Identify key points Steinbeck lays out as being the core of the American character. Do you agree? Why or why not?

In Steinbeck's many novels, he lays out various attributes that are essential to the American character. The first is their willingness to hope and dream. In The Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family, destitute in Oklahoma, head west with nothing in their pockets but the hope of making a better life in California. In Of Mice and Men, Lennie and George cling to their dreams of owning land while working as penniless migrant workers. Another attribute that is at the core of the American character, according to Steinbeck, is independence. Both the Joads and Lennie and George are peripatetic, going from place to place in search of a better life. They travel on their own and make their own determination about where to stay. Lennie and George must work for various bosses, but they keep hoping to own their own land and live independently.
It should be noted that when Steinbeck actually went in search of America in 1960, culminating in his memoir Travels with Charley, he found that Americans had lost some of this spirit of independence and had chosen to focus on sameness and cleanliness over character and spirit. He also found that there was a great deal of nastiness in America during the time of turmoil amidst the Civil Rights movement. For example, he witnessed white mothers protesting the integration of a school in New Orleans. By taking this trip, Steinbeck, traveling alone and hoping to find a better America, embodied the spirit of independence and hopeful attitude that his characters exemplify.
In short, Steinbeck's fictional characters often embody the spirit of hope that Steinbeck himself did not find when he traveled across the country in 1960. Perhaps both sides of the American character are true. Americans have the capacity to hope and dream, but at times, we are often plagued by discord and a lack of imagination. Steinbeck's fiction encourages us to continue to hope for a better future, particularly for the dispossessed.