John Steinbeck was the type of author who liked to know his material firsthand. He was not content to narrate a story which had no basis in fact. Thus, many of his works take place in California, where he lived, and they deal with subjects which he thoroughly understood. Within his novels are characters who seem to breathe the very reality of life itself. When not writing about his native California and its citizens, he would use people whom he had become intimate with in other ways (see discussion of The Grapes of Wrath below). The Pearl was based on real characters whom Steinbeck became acquainted with during one of his prolonged travels, as also noted below. Consequently, one of the finest attributes of The Pearl is the feeling that the author knows his material and his characters in great depth and with perfect accuracy. The scenes in this novel, from its opening with the primitive pearl fishers to the corruptness of the town, are narrated with the skill of a person who has witnessed the events.
Steinbeck's father settled in California shortly after the American Civil War. John Steinbeck was born in Salinas on February 27,1902. His mother was a schoolteacher in the public school system of Salinas. Steinbeck grew up in this beautiful, fertile California valley, where he found the material for most of his novels. His imagination was kindled by writing at a very early age partly because his mother, the schoolteacher, read to him from the famous literature of the world.
During his formative years, he played various sports in high school, worked at many different jobs, and wandered around the countryside observing the phenomena of nature. He entered Stanford University in 1920, and even though he remained until 1925, he never graduated. In fact, he earned very few college credits. He did, however, contribute some poems and short stories to the Stanford literary magazine.
