Sometimes a piece of art just hits you. It hits you in the right place, at the right time. When these conditions are properly met it has a larger impact on you than if you had experienced it outside of that realm of opportunity.
For me it was John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. It hit me at a point in time when I felt displaced and uncertain about the future. Like those fleeing west I too was at a point in life where I was looking for work, dignity, and a better future. I still feel those things today, but those were the peak days for that overall sentiment. Had I been assigned to read this for school I believe I would’ve disliked it for several reasons, the primary one being school tends to make learning and reading unenjoyable, but that’s a discussion for another time.
I might also say I was met with a two punch shock, with Civilization IV hitting me earlier that year. Aside from the raw gameplay, Civ4 also drew me in with its music. As I read The Grapes of Wrath I listened to Civ’s modern era soundtrack which ensnared me deeper into the trials of the Joad family. While there are certainly upbeat moments in the modern era tracks I think that the sharper sounding moments stood out to me more frequently.
These sharp sounds are difficult to listen to much like tensions in modern era Civ are difficult to deal with, and just as our daily lives can be a difficult thing to contend with. The blending of Grapes of Wrath with that soundtrack definitely made it difficult for me to put the book down, and that experience ultimately formed the foundation of my first large written project. Had it not been for the combination of these two I likely would have found neither the reason nor diligence to write Mistakes Were Made, however terrible the first draft is. But at least it was a step in the right direction.
It’s not rare to at times feel as lost and fearful for one’s own future as the reader might feel for the Joad family who have nowhere to return to should things take a turn for the worst as their notions of life and home crumble around them. I personally felt all these elements of the story amplified by having the soundtrack accompany me through the reading.
But also buried within that fear and risk and the unknown were the glimmers and tones of hope and prosperity for a brighter future. I often think back to the adage that “art comforts the disturbed and disturbs the comfortable,” because as time goes on I collect further evidence to support this case. I think I was fortunate enough to encounter these two great works which have given me so much in return, and wonder if I may be fortunate enough to have it happen again.