Was Steinbeck's depiction of workers criticized?
Some folks, particularly those in power or with an easy life, didn't care for what I showed. They said I was too sympathetic to the down-and-out, that I painted too grim a picture. But a writer's job, as I see it, is to look closely at the world as it is, to hold up a mirror, even if the reflection is uncomfortable. If I show the hunger, the injustice, the way the system grinds people down, it's not to offend, but to make us see. The truth can be a hard thing to swallow, I suppose.
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