Of Steinbeck and Sunburn
Authors: Christina N. Kraus, Scott A. Norton
Journal: JAMA Dermatology (2015)

John Steinbeck’s literary work is known for depictions of Depressionera rural California and for portraying the conditionof exploited farm laborers. In his fiction, protagonists often have scraped hands and sunburnt skin,which serveasphysical testimony to their honest, hardwork. While dermatologists agree that sunburns are related to skin cancer, Steinbeck used sunburned skin to signify hard-working, straight-living characters. Sunburn is an unsurprising descriptor for Steinbeck’s protagonists, whooftendrift from farmto farmacrossCalifornia’s arid, cloudlessCentral andSalinasValleys.Of interest, however, is the contextwhereSteinbeck uses sunburn to convey integrity,moral strength, andother favorable attributes. In East of Eden, Steinbeck describes the strong, widely admired SamuelHamiltonas“abigman,bearded likeapatriarch...hischeeksabove his beard were pink where the sun had burned his Irish skin.” Of Samuel’s son, Tom Hamilton, Steinbeck writes, “You could feel [his] strength andwarmth and an iron integrity...his skin, perhaps from sun, was a black red.” In The Grapes of Wrath (Figure), Mr Thomas, a landowner more interested in honest earnings than dishonorable wealth, refuses to take advantageofvulnerablemigrantworkers.His “sunburnedeyebrowswere drawn down in a scowl. His cheeks were sunburned a beef red.” Steinbeckusessunburnwhendescribing thehardworking tenantsof the land, “their sunburnedfacesweredark,andtheir sun-whippedeyeswere light.” The antagonists in this work, however, never work outdoors where they can become sunburnt. Why does Steinbeck link the condition of painful inflamed skin due to sunoverexposure topositive virtues?Historically, pallor hasoften indicated lofty social status but to Steinbeck, pallor indicated the indoor machinations of exploitative capitalism. Only laborers andmembers of the working class, those who produce true goods and services, had tannedorsunburnedskin.Thus,whilepaleupperclasses suppressedthe commonweal, sunburned laborers shouldered the work necessary to bring luxury to the upper class. Steinbeck explored such injustices and depictedhis admiration for thosewhoworkoutdoorsbygiving themthe truest mark of outdoor work—the sunburn. ThroughoutSteinbeck'swork,sunburnssignifyvirtueandhardwork— and that challenges dermatology’s perception of sunburns as simply a medical issue. Steinbeckmight argue that similar divisions of labor continue to exist today; migrant workers are often oppressed, overworked, and yet wholly dedicated to the American dream, while captains of finance still hold outsized influence on our society, an influence unrelated to intrinsic virtue, worth, or integrity. These examples demonstrate howSteinbeckused sunburn to characterize virtuous yetmarginalizedpopulations, andcompel us to thinkmoredeeply about the relationship between medical issues and social concerns. Medical professionals should not forget that. Steinbeck certainly never did. Author Affiliations:Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC (Kraus); Dermatology Division, Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, DC (Norton).