Analysis Of Quotes From 'The Grapes Of Wrath'

The dust bowl was a tragic time in America for so many families and John Steinbeck does a great job at getting up-close and personal with one family to show these tragedies. In the novel, “The Grapes of Wrath”, John Steinbeck employed a variety of rhetorical devices, such as asyndeton, personification and simile, in order to persuade his readers to enact positive change from the turmoil of the Great Depression. Throughout the novel, Steinbeck tells the fictional narrative of Tom Joad and his family, while exploring social issues and the hardships of families who had to endure the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Steinbeck’s purpose was to challenge readers to look at

“At the heart of every immigrant’s experience is a dream- a vision of hope that is embodied in his or her destination” (Gladstein 685). In the novel, The Grapes of Wrath the migrants imagined the absolute aspects of living care free to the west. However, everything changed once they traveled to the west, realizing the simple concept turned into hazardous problems. John Steinback emphasized the American dream of economic stability and truculent situations towards the Joads family's point of view. Throughout the immigration, the Joads family goes through constant and unpredictable changes in employment, and their eventual failure to find success in California. The novel has been called by critics "a celebration of the human spirit", in several ways it is true due to the aspects of human nature. Despite the hazardous actions people can do, it is important to realize everything around us.

To quote Ma Joad in the film The Grapes of Wrath, “I ain 't never gonna be scared no more. I was, though. For a while it looked as though we was beat. Good and beat. Looked like we didn 't have nobody in the whole wide world but enemies. Like nobody was friendly no more. Made me feel kinda bad and scared too, like we was lost and nobody cared....Rich fellas come up and they die, and their kids ain’t no good and they die out. But we keep a comin’, we’re the people that live. They can’t wipe us out; they can’t lick us. We’ll go on forever Pa, ‘cause we’re the people.” This statement captures the resilience of the American working class since the birth of the country. Ma 's speech can be read as a proclamation of necessary fictions to bolster the morale of the family. She is the uncomplaining maintainer of status quo in the home, the ultimate mother figure who not only attends to physical needs, but mental needs as well.

“‘Have I ever let you down?’ he asked Brian and me and then turned and walked away. In a voice so low that Dad didn’t hear him, Brian said, ‘Yes’” (Walls 78).

John Steinbeck utilizes the irony of the refugees’ false hope, and the imagery of Ma’s strength, and Granma’s demise to evoke a tone of desperation and denial. The usage of the refugees struggle for security enforces a theme of a quest for freedom from instability. The pitiless actions of society upon the Joads and refugees meet an unfaltering desire for a stable life, yet they continue to manipulate and suppress the people; the unyielding control results in desperate families who elicit a tone of denial and fear.

Chapter Four “The police won't do anything. These interahamwe are part of the government. Don't talk to them, don't even look at them especially since your Tutsi.” (Pg. 34) During this time of the book Immaculee was traveling with John to visit her friend Sarah and her parents.

“… Dick saw a man, who was his own age- twenty- eight or thirty. He could have been ‘a gambler or lawyer or maybe a gangster from Chicago.’ Whatever he was he looked as though he knew the glories of money and power… All that belonged to him, Dick, but he would never have it. Why should that sonofabitch have everything, while he had nothing? … With a knife in his hand, he, Dick, had the power. Big shots… like that better be careful or he might ‘open them up and let their luck spill on the floor’” (201).

Section 1: 1. a. Receptacle b. "Books were only one type of receptacle where we stored a lot of things we were afraid we might forget." (82-83) c. An object or space used to contain something.

The characters bring a riveting story to life when reading. Throughout the book, I felt emotions left and right for the characters and what they were going through. There is a lot of mystery and questioning that will be answered later in the book, but once its done, there are still many questions being asked. when I look for a book, that is something that stands out to me because I really want to read more, and when you have that reaction to a book, that means it was worth reading. I found this book remarkable because of the behaviors, characteristics, and decisions that the characters make, and I recommend this book to everyone, even if they don’t like to

Man is one with nature. John Steinbeck opens The Grapes of Wrath with a chapter regarding the connection between the people of the land and the land itself. The first chapter sets the tone for the rest of the novel, creating a sense emotional unity and togetherness. The rhetorical devices applied in the opening chapter allow the reader to grasp the mood of rest of The Grapes of Wrath. Through repetition, generalizations, and personification, Steinbeck establishes the connection between the migrant people and the land.

1. “I no longer thought God was the creeks rising from the wood floor. I knew God was found in prayer, not in the sudden closing of the hallways door just as you stepped from the bathroom. But when I was a boy with squares of black space instead of baby teeth when the door closed with a sigh, I thought, that God. God made that happen.” (Page 2)

11.Q: “‘What does James think about this?’ ‘Uh-what do you mean?’ she turned and faced me, expression slightly withering. ‘Use your brain, Deidre.’” (Stiefvater 132).

In the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck uses many of the literary devices to emphasize the conditions of the people migrating to California. One that I found obvious and recurring in the novel was repetition. There are many instances in the novel where words, images, or phrases are repeated to bring the condition of certain situations to life.In the quote above Steinbeck uses repetition to create an ethereal trance and stress the desperate times of the Dust Bowl era. The overuse of “listen” has a sense of movement. The reader also gets to feel that he is apart of the story feeling the increase of reality. Also the use of “you” by Tom, the narrator makes the reader feel amid with the Joad family who have sold everything they owned

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck uses numerous literary techniques to advocate for change in the social and political attitudes of the Dust Bowl era. Simile, personification, and imagery are among the many devices that add to the novel’s ability to influence the audience’s views. Moreover, through his use of detail, Steinbeck is able to develop a strong bond between the reader and the Joad clan. This bond that is created evokes empathy from the audience towards the Joads as they face numerous challenges along their journey. The chapters go between the Joad’s story and a broad perspective of the Dust Bowl’s effect on the lives of Mid-western farmers in which Steinbeck illustrates dust storms devastating the land, banks evicting tenant

The Dust Bowl, a series of severe dust storms in the 1930’s, left the southern plains of the United States as a wasteland. The storms occurred due to the lack of use of dryland farming techniques to prevent wind erosion. Powerful winds would pick up loose soil and carry the sediment around the countryside. Called “black blizzard” or “black rollers”, these storms had the potential to black out the sky completely. Due to the inability to grow and sell crops, banks evicted families and foreclosed their properties, leaving them homeless and without an income. The author of The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck, wrote his American realist novel to allow readers to understand the experiences of the migrants from the Dust Bowl era. Not many