Travels With Charley

The book uses landscapes as symbols in multiple ways. Often, the symbolism connects not only to the land itself but also to Steinbeck’s state of mind when he encounters it, to the time of year, and to the weather. The desert, for example, symbolizes the inability of humans to conquer every inch of the earth. The desert landscapes Steinbeck passes through are still largely uninhabited, and nature and mystery guide life there. He often uses forests as a metaphor for isolation and oppressive loneliness, as when he’s frightened by a man walking home through a dense, wet forest in Maine. The redwoods symbolize nature’s eternity; they show Steinbeck that the natural world will likely still exist long after humans are gone. Steinbeck often uses human interaction with nature to reveal the lack of care that he thinks many modern Americans show for the natural world. When describing built landscapes, all the wonder and deep emotion disappear, replaced by bland human progress.

Charley is a character but also a symbol throughout the book. His tail is a particularly important symbolic element; it’s his primary method of “speaking” with Steinbeck, who interprets its various movements in specific ways. Although Charley also communicates with “fft” sounds and signs, his tail movements are typically what Steinbeck describes when assigning humanlike dialogue to Charley. Often, Charley’s general demeanor reflects Steinbeck’s and represents whatever he happens to be thinking about. While Steinbeck, as a fallible human, may be wrong, the agreement in Charley’s simple dog mind symbolizes the universal truths that Steinbeck hopes to prove. Charley’s symbolism is somewhat inverted when it comes to his own actions; Steinbeck depicts Charley’s marking things with pee as a symbol of respect for them. However, when Charley ignores the large redwood tree, it becomes clear that maybe it’s just a natural habit of a dog and ultimately means nothing.