The Winter of Our Discontent 1202782 224080891 2008-07-07T05:54:34Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other {{infobox Book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books --> | name = The Winter of Our Discontent | title_orig = | translator = | image = [[Image:Johnsteinbeck TheWinterOfOurDiscontent.jpg|200px|First edition "The Winter of Our Discontent" book cover]] | image_caption = First edition cover | author = [[John Steinbeck]] | cover_artist = | country = [[United States]] | language = [[English language|English]] | series = | genre = [[Novel]] | publisher = [[The Viking Press]] | release_date = 1961 | media_type = Print ([[Hardcover|Hardback]] & [[Paperback]]) | pages = 311 pp | isbn = NA <!-- first published before ISBN system started --> | preceded_by = | followed_by = }} '''''The Winter of Our Discontent''''' is a 1961 [[novel]] by [[John Steinbeck]]. ==Plot introduction== The story revolves around [[New England]]er Ethan Allen Hawley, who works as a clerk in a grocery store he used to own. His wife and kids resent their lowly social and economic position, and don't put any value in the high levels of honesty and integrity that Ethan struggles to maintain in a corrupt society. Under this constant pressure, Hawley will eventually manage to get back the store by renouncing his morals, but the new-found wealth will not bring happiness. ===Explanation of the novel's title=== The title is a reference to the phrase "Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son [or sun] of York," from [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Richard III (play)|Richard III]]''. ==Plot summary== Feeling the pressure from his family to achieve more than his current station, Ethan considers letting his normally high standards of conduct take a "brief" respite in order to attain a better social and economic position. On discovering that the current store owner, [[Italian American|Italian]] [[immigration|immigrant]] [[Alfio Marullo]], might be an illegal alien, he first turns him into the [[Immigration and Naturalization Service]] and then deceives him in handing the store back to Hawley. Ethan also considers, plans and rehearses a bank robbery, stopping short of enacting it only because of external circumstances. Eventually, he even manages to become "somebody" in the local town by taking possession of a strip of land needed by local businessmen to build an airport; he'll get the land from Danny Taylor, the town drunkard and Ethan's childhood friend, in exchange for enough money to drink himself to death. In this way, Hawley gets to a position where he's able to get in on and even manipulate and control the behind-the-scenes dealings of the corrupt town businessmen and politicians; no longer will he or his family want for anything. Ethan assuages his guilt by finding excuses: Marullo really wanted to get back to [[Sicily]]; Danny really wanted to die; Mr. Baker the banker is responsible for the decline in the family fortunes, and so on. When he discovers that his son won a nationwide essay contest by plagiarizing his beloved classic American authors, Ethan contemplates suicide. Only the thought of his daughter [[Ellen Hawley|Ellen]] will stop him from doing it, because he hopes that she will be the one that will maintain the morals of honesty and integrity that he had to renounce. ==Main characters in "The Winter of Our Discontent"== *'''Ethan Allen Hawley''' &ndash; a grocery clerk (the story's protagonist) *'''Mary Hawley''' &ndash; Ethan's wife *'''Allen and Ellen Hawley''' &ndash; his adolescent children *'''Danny Taylor''' &ndash; Ethan's childhood friend and town drunk *'''Joey Morphy''' &ndash; bank teller and town playboy *'''Margie Young-Hunt''' &ndash; middle-aged seductress *'''Mr. Baker''' &ndash; town accountant, owner of the town's bank *'''Alfio Marullo''' &ndash; Italian immigrant owner of grocery store [[Image:winter discontent.JPG|thumb|left|150px|Recent paperback cover for ''The Winter of Our Discontent'']] ==Literary significance & criticism== Literary critics have dealt with ''The Winter of Our Discontent'' in a variety of ways; some have praised it as a Steinbeck classic while others have called the book a disappointing work. Some critics claim that the regular and somewhat sloppily constructed soliloquies of Ethan Hawley illustrate a lack of style. Throughout the book, Steinbeck tends to overtly tell the reader what characters are thinking rather than allowing the plot and structure of the novel to reveal their thoughts. In various letters to friends before and after the publication of ''Winter'', Steinbeck clearly states he wrote the novel to address the moral degeneration of [[American culture]] in the 1960s. Literary critics and scholars have condemned ''Winter'' for its poorly concealed moral emphasis, citing that the novel lacks the stylistic integrity of previous Steinbeck works. ==Film adaptation== The novel was made into a [[The Winter of Our Discontent (film)|television movie]] in 1983, starring [[Donald Sutherland]] as Ethan Hawley. {{Steinbeck}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Winter of Our Discontent, The}} [[Category:1961 novels]] [[Category:Novels by John Steinbeck]] [[az:Həyəcanlarımızın qışı]]