The Pastures of Heaven
Literary Analysis
The Pastures of Heaven is a book written by John Steinbeck a book about multiple short stories that are connected by settings and the appearance of the Munroe family. The Munroe’s do not have bad intentions but they always seem to destruct a family in one way or another, such as indirectly running them out of town or costing them the loss of a family member. A member of the Munroe family serve as foil a character to the other families who live in the Pastures of Heaven to relay the theme. Steinbeck portrays the theme of how a person’s good will sometimes may not have a good result.
Chapter three of the story explores one of the valley’s residents named Edward “Shark” Wicks. Shark desires attention and respect from residents in the town and he is known as the smartest man as well as the man to go to for any advice when it comes to any type of business issue. Shark’s life is built upon lies, however, for the truth is that he really has no money, and all of his wealth was just a big scam. His wife also bore him a beautiful yet unintelligent daughter named Alice; as she got older, her beauty became richer and richer. Shark becomes even more afraid of other men because of this beauty his daughter has and is obsessed with keeping Alice’s purity. Shark especially dislikes a particular boy named Jimmy Munroe which Shark bans Alice to ever speak to him. Shark, with his over-protectiveness and obsession for Alice’s purity, hears that his daughter has kissed and danced with Jimmy while he was out of town. This sends Shark Wicks into a rage, leading him into grabbing a gun and heading toward the Munroe farm; he is arrested and held with a high bond. Shark ends up having to tell the judge and the residents of the Pastures of Heaven that he never had any money. Jimmy is the dramatic foil character to Shark because the truth about Shark comes out and ruins his reputation in the valley. The reputation of Shark being a successful man comes crashing down around
The Pastures of Heaven is a book written by John Steinbeck a book about multiple short stories that are connected by settings and the appearance of the Munroe family. The Munroe’s do not have bad intentions but they always seem to destruct a family in one way or another, such as indirectly running them out of town or costing them the loss of a family member. A member of the Munroe family serve as foil a character to the other families who live in the Pastures of Heaven to relay the theme. Steinbeck portrays the theme of how a person’s good will sometimes may not have a good result.
Chapter three of the story explores one of the valley’s residents named Edward “Shark” Wicks. Shark desires attention and respect from residents in the town and he is known as the smartest man as well as the man to go to for any advice when it comes to any type of business issue. Shark’s life is built upon lies, however, for the truth is that he really has no money, and all of his wealth was just a big scam. His wife also bore him a beautiful yet unintelligent daughter named Alice; as she got older, her beauty became richer and richer. Shark becomes even more afraid of other men because of this beauty his daughter has and is obsessed with keeping Alice’s purity. Shark especially dislikes a particular boy named Jimmy Munroe which Shark bans Alice to ever speak to him. Shark, with his over-protectiveness and obsession for Alice’s purity, hears that his daughter has kissed and danced with Jimmy while he was out of town. This sends Shark Wicks into a rage, leading him into grabbing a gun and heading toward the Munroe farm; he is arrested and held with a high bond. Shark ends up having to tell the judge and the residents of the Pastures of Heaven that he never had any money. Jimmy is the dramatic foil character to Shark because the truth about Shark comes out and ruins his reputation in the valley. The reputation of Shark being a successful man comes crashing down around