Junius Maltby

by John Steinbeck

Featured at the end of "The Red Pony," "Junius Maltby" is a short story that concerns Junius and his son. This short story is taken from one of Steinbeck's early works, "The Pastures of Heaven."

Genres: Classics, Short Stories, Fiction

25 pages

Published January 1, 1932

About the author

John Ernst Steinbeck was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception". He has been called "a giant of American letters."
During his writing career, he authored 33 books, with one book coauthored alongside Edward F. Ricketts, including 16 novels, six non-fiction books, and two collections of short stories. He is widely known for the comic novels Tortilla Flat (1935) and Cannery Row (1945), the multi-generation epic East of Eden (1952), and the novellas The Red Pony (1933) and Of Mice and Men (1937). The Pulitzer Prize–winning The Grapes of Wrath (1939) is considered Steinbeck's masterpiece and part of the American literary canon. By the 75th anniversary of its publishing date, it had sold 14 million copies.
Most of Steinbeck's work is set in central California, particularly in the Salinas Valley and the California Coast Ranges region. His works frequently explored the themes of fate and injustice, especially as applied to downtrodden or everyman protagonists.

Reviews

[Katie R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story is found at the end of "The Red Pony," and it was probably my favorite part of the whole novel...

[Jamie Pinkerton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this short story at the end of The Red Pony. It was so good! Hell even I wanted to sit under a sycamore. The Maltby's may have been poor but they had so so much. I'm going to have to try and find The Pastures of Heaven now.

[Troy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed all 32 pages of this

[Paul Perrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Junius Maltby, In the genre of short (25 pages) stories which can start to teach young people empathy, compassion, sympathy and non-materialist views this is probably the best. It is obscure, usually not included/published in the collection which it was originally written for, hence a difficult to find piece. I would rate this along with Peter Taylor's Dean of Men as the best pieces I ever read growing up. Robbie Maltby is the character to be followed.

[Cristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mine was in the back of The Red Pony, and I was so grateful. Junius Maltby was such a surprising gift. I fell in love with Robbie, and I hope I feel and act and understand as well as Miss Morgan, truly she is one of the best characters I've ever met, and at the same time, I don't really need to know any more about her.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great short story that will really make you feel something. Touches on the loss of innocence and social classes. Very worth the forty-five minutes it takes to read.

[Danny Jarvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story at the end of The Red Pony which makes the book worth keeping. In a 20 minute read, Steinbeck shows why he continues to be my favorite author, telling a unique story which entertains right up until you realize the deeper message of the tale.

Junius Maltby beautifully shows the difference between education and intelligence, freedom of choice and societal structure, and trying to figure out the right balance of them all. The main character is forced out of the life he’s always lived and finally starts living how he chooses. The neighbors judge him but it is revealed his way of life may be more beneficial than everyone realizes, only until outsiders reveal to him the “errors” in how he’s living and raising his child and it ends with him reverting back.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice short story with an honest ending. The power of imagination and the falsehood of a kind of care that demands ownership.

[Laurel Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's more to chew on in this 25-page short story than there is in most modern 400+ page novels. Thought-provoking.

[Britt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short story by Steinbeck involving a young boy, Robbie, and his father, Junius. They live in poverty, but are content. They spend their days enjoying life without material goods. When Robbie attends school, the kids don't make fun of him as expected, but embrace him because of his personality. Someome donates clothes and shoes to Robbie and it isn't until then that he realizes he is poor. Junius eventually goes back to being an accountant to have a better economic standing. Overall, its a good story about how you can be happy and content without the things that most people think u need--although in the end they give in to society's expectations.

[Lynette Lark · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love John Steinbeck but this book ended way too lazy; which is incredibly ironic because the damn book is about laziness!!

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The discussions were erudite. Robbie couldn’t use childish talk, for he had never heard any. They didn’t make conversation; rather they let a seedling of thought sprout by itself, and then watched with wonder while it sent out branching limbs. They were surprised by the strange fruit their conversation bore, for they didn’t direct their thinking, nor trellis nor trim it the way many people do.”

The laziness that was being portrayed was really speaking to me.

4/5

[Brenda Cregor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet tale of dreams acquired [but seemingly at the expense of others] and then dreams lost---because of others...or maybe I didn't understand Steinback at all.

[Izzie Flynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awh, they were so happy. This has a beautiful moral but a long way of getting to it.

[Jolanta (knygupė) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sis apsakymas - tiesiai i desimtuka!
Brilliant!

[Brent Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first question to ask is why is it Steinbeck made this a separate short story in his book, “The Pastures of Heaven” and also in, “The Red Pony”? If you know this up front it makes it even more surprising to find out the main character, Janius Maltby, loves to read fiction, and this fact seems to be connected to the fact that he is a lazy bounder. He especially likes to read Robert Louis Stevenson, but is that something that were told and is redemptive?
All this leads to another question: why is Steinbeck connecting reading fiction to this guys failed life?

Maltby works as an accountant in San Francisco, but his doctor tells him drier weather may help his respiratory illness. He moves South and lives with a widow on her ranch, eventually marrying her and having a son. The widow lets her hired help go but gets no help from Maltby, who just reads and enjoys his life of ease. The ranch goes to pot and the family is broke, with not enough food or even clothes. The widow and her children get sick from their poor diet and die of disease.

Maltby and his only son, Robbie, survive living with little food and ragged clothes. His poor son goes to school barefoot and in rags while he lays around, reads and has fancy discussions with whomever will listen. Robbie is exposed to all this discussion and develops his own vivid imagination. In spite of appearance, being dressed in rags, Robbie becomes a natural leader at school with the other children and they even start dressing like he does, even tearing holes in their clothes.

The boy’s teacher seems to like Maltby romantically and doesn’t press the boy to change but the school board steps in and gives the boy some new shoes, clothes and their insight into what he should be doing. This only leads to the boy seeing himself, for the first time as someone who is poor and who should be ashamed.

Eventually from the influence of the teacher, Maltby and his son start to dress better and get cleaned up but the influence leads them to decide to go back to San Francisco. Maltby will in the future spend his life in boring work with poor health but he will to do the best he can for Robbie.
So why did they go back to San Francisco? Maltby and Robbie are very different characters. Maltby ignored what society wanted and Robbie was a leader despite his poverty. Both lives were impacted by poverty, one innocent of what it meant and the other blind to the effects. Robbie will likely do well in the future. More on this short story at www.connectedeventsmatter.com

[Kevin O'Keefe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Junius Maltby is a lazy, carefree, intelligent Slacker that would rather read books all day and discuss philosophy and life with his son Robbie and friend Jakob than work his farm and keep up with the Joneses.

His lifestyle causes him to raise a delightfully intelligent and charismatic son who becomes the de facto leader of the school when he's eventually forced to go.

The town's people that have been looking down their noses at Junius and his son for ages now bear witness to the awe inspiring personality it had developed in his son and have to watch their sons fawn over and idolize Robbie. Their clothes are ragged, their house dilapidated, and their hygiene abysmal but their way of life is clearly superior for developing a keen mind.

The book ends with Junius caving to the societal pressures he lived blissfully unaware of until the day the school board took pity on his son and gifted him clothing, making him aware of his poverty and underprivileged home life. Junius decides then and there to leave their farm and move to the city so he can provide material goods for his son, possibly robbing him of the traits that made him who he was in the first place. He thinks he's doing good by his son by moving him out of his environment for financial stability and taking him out of focus of the local gossip. But he might be killing what made him so unique and beloved in the first place to appease other people.

[Reading Dad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting in how it is written. **Spoiler at end** It seemed to me like a book meant to sent a certain message which is summer up in the last few pages. While the characters are developed enough, the ignorance seemed a bit far-fetched.
On the positive side, Junius Maltby could be used to help one understand the two sides of a coin; two perspectives in the lives of people unlike ourselves. It could be used to support home education or alternative education paradigms,
as the father *** spoiler alert ** provides a natural way of living with his son and educating him as life goes on. The character of the child becomes the motivator of imaginative play and enthusiasm in learning through the storying and play acting out of the histories.
The abrupt ending seemed to me to bring the point out very clearly and may not satisfy all; I felt it was a sudden change from the perspective of the boy, Robbie, to the teacher, Miss Morgan. This was interesting in that we saw the teacher learn more about the not, the family and the educational abilities of the father. On the other hand, ending like this departed from the charm of the family relationship.

[Barbara Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Junius Maltby is a short story questioning the approach to our existence and how we spend our brief time on earth. The story is a riot that leaves one rich in thoughts. Junius leaves a boring job of 10 years as a clerk, goes to the country, moves into a room (shed) belonging to another family, and turns into a happy sloth. When his son, Robbie, becomes old enough to understand, he joins Junius and his hired man, Jacob, spending their days reading various deep books while sitting in a tree and talking about the subjects, imagining themselves in the roles of the various characters, thinking about the frivolousness of life, having a jolly old time. As the towns people worry about Junius' neglect of Robbie, they soon interfere by giving Robbie new clothes, his first pair of shoes, and so on. Junius, instead of being furious or embarrassed, turns to thinking that he must make grave changes for the sake of Robbie. They leave their Eden and walk out to the highway to board a bus to San Francisco.

[Joel Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It saddens me that Steinbeck's views on Indians were much less evolved or interesting than his predecessors and contemporaries, at least at the time he wrote this story. In the Red Pony itself, there is a great deal of nuance about it. Although, whether Steinbeck meant it to or not, the romantic attitude about the plains battles by Junius is right in line with his character's aloof dreamer archetype. Junius is as far removed from recent American history as he is from Alexander the Great. To him, everything fits into two categories, neither of which is particularly moral or immoral: mythic or not. Junius lives every moment and looks at every sight through the eyes of all the mythological weight of history. He is so absorbed in this that he's not in any way concerned with living it himself. He is almost like an early film obsessive, except the movies are the world's mythic past and he is projecting them himself onto all he sees. Truly a wonderful story.

[yadriel v. s. alvarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

believe it or not, i actually enjoyed this short story at the end of the red pony more than i did the rest of the book. i’ve always been a fan of stories where certain folks are Different, and this one certainly entertained me.

junius maltby, former accountant-turned-social-outcast, with his absentmindedness and love for literature; living on the overgrown ranch with his son and hired help/friend were all very interesting to me.

part of me thinks i ought to write a longer, more thorough review on this little story, but i don’t particularly feel like it right now.

one note is that i absolutely would have given this story 5 stars if it weren’t for the casual anti-indigenous parts of it. i’m well aware that it was “par for the course” in that time period, and it’s not like steinbeck can apologize now, but it still threw me off a little.

edit: changed rating to 5 stars cause ah fuck it

[Michelle Jager · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great short story about a boy, Robbie, and his father, Junius. They live in poverty, but are happy with the life they have. They spend their days sitting under sycamore trees, with their bare feet dangling in the water, while having discussions. When Robbie has to attend school, his classmates don't make fun of him as they thought they would, but instead they start to regard him as their leader. They have a great life, and Robbie is not suffering under the poverty. He doesn't even realize they are living in poverty, until some people donate clothes and shoes to him. At that time, Junius also learns about the way the people in the pastures of heaven think of him, and that this is not the ideal way to raise Robbie. Therefore, he decides to move to San Fransisco to be an accountant again, to make money.
I really like the theme/moral of this story: that you can be very happy and satisfied without the things that are considered to be basic needs, but that in the end, you'll change in order to fit in society.

[Michael Petty · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Junius Maltby” was included in my copy of “The Red Pony,” which I believe to be the vast superior tale of the two, and I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it. On one hand, it was an interesting look at poverty during the Great Depression from a perspective we don’t often get. The characters were dynamic and the prose crisp as ever. On the other hand, I couldn’t help but interpret Steinbeck’s portrayal of Junius’ slothfulness and ignorance as something meant to be seen more as a virtue rather than a vice, which is confusing. Maybe that’s on me. But in any case, it was a fun read, though not one I’d necessarily recommend except to further note how laziness can destroy a person and their family. But maybe that was the point after all?

[Jean Carlton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is unusual in that the story by this name is included in my copy of The Red Pony by Steinbeck. This cover comes up on GR - which does not match the story title but at the start of the story a man in Junius' office suggests he move to Pastures of Heaven, a "warm, protected valley." At just 25 pages it is not a 'book' but I want to record having read it. A thought-provoking story, well-written - as one would expect of Steinbeck.
.....
A search of this title brings up a book of connected stories (207 pages). I will contact GR to see if a cover of just the one story is available....or find out why the search of 'Junius Maltby' brings up this cover.

[Animusvampire · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief glimpse into another's life that is, as usual, very well written and descriptive. I really enjoyed how simply happy Junius, Jakob, and Robbie were. But as usual, civilized society has it's way of forcing it's rules and opinions on those who get along just fine without them. It broke my heart to see how unhappy and unwell Junius and Robbie looked at the end. Just another example of how we as human beings(not ALL human beings) fail to really "see" each other. This one definitely left an impression on me. I would recommend.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poverty is not glorious. While this story glosses over its stark realities, it highlights instead the freedom of nonconformity and the spirit-dampening effect of peer and societal pressure. It also challenges the stereotypes often still associated with those who choose to live their lives outside of societal norms. I enjoyed the story greatly.

[Evan Hoekzema · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short story of Steinbeck’s is at the end of ‘The Red Pony’. It did have a beautiful simplicity about it, a Dad and young boy are content in their poverty. But I couldn’t get over the Dad’s incompetence and insensitivity to the death of his wife and two sons. Interesting, enjoyable, but somewhat dissatisfying. It did strangely grow on me by the end.

[Yank Ee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a multi-published writer, author, playwright, and ghostwriter, and anyone rating this brilliant, timeless piece any less than five stars would probably judge Pavarotti incapable of carrying a tune.

[John Herbst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay this one slaps because I relate so much to Junius. He's wildly virtuous, but only intellectually. He can't seem to care enough about material things to do any real work. The only thing that finally drives him to work at building a life is his love for his son, Robbie.

[Marcia Murphey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweet, separate, short story at the end of The Red Pony. Characteristic of Steinbeck, it leaves you wanting more, and wanting a happier ending. He was realistic though, and that is one of his strengths as a writer. Any avid reader will like the character of Junius, and of his son, Robbie.