Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck will still remain as a "simple" writer whose prose, to some, has no virtue and zero talent, but that has continued to enchant readers worldwide. I include myself in the latter type simply because I find Steinbeck's novels hypnotizing and filled with social critique that becomes easy to understand, even for the unconscious. The worlds he creates are suddenly relatable and familiar so that they fit with anyone's perception of society, carried into any context, into any town, into any soul. Every letter, word and sentence acquires a quintessential meaning that can only be related to Steinbeck's profound knowledge of the world he creates. His books are personal and meaningful in every sense of the word with stories that John Steinbeck himself lived through or witnessed. Stories that have been prone to censorship and underappreciation because they managed to expose that which is inhibited or looked down upon in society. He was the voice of the Depression, and the voice of poverty.

Tortilla Flat is Steinbeck's first best seller and for a good reason. It tells the story of Danny, the veteran who comes home and inherits two households from his deceased grandfather. He meets with his friend Pilon and they end up living together. One by one, Danny's old friends begin infecting his home (Pablo, Jesus Maria, the Pirate and Big Joe). We get to see the vicissitudes that fall towards the inhabitants of Danny's and see the morality that binds the poor household. The utmost irrefutable force that drives the poor man to commit unfathomable crimes against humanity that are justified by one's misery and disenchantment from society. Treachery of one's own friends in an attempt to survive in the animal world. The humanitarianism and regret that every action carries within itself. And the struggle of contrivance in a society sinked shoulders down in ignorance.

Steinbeck shows poverty as plain as it is. A force that causes disparities in society and that also causes collectivism. The same humanitarian crisis experienced by every single member of Tortilla Town. The same unity that causes regret and empathy towards your equal. Regret is shown as an inevitable burden that one must bear everytime one searches for survival and that is only understood inside your own social circle. The poor man is capable of cold blood betrayal by simple necessity, it's the only human breed that is allowed that luxury. The noble man betrays with no true reason and by pure vanity, whilst the pleb does so in times of need.

Collectivism is part of every soul. Tortilla Flat ends with union at is finest expression with the party to end all parties. The story of how Tortilla Flat forgot every problem and went to celebrate. The story of how mankind is able to come together in times of trouble and the simple necessity of being in companionship. Camaraderie is expressed like a natural flow of nature, like the wish of becoming united so that society progresses on its own rather than individually. Nobility is bound to fall on individualism rather than uniting. By simply showing the human at its core and at its most exposed, Steinbeck manages to highlight everything that escapes the naked eye when its view is obstructed by opulence. And this is how the clichéd expression "money can't buy happiness" finally makes sense.

This was my best attempt to review John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. objectively. He is one of my favorite authors and will continue to do so simply because I'm in touch with humanity, probably in only a minimal fraction compared to Steinbeck's vast social perception.