John Steinbeck, author of many books including The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden, writes the book The Pastures of Heaven. This book describes the lives of multiple families and life in a town called Pastures of Heaven. One family in particular, the Munroes, seems to be involved in all the families living on the Paradise Pastures. The Munroe family serves as dramatic counter-characters to the rest of the families as, wherever they are, the lovely Pastures of Paradise turns into chaos. In chapter three, Edward "Shark" Wicks is the father of the most beautiful girl in town; he is extremely protective of his daughter, so much so that she can't even speak to Jimmie Munroe. Jimmie kisses Shark's daughter Alice despite her father's warnings, which in turn results in the family's ruin. The Munroe family, Jimmie in particular, unwittingly ruined Shark's reputation as the richest man in town. Jimmie Munroe was the dramatic character who led to the downfall of Shark's reputation. If Jimmie Munroe had not been around, Shark would never have lashed out at Jimmie and, in turn, would not have had to expose his fraud. He could continue to live his life as a lie and continue to deceive people into thinking he was rich. Tularecito was an abnormal child found by Pancho in the bushes of the Paradise Pastures. After being told a story about gnomes, Tularecito wounds Bert Munroe and is sent to an asylum. Tularecito was digging holes in Bert Munroe's house, to find the gnomes. Bert Munroe was a dramatic character who covered up the holes dug by Tularecito, eventually leading to Tularecito being sent to a mental institution. If Bert Munroe had not interfered with the Tularecito excavations, the... middle of paper... eight Miss Morgan has a wonderful settlement in the pastures, when the Munroes take her back to her childhood, she is brought back to the reality of her life. Raymond Banks in chapter nine was living a false reality where watching executions was okay, but the Munroes brought reality back to Banks. Chapter Ten was an exception because Pat Humbert lived in the reality of his childhood, yet the Munroes took him out of that reality and into fantasy. Ultimately, however, Humbert returns to his reality at the end of the chapter. The Whitesides live in a fantasy where generations upon generations could live in one house; however, the Munroes, burning the house, brought them back to reality. If the Munroes hadn't been around, all the families would have been living a fantasy in the pastures, so it wasn't so bad that the Munroes were around to bring the families back to reality.