This paper mainly aims to explore John Steinbeck’s Taoistic perspectives focusing on The Long Valley. It is a collection of short stories, which was first published in 1938. The short stories were written over several years and are set in Steinbeck’s birthplace, the Salinas Valley in California.
In fact, it is debatable whether or not John Steinbeck’s Taoistic interest in The Long Valley to illustrate Taoist teachings. It may be up to further research to determine whether Steinbeck studied the Tao Te Ching, or whether his friend, Ed Ricketts was the sole source of Taoist influence in his life. Taoist-like, Steinbeck’s thought pattern tends to follow a cyclical movement, to see eloquence in silence, to recognize the limits of human knowledge, and to accept nature as free of value distinctions. The Long Valley illustrates the extent of Steinbeck’s Taoist thinking, especially its belief in the benefit of non-action, its acceptance of human limitations, and its perception of nature as independent of cultural values. I am sure that The Long Valley rendered dramatically Steinbeck’s passionate belief in the oneness of all life. Therefore, as a approach of this study, I chose “The Chrysanthemums”, “The Snake”, “The Red Pony”, and “The Harness”, four stories in The Long Valley. In “The Chrysanthemums”, Steinbeck travels through a day in the life of the thirty five year old Elisa Allen, a modern house wife who is far from the average house wife in the man’s world. Also, In “The Harness”, Peter Randall is depicted by Steinbeck as one of the most admirable men in the Salinas valley, an individual who seems wise in business and personal judgment. His neighbors often follow Randall’s personal decision making, mirroring his actions because they consider it as a good, safe conservative thing to do. And “The Snake” depicts the strange encounter between Dr. Phillips and a mysterious woman who arrives at his laboratory. The central theme revolves around Steinbeck’s interpretation of the contrast between men and women. Finally, “The Red Pony” is filled with complex archetypes and symbolic events which are experienced by Jody, the main character of the book.
Like these, through the protagonists of each story, I can find that all of the interactions between humans and the natural world reflect the philosophical position that human beings do not occupy the center stage of life. Therefore, I think that many stories are filled with the thoughts of Taoism such as non-action, acceptance of human limitation and so on.