Steinbeck sets out to have a party in the U.S.A., but really, there's actually a lot of talk about foreigners and foreign countries in Travels with Charley. Russia comes up a lot because the U.S. is involved in the Cold War and all, and Steinbeck sprinkles his "travelogue" with references to his experiences traveling in Europe (and the European perspective on America, too, of course). Oh, and Charley is French, so the dog's homeland in particular comes up a few times.
So what gives? Isn't this supposed to be about U.S., not them? Well, sure, kind of—but Steinbeck is pretty interested in how America and Americans deal with strangers. In fact, as he discovers first-hand, you can feel like a stranger in your own country when you visit a different region. Heck, you can even be at odds with, or strangers to, your neighbors, as was certainly the case during the civil rights movement. Segregationists were dead-set on treating their own countrymen as foreign and separate (but "equal"). Hmm, now that we think of it, it makes total sense that thinking about "foreignness" would be crucial to thinking about America during that time.
Questions About Foreignness and "The Other"
- The story is set all in the U.S., but there sure are plenty of references to being or feeling foreign. What gives? What's the larger message there?
- Why are there so many references to the Russians, and what is the effect of these references?
- Why does Steinbeck compare war to the civil rights unrest in the South? Is the comparison convincing to you? Why or why not?
Chew on This
Steinbeck emphasizes foreignness (e.g., all the references the Russians) to highlight all the friction and conflicts that make Americans feel foreign and estranged from each other.
Steinbeck compares the civil rights strife to the Cold War context to highlight the constant sense of unrest and threat that people in the U.S. were wrestling with during that time. In short: bad times.