Tortilla Flat
Context
Overview
In his first commercially successful novel, Tortilla Flat (1935), John Steinbeck creates his own modern day version of Camelot and King Arthur's
roundtable; it is "the story of Danny and Danny's friends and of Danny's house" (1).
As a twist on local color fiction, Tortilla Flat records semi-mythic events from the
lives of the paisanos from Monterey County. Episodic in nature, the tales recount the escapades of Danny
and his group of ragged and drunken friends as they drink, fight, engage in random
acts of petty theft and, occasionally, do good deeds. The hilarious, drunken adventures
of the kind-hearted yet misguided paisanos makes for a rousing, seemingly frivolous little novel. Under the comedic surface,
however, is a provoking picture of alcoholism and poverty that reminds readers of
the substandard social status of Mexican-Americans in California in the 1930s.
Resources
-
Multi Media Links (not yet available)
-
Placing the novel into context (not yet available)
-
Video Teacher Tips (not yet available)