Combating Injustice - by Jon Falsarella Dawson (Hardcover)

About the Book

"In Combating Injustice, Jon Falsarella Dawson approaches American literary naturalism as a means of social criticism, exploring the powerful economic arguments and commentaries on labor struggles presented in novels by Frank Norris, Jack London, and John Steinbeck. Drawing on extensive archival research, Dawson considers many of the original periodical sources that fueled books from McTeague (1899) to The Grapes of Wrath (1939), as Norris, London, and Steinbeck shaped contemporary materials into illustrations of the socio-economic forces that govern the undertakings of the working class. As Dawson shows, by depicting the operations of powerful individuals and institutions, works of naturalist fiction expose injustices with the aim of creating a more equitable society. Works such as The Octopus (1901), The Iron Heel (1908), and In Dubious Battle (1936) illuminate the rise of commodity culture, labor disputes with both industrial and agricultural workers, widespread poverty, extreme inequality, and the concentration of resources, including land ownership. Norris, London, and Steinbeck highlight the dangers of these developments by charting their impact on central characters whose fates result from the predatory tactics of corporate monopolies, wealthy individuals, and large financial establishments. Dawson's lucid analysis shows how naturalist writers, drawing on contemporary events and labor relations, accentuate the need for reform and stress the potential for change by human action. He locates the impetus for such radical ideas in the immediate sources for the major fiction of Norris, London, and Steinbeck, with particular attention to events in California, with the state offering a microcosm for conditions throughout the nation and providing dramatic illustrations of major economic issues. Combating Injustice: The Naturalism of Frank Norris, Jack London, and John Steinbeck presents richly contextualized readings of three major writers whose works uncovered the operations of the socio-economic system and offered audiences a greater awareness of the plight of labor, in the hope that readers might find the inspiration to become agents of change"--

Book Synopsis

In Combating Injustice, Jon Falsarella Dawson approaches American literary naturalism as a means of social criticism, exploring the powerful economic arguments and commentaries on labor struggles presented in novels by Frank Norris, Jack London, and John Steinbeck. Making use of extensive archival research, Dawson considers many of the original periodical sources that fueled books from McTeague to The Grapes of Wrath, as Norris, London, and Steinbeck transformed contemporary materials into illustrations of the socioeconomic forces that shape American life. By depicting the operations of powerful individuals and institutions, these naturalist writers offered audiences a greater awareness of the plight of labor so that readers might find the inspiration to become agents of change.

Works such as The Octopus, The Iron Heel, Martin Eden, and In Dubious Battle illuminate many of the central economic issues at play in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including the rise of commodity culture, labor disputes involving industrial and agricultural workers, widespread poverty, extreme inequality, and the concentration of resources and land ownership. Norris, London, and Steinbeck highlighted the dangers of these developments by charting their impact on central characters whose fates result from the predatory tactics of corporate monopolies, wealthy individuals, and large financial establishments. Dawson's lucid analysis shows how all three writers, drawing on contemporary events, accentuated the need for reform and stressed the potential for change by human action. Each author took inspiration from notable events in California, ranging from the Mussel Slough tragedy of 1880 to the agricultural strikes in the Central Valley during the 1930s, presenting the state as a microcosm for conditions throughout the nation during a period of tremendous upheaval.

Combating Injustice: The Naturalism of Frank Norris, Jack London, and John Steinbeck provides carefully contextualized readings of three major writers whose works express both the necessity for and the possibility of creating a more egalitarian society.

Review Quotes

"Among the multitude of scholarly studies on the subject of American literary naturalism, Combating Injustice is the first to cogently articulate the unifying thread of social criticism in the works of Norris, London, and Steinbeck. Dawson's work displays an expert fusion of close reading and insightful interpretation based upon assiduous research. This book is a major contribution to American literary scholarship."

--Earle Labor, professor of American literature emeritus at Centenary College of Louisiana and author of Jack London: An American Life

"Maintaining that social criticism is central to the naturalist movement, Dawson explores economic conditions in the fiction of Norris, London, and Steinbeck. He finds that their works provide relevant insights into conditions that remain prevalent in the United States. Dawson's book is a must-read as both social critique and literary history."

--Barbara A. Heavilin, editor-in-chief of the Steinbeck Review

About the Author

Jon Falsarella Dawson is a lecturer in English at the University of North Georgia, where he teaches courses in literature and composition. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, he currently resides in Athens, Georgia, with his wife and daughter.