"Pancake Flat" is an early work by Steinbeck, published in 1935. It tells the story of a group of homeless people enjoying life after the First World War. This was Steinbeck's first major success, and he began to attract critical attention. It was also from this work that Steinbeck firmly reflected life, portrayed characters, and described the lives of people in the middle and lower classes of society in a delicate style. "Jianbingping" highlights the carefree mood of the homeless people and praises their simplicity and simplicity in extreme poverty. They do not yearn for wealth and hate "the pressure of having property on their backs." All this is in sharp contrast to the greed-ridden capitalist society. When some readers criticized the hobos as an eccentric bunch, Steinbeck responded: "They are people I know and like, good and honest people."
