The Pastures of Heaven: Major Themes
Steinbeck in his apartment on the Upper East Side, New York City, New York, around 1942, ten years after the publication of The Pastures of Heaven. Photo by Josef Breitenbach.
Self Deception and Disillusionment
Typical of characters in many of Steinbeck's later works, several characters in The Pastures of Heaven live lives of practiced self-deception. For many of these characters there is a great divide between reality and how they actually perceive themselves and their circumstances. Unable to recognize or understand the true reality of their situations, they end up disappointed and disillusioned, usually when their self imposed blinders are stripped off by outside forces. For instance, Pat Humbert develops a strong, detailed fantasy and convinces himself that he will successfully court Mae Munroe based on a simple passing comment he overhears. In preparing to court Mae, Pat spends many months and all of his savings remodeling one room in his house, a room he intends to so enthrall her that she will fall irresistibly in love with him. When he finally gets the courage to invite Mae over to see his new parlor, he discovers that while he has been busy remodeling, Mae has become engaged to William Whiteside. Pat is so disappointed and crushed that he cannot even bear entering his home. The new vibrant room, like the rest of his home and his life, now seems "dark and unutterably dreary" (168).
Another example of self-deceit can be seen in Shark Wicks, who builds a detailed façade of wealth that all of his fellow townspeople actually believe exists. He convinces the entire town he is considerably rich and a shrewd business man, despite the fact his wealth is only a figment of his imagination. The truth is eventually discovered when Shark is arrested on his way to assault Jimmy Munroe who danced with and kissed Shark's daughter. Shark is broken and humiliated and finally admits to his wife and the town that "every bit of it was lies. [He] made it all up. Now everybody knows" (39). The shame of having to face reality forces Shark to leave the valley.
Helen Van Deventer is another character who refuses to accept the reality of her situation. Against doctor's orders, Helen hard-headedly insists on caring for her mentally ill daughter Hilda. She convinces herself that enduring tragedy and suffering is her lot in life. Once she finally gets a taste of peace and harmony in the Pastures of Heaven, she actually kills her daughter to escape having to deal with her. Had she accepted the reality of her situation long before, Hilda might have received much-needed treatment in appropriate facility rather than ending up dead at her mother's hands.
Molly Morgan, crushed by the abandonment of her father at a young age, protects herself with the mythology she builds around the figure of her father. As a child she fantasizes intensely about her father's return, hoping he has a good excuse for his disappearance and the pain it caused her. "Somewhere in the world he lived beautifully," she tells herself, "and sometime he would come back" (121). When faced with the prospect that Bert Munroe's shiftless, drunken farmhand might be her father, Molly Morgan abandons her respected position in the Pastures rather than face that reality.
The lies people tell themselves, usually for self protection, is a matter of interest to Steinbeck in most of his works. Repeatedly, Steinbeck shows readers how characters' lives are detrimentally affected by their inability or unwillingness to see reality for what it actually is. Steinbeck celebrates the qualities of acceptance and adaptation through a notable minority of his characters that possess clear vision and strength and hence have the ability to thrive.
Treatment of the Mentally Ill
Steinbeck examines a number of characters with certain mental and emotional problems in The Pastures of Heaven. All of these characters end up victimized by the strictures of conventional society, which are incapable of accounting for such anomalies. Bert Munroe's son Manny, who is prone to banging his head until it bleeds, is described as "subnormal" (16). Steinbeck devotes only one paragraph to Manny and within that paragraph tells readers that Manny was "terrified into obedience" (16). Steinbeck implies the preferred course of action of the Munroes is ignoring the problem and using less than productive means of behavioral manipulation. Helen Van Deventer treats her mentally ill daughter in a similar manner, choosing to keep her essentially caged in her room despite the family doctor imploring her to seek professional help, suggesting that they "might cure her if [they] went about it right" (56).
Society at large ignores the needs of Tularecito, a deformed and mentally handicapped child who is highly talented at sculpture and drawing. Tularecito's adoptive father, Franklin Gomez, tries to explain that Tularecito "should be allowed to go free," that "he can do marvelous things with his hands, but he cannot learn to do the simple things of the school," but his plea is ignored (46). Instead of being allowed to live the simple existence Gomez wants for him, the town residents determine he must attend school. Clearly out of place in the classroom, Tularecito is allowed to essentially sit in class ignored by the other students. Yet this limited exposure and the ignorance of the residents leads to his ultimate demise. His is exposed to ideas in the classroom that his limited intellect cannot properly interpret and these ideas eventually lead to his attack on Bert Munroe and his institutionalization.
Shark Wicks' daughter Alice "was an incredibly stupid, dull and backward" girl, yet she is very beautiful (25). Shark, and to a lesser extent his wife, become overprotective of their daughter because of these qualities. Shark believes "she couldn't protect herself, because she was so stupid" (26). Shark's biggest fear is Alice's eventual deflowering. He thinks "once she was deflorated, she would no longer be the precious thing he treasured so" (27). Steinbeck asks his reader to question if this protectiveness, which keeps her isolated from social contact, stunts her overall development.
Steinbeck addresses a very difficult social issue in this novel. He asks his reader to consider the characters' circumstances and ask themselves whether or not these characters were served properly, or if their treatment, or lack of it, was detrimental to their growth and development. Steinbeck writes with sympathy for these characters and indicates that society's poor treatment of these people only compounds their problems.
Social Ostracism and Conventional Morality
A few characters, like Junius Maltby and the Lopez sisters, are ostracized by the community because they do not conform to traditional rural and working class morals standards. Junius Maltby does not live a conventional life. He has no real work ethic and rejects the life of social success and materialism that is valued by so many other residents of the Pastures. Junius just liked to live on the farm in abject poverty, reading, thinking, and discussing philosophical issues. Ignorant of the townspeople's opinions of him and that his lifestyle was in great conflict with social convention, Junius lived a happy and arguably satisfying life. Eventually, through the humiliation of his son, for whom the consciousness of poverty is forced upon him by conventional society, Junius must abandon the Pastures for life in the city.
Like Junius Maltby, Maria and Rosa Lopez exists on the outskirts of the community. Because of their farm's rocky soil, the sisters are unable to grow enough food to sustain themselves and so they found a way to survive through prostitution. Facing the possibility of starvation, the sisters were not going to "make martyrs of themselves over an unreligious matter like eating" (98). The sisters, needing money for food, ultimately decide to use prostitution as a means of survival. "It is necessary to encourage our customers if we are to succeed," Rosa tells Maria (100). Rumor of their deeds travel through town and eventually complaints are made to the law and the sisters are forced to close their business and leave for the city to continue being prostitutes.
Though residents may view these people as different and shun them, Steinbeck shows them in a favorable light and demonstrates them to be generally happy with their lives, and thankfully ignorant of society's view of them. Eventually society's overbearing will defeats these characters, however, implying that personal happiness and satisfaction are always endangered by insistent and restrictive social conventions. Steinbeck explores this theme in more detail in later works such as Tortilla Flat and Cannery Row.
Treatment of Native Americans
Steinbeck was one of very few writers in the early 1930s willing to address the inhumane treatment of Native Americans at the hands of European settlers. Under the guise of missionary work by the Spanish, Native Americans were enslaved and impoverished. The text implies the curse that seems to hang over the valley may be the punishment for such treatment. Though never overtly mentioned in the novel, the land's history is a key factor in the lives of the residents who live on it and it seems the inhabitants' inability to find peace and rest there is punishment for the early European settlers' transgressions against the Native Americans and the landscape.
The earliest settlers in the Pastures come from afar and as such they are transplants in the beautiful valley. That may explain the Whitesides inability to create the lasting dynasty they so desire. The early generations of Whitesides are obsessed with establishing a long-lasting legacy in the Pastures of Heaven, but a seemingly powerful force prevents that from happening. Besides being transplants, they are trespassers in the Valley and the land's curse prevents them from thriving.
Primogeniture
The earliest settlers in The Pastures of Heaven, such as the Battles and the Whitesides, come to the valley with the intention of creating lasting legacies that will be passed down from generation to generation. Their intentions are defeated, however, by circumstances beyond their control. A family legacy is of particular importance to the first two generations of Whitesides. The patriarch, Richard Whiteside, is particularly obsessed with creating a dynasty. He tells his neighbor: "I've come to stay. My children and their children and theirs will live in this house. There will be a great many Whitesides born here, and a great many will die here" (171). Ironically, only two Whiteside children are born in the home. Richard's only son John, who shares his father's desire for children, and John's only son William, who ultimately deserts the family seat for town. After William, called Bill, reveals his intention to leave the valley for a life in the city, John Whiteside allows the family home, along with his father's great dream, to burn to the ground. Through the Whitesides the text demonstrates how the ancient pattern of primogeniture is no longer viable in the modern world.
Small Farming in Rural America
Steinbeck wrote The Pastures of Heaven on the cusp of a great transition in modern American farming. The small, beautiful individually run farms in the Pastures of Heaven were quickly becoming a thing of the past as modern, mechanized agribusiness was taking over. Farming, and hence rural communities, were being abandoned as people were forced to seek other forms of employment. Steinbeck represents this change in society through William Whiteside who abandons his family farm and purchases a Ford dealership in the city. "I always wanted to get into business," explains William to his parents (191). With mechanization reducing the need for labor, and the growing city culture permeating communities through recent inventions like radio, people were leaving the rural farm for the prospects for a better life in urban areas. Steinbeck explores similar themes in more detail in The Grapes of Wrath.
Capital Punishment
Like mental illness, prostitution, and racism, Steinbeck explores the death penalty, another unsavory subject in The Pastures of Heaven, through the characters of Bert Munroe and Raymond Banks. Bert tries to explain to Raymond that watching an execution would change him in a negative way and that the thought would likely haunt him for years to come. "I'm scared I couldn't get it out of my head afterwards," says Bert (144). He further explains that he would "[…] go through everything the poor fellow on the gallows did" (146). Raymond Banks sees it differently. Steinbeck sets up Raymond's lack of feelings on the matter through his description of Raymond and his work ethic. Raymond sees the slaughtering of chickens on his farm as simply necessary and thus he is quick and efficient when doing it. He likewise admires the quick efficiency of the executions. Never, prior to Bert explaining his reservations on the matter, had Raymond ever considered the larger, possibly inhuman, implications of capital punishment. Steinbeck weighs Bert's feelings against Raymond's forcing his readers to decide the morality of the issue.
