To a God Unknown

To a God Unknown is a novel by John Steinbeck, first published in 1933. The book was Steinbeck's second novel , the title taken from the book of Acts in the Bible. Steinbeck found To a God Unknown extremely difficult to write; taking him roughly five years to complete, the novella proved more time-consuming than either East of Eden or The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck's longest novels. In this short novel, Steinbeck explores the relationship of man to his land. The plot follows a man, Joseph Wayne, who moves to California in order to establish a homestead, leaving his father, who soon dies.... Joseph then marries a school-teacher from Monterey named Elizabeth. Upon returning to the farm from the wedding, they find that the youngest brother, Benjy, an alcoholic, had been stabbed and killed by Juanito when he discovered him seducing his wife. When they meet later that night at the sacred rock, Juanito asks Joseph to kill him in revenge for his brother, but Joseph refuses. Joseph wants to pass it off as an accident, and for him to stay, but Juanito flees the farm, promising to return once the guilt has passed.
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