In over thirty years of writing, from the late 1920s to the 1960s, Steinbeck
             has given ample indication that he is not the naive proletarian he has at
             times been called. His stories although almost always encouraging his
             reader to sympathize with his proletariat style characters are much more
             varied than this and it is believed by many critics that Steinbeck worked
             hard to lose his image of "communist radical". This is what led
             Steinbeck's harshest critics to challenge those that offered praise to
             Steinbeck. It is true that a majority of Steinbeck's stories dealt with poor
             under privileged characters but Steinbeck also delt with other themes that
             where influenced by what he experienced in life. In contrast to what the
             critics have said Steinbeck is a writer who diligently exposed issues of the
             30 year period and those issues which where close to his heart. His subject
             matter tended to be simple, but varied. For example, historical romance
             (cup of gold), myth (To a god unknown), ionic realism (the pasture of
             heaven) and epic folk (The grapes of wrath) are examples of subjects
             Through out his literary career Steinbeck was influenced by many political,
             economical and social issues of the 30yr period he was writing in. These
             include WW2, the great depression, women's influence and politics.
             Through these influences Steinbeck was able to create many books that
             encouraged his reader to critically think about themes that carried a
             One major influence in Steinbeck's writing was born when his first two
             marriages ended in divorce. The major difficulties in these marriages
             arose from his fear of settling down and hence Steinbeck was forced to
             think about a women's influence on a man. Cannery Row reveals his
             horror of domesticity (being domestic) and the negative factors a women's
             influence brings about. When Mack and the boys from cannery row hu...