Joseph Character Analysis

The servant in Mayor Orden and Madame Orden’s home. Joseph is obsessive and easily overwhelmed, often making matters more complicated than they need to be. He yearns to have an “opinion” about the invasion—wanting to be able to say something interesting and worthwhile about the events to Annie, the cook—but finds himself unable to come up with anything on his own. Instead, he directs his attention to the house’s furniture, trying to put the chairs perfectly in order but finding that somebody always moves them an inch or so. “In a world where Mayor Orden was the leader of men,” Steinbeck writes, “Joseph was the leader of furniture, silver, and dishes.” As such, Joseph often rushes to a chair after somebody has stood up, correcting its position and monitoring the other pieces of furniture. His attention to these matters is indicative of the novella’s overall concern with the matters of order and control—concepts that dominate many of the characters’ inner lives.