As I've mentioned before, John Steinbeck is one of my favorite classic authors. I've made my way through most of his major works over the years, but I never got around to In Dubious Battle, so I decided to make it part of my Then Versus Now Challenge. I didn't know much about this one before I got started, so I did a little research before reading.
I learned that this novel is the first in what came to be known as Steinbeck's Dustbowl Trilogy. In Dubious Battle, along with Of Mice and Men, and The Grapes of Wrath all focus on the working class during the Great Depression. The novels aren't connected to each other in a narrative sense, but each one takes place in California and offers a sympathetic look at people on the lower rungs of society during this difficult time period. Each book in the series focuses on a different issue--The Grapes of Wrath focuses on migrant workers, Of Mice and Men focuses on the fleeting nature of the American Dream, and In Dubious Battle, as I was soon to learn, focuses on labor rights and communism.
The story follows Jim Nolan, a man who has become completely disillusioned. He's worked hard all of his life, but has very little to show for it. He's also lost both of his parents fairly recently, his father through violence over a labor dispute and his mother through an illness combined with a loss of her will to live. As a result, he's lost his sense of connection with the world and is seeking some meaningful purpose. He settles on joining the Communist Party and meets up with a local organizer, Mac, who takes him under his wing. He starts off with the simple task of typing letters, but his depression starts to lift once he begins working for a cause he believes in.
Before long, a dispute between the apple pickers and the farm owners in Torgas Valley catches the Party's attention. Mac is sent to try and organize the workers and rally as many of them as possible to their cause. Sensing promise in Jim, he brings him along to teach him the ropes. Jim is excited to learn and take on more responsibilities, but he soon becomes frustrated as Mac repeatedly refuses to allow him to do much on his own. Instead, as Mac begins laying the groundwork to encourage the workers to strike, Jim follows him around, observing his methods.
Through a skillful blend of deception and persuasion, Mac and Jim are able to rally the workers together to strike. Things start off well enough, but it soon becomes apparent that they face a difficult battle. The wealthy citizens of Torgas Valley are extremely adept at breaking strikes and employ a wide range of tactics to run the workers off. The men themselves are also difficult to keep motivated and making sure they stay angry enough to continue fighting is a consistent problem. To make matters even worse, Mac and Jim are almost immediately identified as Communist interlopers by the authorities, meaning that they are now the special targets of police and local vigilantes. Despite these challenges, however, they remain committed to their mission to support the strike and drum up public support for labor reform. As the novel progresses, Mac and Jim must decide the best way to see their job through to the end, whatever the outcome may be.
I had mixed feelings on In Dubious Battle, but one element that I thought was interesting was the way Steinbeck explored Communism. Unlike other books I have read that dealt with this philosophy, he left his thoughts on the matter ambiguous. By not taking a side, he was able to leave a lot of questions open to the reader. For example, how important are the needs of a few individuals compared with the needs to further a movement? What about when you know your movement has no chance of succeeding? Is it still okay to ask people to make huge personal sacrifices then? Throughout the story, Mac tells several lies in order to gain the trust of the workers, some of which have absolutely disastrous consequences for people that truly don't deserve it. Similarly, he knows from the start of the strike that it is doomed to failure. He says so several times. Still, he reasons that all of these sacrifices are worth it if it helps spread sympathy and awareness for the Party. Depending on how you think about the situation, Mac and Jim are either incredibly selfish or devoted activists, and it was interesting to turn that question around in my head.
Jim's growth was also engaging to follow. As the story progresses, he goes from being completely disaffected and aimless to being an eager and inspired leader. His experiences speak to the importance of feeling valued and necessary - of having a goal to work towards that feels righteous. Once he is put into a situation where he has these things he flourishes, even though Mac holds him back from fully participating in Party activities for most of the story. However, the nature of his cause also brings out a rather merciless side of him. In his zeal to protect the rights of workers, he is willing to tell any number of falsehoods and sacrifice an awful lot of lives, which led me to wonder how beneficial his growth actually was for him. These questions only deepened upon finishing the novel and seeing his ultimate fate.
What wasn't so enjoyable for me though, was the pacing of the story. At 269 pages, this was a relatively short book, but it felt long to read. I love Steinbeck's writing, and this was no exception, but the plot was so repetitive that I couldn't help but feel bored throughout a lot of it. Most of the novel was spent watching the characters wonder the same few things over and over. How can we win the men's trust? Will the men stay angry enough? What will the landowners do next? What should our next move be? How will we get more food? How can we get the men to fight? It quickly became too repetitive. This issue, plus the fact that very few characters in the story were likable, combined to create a rather dull reading experience. This felt strange; Steinbeck's serious novels have always had a strong emotional impact on me. I just couldn't bring myself to care as much about what was going on in this story as I usually do.
I eventually want to read all of Steinbeck's novels, so I'm not upset that I read In Dubious Battle, but it's not one of my favorites. It wasn't bad, but my expectations for Steinbeck are sky-high and this story didn't deliver for me. What it did do effectively was raise interesting questions about sacrifice and the needs of the many versus the needs of the few, especially considering its abrupt and brutal ending. Overall, I mildly enjoyed it and I am happy to have crossed another Steinbeck novel off my list.
Total Books Read in 2020: 58
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