The talisman
Ethan becomes depressed due to his guilt about his actions, and plans to kill himself. He puts a razor in his pocket and hugs his daughter. Without him knowing, she swaps the razor for a talisman, an old family heirloom. When Ethan goes to commit suicide, he finds the talisman in his pocket and realizes what his daughter has done. This saves him from killing himself and makes him realize what is really important in life.
The plagiarised essay
At the end of the novel, Ethan discovers that his son has plagiarized an essay for a competition. When Ethan confronts his son he is met with a shocking response: Ethan's son does not feel any remorse for his actions, as he argues that everybody cheats. After this, Ethan realizes how wrong he has been, and how his attitude has impacted his own son. As such, the essay represents the similarities between father and son, and Ethan's guilt.
Allegory about American culture
At the beginning of the novel, Steinbeck writes that: "Readers seeking to identify the fictional people and places here described would do better to inspect their own communities and search their own hearts, for this book is about a large part of America today." Here, he suggests that Ethan's story and downward spiral are an allegory for immoralities in American societies, and attitudes about wealth and status.
