The Wayward Bus

Steinbeck structures The Wayward Bus as a series of portraits of individual characters brought together by circumstance and chance. The third-person omniscient narrator exposes the qualities and characterizations of each character that they don’t necessarily externalize. This introduces Steinbeck’s message that people necessarily live in tandem with one another but are, at the same time, experiencing the world within their interiority.

In the opening chapters, Steinbeck describes the physical setting in detail. This is characteristic of Steinbeck’s work and provides a foundation for the metaphors Steinbeck employs. For instance, Steinbeck describes Rebel Corners as having

no beauty you could ignore by being used to it. It caught you in the throat in the morning and made a pain of pleasure in the pit of your stomach when the sun went down over it. The sweet smell of the lupines and of the grass set you breathing nervously, set you panting almost sexually (13).

The sexuality referred to here foreshadows the complex sexual relationships that later develop among the novel’s characters and parallels the formation of sexual identities of some of the characters. What’s more, this description juxtaposes beauty with pain, creating a paradox that introduces the themes of The Stasis of Human Existence and People’s Resentful Dependence on One Another.

Steinbeck uses descriptive imagery to convey the natural features of Rebel Corners, such as its old, great white oak trees: “Tall and graceful, with black trunks and limbs, bright green in summer, black and brooding in winter, these oaks were landmarks in the long, flat valley” (9). However, Steinbeck is occasionally direct and sparing in language as well, most notably when he describes the town itself: “It was a nice compact grouping of buildings, functional and pleasant. […] [T]he Chicoys flourished here. There was money in the bank and a degree of security and happiness” (12). In addition to characterizing the setting, this description introduces Juan and Alice as characters with some stability in their lives, in contrast to the temporary workers they employ. However, Steinbeck’s many references to Juan’s violent streak and Alice’s fear and temper imply that reality and appearances conflict Rebel Corners. What’s more, the dynamics between Juan and Alice prove that financial security and being surrounded by nature don’t necessarily ensure happiness.

Rebel Corners provides stability in an isolated valley of California. However, isolation can also threaten autonomy, which makes Rebel Corners both a stable place and one that entraps characters and prevents growth, highlighting People’s Resentful Dependence on One Another. The conflict between the need for human connection and the need for autonomy is integral to the characters’ lack of development. For example, Pimples—driven by a desire to connect with others—acts on his desire for autonomy by asking to be called by his preferred name, Kit. However, the third-person omniscient narrator continues to refer to this character as Pimples, suggesting that Pimples never truly gets his autonomy fulfilled in Rebel Corners. Another example of this conflict is the relationship between Alice and Juan. Alice loves her husband, but her love makes her reliant on him: “[…] he was a man, and there aren’t very many of them […] There aren’t very many of them in the world, as everyone finds out sooner or later” (7). Alice is tied to Juan because she is convinced she’ll never find love or a man like Juan again. This limits Alice’s autonomy, as it prevents her from standing up for herself when she feels afraid. Alice responds to these feelings by losing her autonomy in the relationship and limiting the autonomy of the women who work for her, such as Norma. Juan feels similarly entrapped, suggesting that Alice’s love for him—and her ability to cook beans just how he likes them—keeps him from enduring the “emotional turmoil” of leaving Alice. Through these characters, Steinbeck illustrates that stability does not ensure happiness and that the perception that one’s options are limited keeps people in stasis.