In The Winter of Our Discontent, Steinbeck shows many conflicts in the society in which the protagonist, Ethan Allen Hawley lives. Ethan is often forced to survive in a world where the will of his own often goes against and deals with the will of the majority.
Ethan himself who has been raised as an honest, respectful man is somehow feeling a "discontent" with himself. He feels as if the world is changing and is leaving him behind. As Ethan walks to work as he does everyday, he notices that an old hotel that has been there from the beginning of time, is being town down and is being replaced with a chain store. This to him seems like corporations are taking over and that everyone would rather prefer bigger than personal. He states that the bulldozer and cranes "were silent like waiting predators in the early morning". …
