Nature and Narrative: An Eco-critical Reading of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden.

International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 12 Issue 13 October 2025 Received: 12 October 2025 263 Revised: 25 October 2025 Accepted: 30 October 2025 Copyright  authors 2025 DOI: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.5281/ZENODO.17505099 Nature and Narrative: An Eco-critical Reading of Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden. Bharathkrishna V P Student, Bachelor of Education ABSTRACT The world has been witnessing the greatest changes across periods. Whether it be sociopolitical, climatic, or economic, it has its own root causes that can be traced to the greed of human development. It is worth noting that English literature is enhanced with various writings and publications regarding matters such as environmental degradation, immediate climate change, Greed, and isolation that lead to a deadly future rather than cultivating a bright future. In this research paper, the researcher is focusing on the eco-critical viewpoint through John Steinbeck‟s novel, to find out “Human wilderness” and “The Other”. Keywords: Ecocriticism, Ecology, Ecosystem, Nature, Wilderness, Industrialization, Humanity Introduction “Heaven is under our feet as well as overhead” ( -Henry David Thoreau). The planet and its own resources at the very beginning have recorded as 4 billion years ago. It To be it the growth of arts, evolution of ecosystem, or mutation in Mammals and plants soon. All of these composition elements are celebrating the billion-year legacy with respect as much as compassion. It is important to note that we are all living in a world with numerous radical global crises and various socio-political issues, immediate climate change, pandemics, and mutations in organisms. These immediate climate changes in the global world bring massive tensions between the economy and the government. Therefore, it paved the way for a rethinking and rereading of the occurrence and studying what made the ecosystem into its worst conditions and how the universe comes under pressure in its changing generations. Broadly speaking, an ecosystem or ecological system deals with all kinds of organisms and the physical environment that are interlinked with each other. The study and analysis of the International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 12 Issue 13 October 2025 Received: 12 October 2025 264 Revised: 25 October 2025 Accepted: 30 October 2025 Copyright  authors 2025 DOI: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.5281/ZENODO.17505099 ecosystem and finding out what the causes of the kin and kit and development through rereading the literature text is called eco-criticism or ecological criticism. As a new field, eco-criticism has now been identified as a pivotal area of research in Literature. Throughout this process, we can clearly distinguish between the humanity versus inhuman activity, Unity, violence, and so on. Writers like John Steinbeck, Amitav Ghosh, Shubhangi, Rajat Chaudhuri, Vauhini Vara, and Kavita Iyer‟s writings are some of the greatest contributions to climate fiction in English. Glancing at “Human Wilderness and the Other” in John Steinbeck's novels. “ Respect for the environment, and respect for what was naturally occurring in nature: that was the bedrock of all original people. Harmony, coexistence, not conquest and conquer” (L.A. Banks, Bad Blood). The universe has been expanding over many millions of years, ever since it has had all of the space, time, solar systems, galaxies, stars, and forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the description of the development of the universe. This theory states that the initial states are of high density and temperature. The solar system consists of eight planets, among them, “ Earth” is the third planet, which can support life for all elements. Being a planet where life originated and found habitability, it is paramount to check the hostile actions against it. Being an American author, John Steinbeck always got her attention on to the call for justice for Mother Nature. His analysis is always focused on what causes rivals towards nature and what the precautions are. His novels, such as Cannery Row, East of Eden, The Grapes of Wrath, and The Red Pony, are a silver lining to see how the world needs to heal from the causes of the Great depression, Industrialization, Overexploitation, and Overpopulation soon. As a part of human civilization, the variations in the environment cause divergent changes. These random changes in nature do not always bring the profit as they seem, but result in the worst scenarios. In the earlier periods, especially in the Paleolithic age, people practiced to live in with forest. They have been using forest materials to survive day-to-day life. Nevertheless, as human beings are always looking better civilization, it into more greed for conquering the landscape through wars and fights between each other. It is clearly stated in The East of Edan by Steinbeck how the landscapes look different from his childhood to now. International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 12 Issue 13 October 2025 Received: 12 October 2025 265 Revised: 25 October 2025 Accepted: 30 October 2025 Copyright  authors 2025 DOI: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.5281/ZENODO.17505099 “ I remember my childhood names for grasses and secret flowers. I remember where toads may live and what time the birds awaken in the summer, and what trees and seasons smelled like, how people looked and walked, and smelled even. The memory of odors is very rich”( Steinbeck; East of Eden; chapter01;para02). The author can‟t enjoy the beauty of the Salinas Valley ever since the land was hit by the Great depression and industrialization. For more than a thousand years of Civilization, resulted estimated of 57% was forested. Ever since, as the growth of population has occurred, the cutting down of trees, shrubs, and hunting ration has risen. According to National Geographic, around 2,000 years ago, 80 percent of Western Europe was forested, and today it has reached 34%. While in the case of Americans, the Great depression and post-Great depression era witnessed massive exploitation of cutting down trees and the use of fertilizers in the agricultural fields. With the introduction of banks, loans, and machinery, human values decelerated from the ground, hence unemployment also rose. About half of the forests were cut down in North America between the 1600s to the 1870s for timber and agriculture. John Steinbeck had written in novel like this: “ The Salinas Valley is in Northern California. It is a long, narrow swale between two ranges of mountains and the Salinas River, and twists up the centre. It falls at last into Monterey Bay.” ( Steinbeck, East of Eden; chapter01; para01) . His nostalgic writing about the Salinas Valley paved the way to feel the true emotion for the love of nature. The narrator can smell the valley, recalling the sights, smells, and other memories of his Salinas childhood. Now he is clearly portraying that Valley can be differentiated between good vs evil. Not only the Salinas Valley but also the entire American lost its greenery because of human greed, huge dark, unfriendly, and dangerous. The greatest example of human greed for power and civilization has been clearly portrayed in East of Eden. Initially, “ First were indian, and an inferior breed without energy, inventiveness, or culture, a people that lived on grubs and grasshoppers and shellfish, too lazy to hunt or fish.” ( John Steinbeck, East of Eden, chapter 01; para 01). Secondly, “ Then the hard, Spaniards came International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 12 Issue 13 October 2025 Received: 12 October 2025 266 Revised: 25 October 2025 Accepted: 30 October 2025 Copyright  authors 2025 DOI: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.5281/ZENODO.17505099 exploring through, greedy and realistic, and their greed was for gold and god.” (John Steinbeck, East of Eden, chapter 01; para 01). Finally, the Americans came –more greedy because there were more of them. They took the lands, remade the laws to make their titles good. ( John Steinbeck , East of Eden ; chapter 01 ; para01). The hostile practices of the people are even clearer; men only considered nature as a survival object for men. The merciless men tried to eat nature by different means, like they found the philosophy that the earth exists only for men. They roared their wilderness to the animals as well. As a result of the developed civilization, society witnesses the rapid growth of technology. The laws and regulations, banks, and loans have completely changed for the profit needs of the bourgeoisie, and those who suffer are the proletariat. The introduction of machinery items such as tractors, water pumps helps the farmers really well, but it also results in unemployment. It was the period of the Great depression in Oklahoma and California, affected by the Dust Bowl and poverty. The hunger hit all the families, and the farmers lost their own land and became tenants of their own. This cause because of the high demand for loans from the banks for tax payments. Traditional farming was removed by the industrialists. Because this industrialist believed that tractors and other raw materials were the rapid human action. By these innovations, people of Oklahoma were largely affected; the climatic condition of the state also became much worse because of the generation of human greed.“ Houses were shut tight, and cloth wedged around doors and windows, but the dust came in so thinly that it could not be seen in the air, and it settled like pollen on the chairs and tables or the dishes”( Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath) As a result of this, Steinbeck strongly advocates for an eco-friendly process for farming. According to him, the use of tractors is always an inhuman activity. “ Behind the rolling the shining disks, cutting the earth with blades not plowing but surgery, pushing the cut earth to the right where the second row of disks cut it and pushed it to the left” ( Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, chapter05). Steinbeck brutally attacks the materialistic world by mentioning the “Otherness” and the human in general. He states that people are supporting the bank and industrialization are the real monsters of their own kind, and they are resisting the exploitation of natural resources. Similar cases also happened in India during 2020-2021. The government of India decided to pass three farm acts that were passed by the parliament of India in September 2020. The act, often called the “ farm bills”, after several protestant it described as the “anti-farm laws” by International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 12 Issue 13 October 2025 Received: 12 October 2025 267 Revised: 25 October 2025 Accepted: 30 October 2025 Copyright  authors 2025 DOI: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.5281/ZENODO.17505099 many farmers‟ unions. Broadly speaking, Steinbeck calls the bank, industrialist, materialistic innovators, and people who are supporting for such a process are a matter of “Otherness”. Conclusion This study included almost everything that covers the eco-critical point of view by supporting the notions of the theory, coupled with the novels East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath. We humans mostly consider “I” and ties to fix everything for over own needs, that‟s the occurrence of unbalance in the ecosystem. Therefore, conserving, preventing, recycling, reusing, and repeating will be better for future generations and their young ones. Everything present on the earth possesses life and has its own story to tell, be it flora or fauna. However, I will then and always stand with Steinbeck‟s legacy of love, compassion, unity, Honesty, and care towards each other by opening up all the boundaries which had been set by society with equality and justice for one another. References Adamson, Joni, Mei Mei Evans, and Rachel Stein, eds. The Environmental Justice Reader: Politics, Poetics, and Pedagogy. Tucson: U of Arizona P 2002. Print. Bloom, H. (1988). John Steinbeck‟s The Grapes of Wrath. New York : Chelsea House. Bate, Jonathan. Romantic Ecology: Wordsworth and the Environmental Tradition. 1991. London : Routledge Revival, 2014. Print. .Bass, Rick. „The Wait’. In the Loyal Mountains. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1995. 11227.print.Bateson, Gregory. Towards an Ecology of Mind. 1972. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2000. Print. Steinbeck, John 1939 novel, Grapes of Wrath, penguin classics. Steinbeck, J., and DeMott, R. (1989). Working days: The journals of the grapes of wrath, 1938-1941. New York : Viking. Steinbeck, John 1939 novel, Grapes of Wrath, penguin classics.