Because he was a correspondent in World War II and the U.S. is now involved in the Cold War, Steinbeck actually has war on the brain a lot of the time in Travels with Charley. Sure, he's mainly focused on giving us the sights and sounds of America, but unfortunately a big part of that project (for him, at least) is conveying the paranoia and nervousness of the era. He's never soapbox-y or even explicit about war being a huge issue, but the topic really does seem to pop up a lot. Shopkeepers name "the Russians" as the only safe political topic to broach with acquaintances (since everyone is united in their dislike and fear of that particular group), and Steinbeck finds that major highways are now labeled as evacuation routes—you know, in case of a nuclear emergency. Hmm, with that kind of threat looming large, it's no wonder Steinbeck keeps bringing the topic up.
Questions About Warfare
- Why do you think war is such a prominent theme in the book when, really, there's no outright conflict happening other than the Cold War, and everything takes place in the U.S.?
- Why do atomic weapons come up so frequently in what is otherwise a travelogue of America?
- Steinbeck didn't fight in World War II, but he went over as a correspondent. Why do you think he talks so much about his "war experiences"? Is it clear that he was a correspondent, and not a soldier? Does it matter?
Chew on This
Steinbeck brings up nukes a lot to emphasize the subtle, but persistent, feelings of threat that he and basically everyone else feel during that time.
Even though the U.S. isn't actually involved in an official conflict, it is in the full throes of the Cold War—and Steinbeck's frequent references to war are meant to emphasize how close total war is to breaking out. Yikes.