The Winter of Our Discontent (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: John Steinbeck
- First Published: 1961
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: 1960
- Setting: New Baytown, Long Island
- Principal Characters: Ethan Allen Hawley, Mary Hawley, Joe Morphy, Marullo, Margie Young-Hunt, Mr. Baker, Danny Taylor
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism
- Subjects: 1960’s, Family or family life, United States or Americans, Parents and children, Crime or criminals, Robbery or robbers, Business or business people, Holidays, Scandal, Easter
- Locales: New Baytown, Long Island (fictive)
The Story:
Ethan Allen Hawley awoke on a Good Friday morning in April, 1960, and greeted his wife, Mary, in his usual manner by making funny faces at her. Mary was amused but a bit unnerved; she disapproved of his constant teasing and flippancy, especially on “serious” holidays. At breakfast she asked him if he was going to close the store early for Good Friday. Ethan worked as a grocery clerk in Marullo’s store, a position he resented when he remembered that his Puritan forebears had once been influential in the village. His grandfather, in fact, had owned a ship, which...
[The entire page is 2261 words long]
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