A Rat Race in the Winter of Our Discontent Some runners look only to the finish line, choosing to ignore what they step on or who they pass along the way. In The Winter of Our Discontent, Steinbeck portrays the dawn of a selfish American society interested solely in winning personal contests. Set in a small New England town in the early 1960s, the story focuses on the life of Ethan Allen Hawley, an intelligent man with a prestigious family history who works as a grocer to the dismay of his family members and community. At the beginning of the novel, Ethan had not yet adopted America's new religion of "taking care of number one" (26.291) to gain money and social standing. However, as the story develops, Ethan, like the other characters, chooses to succumb to temptation and put himself above others at all costs, as if focusing on a bright red, white and blue finish. Ethan's fall represents America's loss of family, social, and moral values ​​as individual success becomes paramount. The Hawleys' conflicts exemplify the breakdown of the American family as selfish desires distance each member from the family unit. Ethan and his wife Mary pursue different goals in life and are unable to communicate. Unlike Ethan, Mary “dreamed of good fortune…” (46). Ashamed of her husband's job, she tells Ethan "A great gentleman without money is a bum" (43) in one of the few arguments the couple have. Ethan and Mary often avoid confrontation by acting foolishly because they accept separation in their marriage. Ethan admits: "so many things I don't know about my Mary, and among them, how much she knows about me." (56) Because they prefer to chase their own goals instead of meeting in the middle, ... in the middle of the paper ... to rob a bank where his friend Morph works (284). His greed inspires him to devise several money-making schemes, unstoppable until he has more than enough money, and one evening his lust drives him to Margie's house (341). Ethan becomes "possessed" (99) by the new American values ​​and casts aside his morals. After becoming possessed, Ethan commits one selfish act after another until the end of the novel, when he chooses not to kill himself to save his daughter (358). Ethan knows he's running a frantic race. The new American obsession with "taking care of number one" at any cost sacrifices family, social and moral values ​​that are priceless. Selfishness creates a lonely America where each person is so blinded by their own goals that they can't get close to anyone else. Those who choose not to run that race win their soul.