s novel, our modern families will find a way to survive. They may have lost the family home, but they will find a place to land and eventually they will find new work and a way back. The fact is that we, as a people, have great resiliency. We also have great compassion and a willingness to help each other out. So, even though we are currently in what some are calling the worst recession since the Great Depression, we will find a way to survive.

As Little Orphan Annie always says, “The Sun’ll come out tomorrow.” And, we’ll still be there. And, that’s the important thing. We will persevere. I still think some writer should do a story about the trials of those displaced by foreclosure in this recession. There is a powerful story there somewhere; or to paraphrase the tag line from an old TV show, "There're a million stories in a foreclosed city."

P.S. I just couldn't help myself when I found this graphic. There's just too much cynic left in me. Where's Little Mary Sunshine when I need her?