John Steinbeck: Tortilla Flat

Published in 1935, Tortilla Flat was the first of John Steinbeck’s works to receive critical attention and acclaim. Written in a warm, conversational, storytelling voice that would characterize many other works of Steinbeck including The Pearl, Tortilla Flat provides a vivid, vignette-laden portrait of the paisanos, who sport “a mixture of Spanish, Indian, Mexican, and assorted Caucasian bloods” (2), as they navigate through life in the multicultural town of Monterey, California, a frequent setting of the author’s writings.

Tortilla Flat’s narrative is centred on two male characters. Upon his return to post-World War I America, Danny learns that he