Ia tusia se faaauauga mo lenei palakalafa - O fesootaʻiga a Steinbeck ma tusitala agavale, tusitala, ma sui o iuni o tagata faigaluega atonu na aafia ai lana tusitusiga. Na auai o ia i le League of American Writers, o se faalapotopotoga faa-Komunisi, i le 1935. Na aʻoaʻoina Steinbeck e tusitala o Lincoln Steffens ma lana avā o Ella Winter. E ala iā Francis Whitaker, o se sui o le Communist Party USA's John Reed Club mo tusitala, na feiloaʻi ai Steinbeck ma ē na faatulagaina le faigaʻai mai le Cannery and Agricultural Workers' Industrial Union. I le 1939, na ia sainia ai se tusi faatasi ai ma isi tusitala e lagolagoina ai le osofaʻiga a le Soviet i Finelani
ma le faigāmalo faatupu a le Soviet.