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THE ISSUE OF ARTISTIC IMAGE AND IMAGERY IN STEINBECK'S
WORKS.
Yoriyeva Zarifa Xamroyevna
Teacher of the BukhSPI.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14575008
Abstract:
This article presents a scientific and theoretical reflection on the
skill of creating an image and character of John Steinbeck, a major
representative of English literature.
Keywords:
thoughts, character, human character, philosopher, life stories,
witnessing, mental state, spiritual image, suffering, experiencing, etc.
The great German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, in his six-volume
collection of works, expressed a number of ideas about human character in the
fourth volume of the book and cited the ideas of philosophers Descartes and
Spinoza. According to him, a person comes to the world spiritually pure, and
then, contemplating the affairs of this world, he realizes how he is, how he
behaves, and chooses a course of action for himself thanks to the newly acquired
knowledge and experiences. Schopenhauer, not agreeing with these two
philosophers, emphasizes that character is a phenomenon that arises much
earlier. In this regard, Schopenhauer also puts forward the idea that in one of the
teachings of the Christian religion, a person’s spiritual activity is clear at birth
and remains intact throughout his life. However, while agreeing with this idea,
he also emphasizes that this issue is quite controversial .
To create such a work, it is necessary not only to experience a lot of
suffering, but also to witness the life stories of many people, to travel a lot and
well in the boundless ocean of the world of books. It is clear that the author has
made serious research into the study of the inner world of people and has
successfully educated his mind for many years, taking manuscripts from dusty
shelves. This work has something to say to every person. Regardless of the
mental state of the reader and how much he feels in heavy grief, this book will
give him spiritual relief. And for some readers, it can completely change their
worldview.
The image of a person is at the center of fiction, which aims to artistically
perceive existence. Because in the smallness of existence, a person occupies the
same position. Therefore, it is natural and legitimate for fiction to use the image
of a person as the main tool for perceiving existence. This idea is more
convenient to understand and explain on the example of epic works, where the
hierarchy in the system of images is clearly visible. The reason is that in epic
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works, all other images (nature, objects, animals, tools, etc.) serve the purpose of
vividly depicting and comprehensively revealing the image of man.
The novel "Cannery Row" is one of John Steinbeck's works that depicts
human relationships, friendship, and the beauty of ordinary life. Through his
characters, the author shows that people living on the fringes of society also
have their own dignity. The novel teaches the reader to see the beauty in
ordinary life.
John Steinbeck's novel "The Grapes of Wrath" was published in 1939 and
highlights the social and economic problems of American society through the
lives of the Joad family, who moved from Oklahoma to California during the
Great Depression. The work deeply analyzes the themes of human resilience, the
search for justice, and social inequality. In literary sources, the concept of a
human image is often expressed by the term character. A character (Latin
person - person, theater mask) is understood as a human image in fiction, a
participant in a literary work, a subject of emotion and speech. Therefore, any
human image that moves in a work - regardless of its size, its participation in the
plot, its place in the structure of the work - can be called a character. The reason
is that this term forms a synonymous line with the terms hero, participant,
character and performs the function of a dominant with a neutral meaning.
Therefore, the term character can be easily substituted for them, but it would be
a mistake to substitute it for them. Because these terms mean human images
that differ in terms of their position in the work, the ideological and artistic load
they carry, their participation in plot events, and the degree of generalization. In
fiction, there are a number of tools that serve to fully create a human image and
bring it to life in the eyes of the reader. These include artistic elements such as
author's characterization, portrait, artistic psychology, character, and speech.
The description given to the image directly by the writer is called “Author's
characterization”. The novel describes the journey of the Joad family, who were
forced to move from their farm in Oklahoma to seek a better life in California.
The main characters include Tom Joad, his mother Mae Joad, and the former
priest Jim Casey. They face various difficulties on the way, including
unemployment, hunger and social injustice. The writer shows the image of evil,
which embodies anger, hatred and despair, through artistic expressions. "The
works differ from each other in their methods of depiction. Having already
described the same thing with the same means, either the author can narrate the
story without interfering in the events, or he can behave like Homer. Or the
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author can remain himself throughout the work, or he can emdiv all the
depicted characters."
Another important means of revealing the character's psyche in a literary
work, and of creating a human image in general, is the character's speech. Along
with the increase in the importance of dialogue in modern prose, the importance
and position of the character's speech in creating an image has also increased.
By individualizing the character's speech, a skilled writer can convey a lot to the
reader about his personality, worldview, and psyche in a particular life situation.
References:
1. Aristotle "Rhetoric". Tashkent. Generation of the new age. 2011. B-44.
2. Schopenhauer A. Collected works in six volumes. Republic, 1999. – pp. 251-
252.
