Breakfast - By John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck was a known writer in the 30’s. He was known for writing about poverty in the 30’s with focus on the life of the exposed working class. His stories takes place around Salinas California where he was born. The short story Breakfast by John Steinbeck deals with the exposed people of the 30’s and their way of managing life with what they are given. The short story features a Narrator, whose name we are not told, however, the narrator is also the protagonist in his own story. The narrator tells us about a memory which brings joy to him when remembering details about it. At first he tells about himself walking along a country road on an early morning, feeling the cold while observing the light growing behind the eastern mountains. As he walks he smells fried bacon and baking bread. He sees a tent where a girl, an older man and a younger man sit. The men bid him a good morning and offers him to sit and eat breakfast with them. The narrator accepts and sits down with them being told that they pick cotton for their own clothes and then they eat and drink as much coffee as they can, refilling and refilling. While they had refreshed themselves with warm food the narrator observed the sun rising above the mountains spraying light upon the valley. The two men and the women offer the narrator to come along and pick cotton with them. However, the narrator declines the offer and separates from the cotton pickers. At the end of the story the reader returns to the narrators present where the he reflects upon the event. The story is located in a valley during the early morning just before dawn. In the beginning the setting is described with the words â€Å"lavender grey† and â€Å"black-blue†. He also feels the touch of the morning temperature as cold, but not painfully cold. All in all the setting we are introduced to at the opening of the story places the protagonist in a sad and colourless environment. Though, while he eats with the cotton pickers, the setting changes from cold and dark to light and red. You could say that the dark-blue and lavender grey colours in the before sunrise represent the lifelessness and sadness, while the red colour mixed with the light, spraying upon the valley, after sunrise represent warmth and joy. The two men and the woman, who the narrator meets, are poor hard working people, who are not wealthy in material. They don’t have chairs, they live in tents and their equipment is described as poor; â€Å"Beside the tent there was a flash of orange fire seeping out of the cracks of an old rusty iron stove. † Even though the cotton pickers have poor conditions they have certain traits that the protagonist remembers them for. Firstly, we are told that they make their own clothes from picking cotton and that they have only been eating well for twelve days. However, they still show generosity towards the protagonist and offer him breakfast. Therefore, we can call them generous. Secondly, they are full of contentment. Even though they live like nomads, finding cotton and food where they can and not living on much, they smile and keep a good vibe. Thirdly they are grateful to god and thank him for what they have; â€Å"The older man filled his mouth and he chewed and chewed and swallowed. Then he said, â€Å"God Almighty, it’s good†Ã¢â‚¬ . Their wealth is not measured in materialism but in attitude towards life. They are not given any names because each of them do not have their own character. This is because they represent a type of people and symbolizes traits. Their simplicity in symbolizing generosity, contentment and being gratefulness to god have a clear affection upon the protagonist. After the protagonist and the cotton pickers part we return to the narrator reflecting on the experience. Here he says; â€Å"That’s all. I know, of course, some of the reasons why it was pleasant. But there was some element of great beauty there that makes the rush of warmth when I think of it. † The sensation the protagonist gets from the experience is from the affection the people had on him with their traits. The details he remembers such as their personality and the sun rising above the mountain spraying a red gleam upon the valley just as he just finished the warm breakfast all culminates into something unique. However, the most significant about the memory is the affection the cotton pickers had and still have on the protagonist. The painting The honeymoon Breakfast from 1887 by Daniel Ridgway Knight contains a newly married couple sitting in the nature preparing their breakfast. All they have is some food and the company of one another, but they seem content about what they have. So in the same way as the cotton pickers the painting expresses their happiness through simplicity and content.