Aubrey Hepstall
Ms. Franklin
English 9 Pre-AP 12 February 2016
Novel Synopsis Assignment
Title of Novel: The Grapes of Wrath
Author: John Steinbeck
Year Written: 1939
Author’s Nationality: Salinas California, United States
Type of Novel: Historical Fiction and Realistic Fiction
Setting of Novel: The Grapes of Wrath takes place in the 1930s Dust Bowl period. It is set in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, along Route 66, Bakersfield, and Weedpatch migrant camp.
Protagonist: Tom Joad
Antagonist: The banks are the antagonist. When poor farmers failed to repay the banks, they were thrown out of their houses. This is why the Joads were forced to go to California. They were forced out of their home so they moved to achieve a better life.
Brief Plot Summary: In the 1930s Oklahoma, Tom Joad hitchhikes home. He was paroled after 4 years of jail. Along the road, he runs into a man named Jim Casy. He was a preacher that Tom knew when he was a child. Jim explains that he is not a preacher anymore because he is said to have lost his calling. Tom invites Casy to walk home with him.
When they arrive at the Joad’s old farm, Tom and Casy find it empty. Muley Graves, one of Tom’s old neighbors, comes up to tom and says that his family has been forced off their land by the bank. They temporarily moved in with Uncle John and they are now getting ready to leave for California in search for work. Everyone except Grandpa is excited to go. They pack the truck, but Grandpa decides that he wanted to stay. They
At the onset of the book, Young Tom has just been released from prison and is interested in making up for lost time and enjoying himself. He is a strong family support during the journey but is among the first to begin reaching out to a larger family. At the end he has focused on the plight and abuse of all the homeless farmers and recognizes that they must
(146) In order to emphasize his humility and goodness, Tom has been cast as a ?one-arm jackleg? (as he so eloquently puts it). He is a carpenter, ably fixing up the Crater property. He performs the miracles of reviving Mrs. Crater?s long-dead Ford (the religious connection reinforced by O?Connor?s characterization of his expression ?as if he had just raised the dead? [151]) and teaching deaf and mute daughter Lucynell to say the word ?bird?. He eschews modern man?s obsession with money and claims that he has a ?moral intelligence? despite his physical shortcomings. By emphasizing his focus on the spiritual nature of life, Tom succeeds in marrying the daughter and receiving money from Mrs. Crater.
In chapter six Tom and Casy find his house abandoned and later on Muley runs into them, an old neighbor. Muley is living alone, after refusing to leave his home for California. Tom believes in being a straight forward person who faces problems head on instead of cowering from them. This is shown when he, along with Muley and Casy have to hide from a deputy searching for trespassers after seeing their fire. Tom is angry about having to hide
“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe” (Douglass). In Steinbeck’s Dust Bowl Age novel, The Grapes Of Wrath, protagonist Tom Joad, and his family are forced from their farm due to the Oklahoma Dust Bowl, believing to set out to refuge for California, along with many struggling migrant workers. Including the family, thousands of migrant workers are in search of jobs, land, and the hope for having a brighter future. Steinbeck also includes the aspect of characters who come along such as Jim Casy, whose characteristics rely on human unity and love as
As we look at the characters within the story, they exemplify and convey the souls present in the bible. Jim Casy forms an obvious parallel with Jesus Christ, as a preacher who proves his dissatisfaction and unrest in his view of the establishment, and has abandoned his preaching style of his earlier life. Just as Jesus changed from the teaching of the Old Testament to promote greater self-discipline and a New Harmony. Tom Joad follows Casy initially, learning from him, until he is ready to take over the message himself after Jim Casy dies, which can be seen as a symbol of his disciple. Just like Christ followers carried on and shared the messages to form the idea that Jesus is still alive even after he died, Tom continued to teach the preachings of Casy once he dies a martyr 's death.Casy is also a prophet and Christ-like figure and we see this when he says: "You don 't know what you 're a doin, '" which reminds us of the
When Tom Joad sees Jim Casy as he walks to the Joad ranch after being dropped off from the truck, he asks Jim Casy if he preaches anymore because he remembers Jim Casy as a preacher. Jim Casy says he does not preach anymore because he does not believe in God. After he went into the forest and rediscovered more about life, he changed the way. Jim Casy has moved on from what he used to do to a new understanding to religion and life.
“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.
The Joads arrive in California and never find the paradise they had convinced themselves existed there. With their only hope for salvation dashed, they unwillingly discover the politics of labor. After meeting the mayor of Hooverville, where they decide to camp, Tom learns from
After arriving at the peach farm, Tom ventures out that night, and stumbles upon Jim Casy and a few other men in a ravine. Casy frequently articulated his ideas of the oversoul, and after being imprisoned, Casy feels that he found his true purpose in life, and spoke to Tom about the importance of unity, which inspired Tom greatly. Jim’s death inspired Tom even more, for Jim died for a cause he believed in, “Tom looked down at the preacher. The light crossed the heavy man’s legs and the white new pick handle. Tom leaped silently.” (pg386). Jim’s death left Tom on a mission, a mission to spread his ideology. Tom then realized that the migrants had to unite or else they would die, and they would never succeed. Tom’s final conversation with Ma was deeply profound, and his final influence over her would travel to the rest of the family, “‘Well, maybe like Casy says, a fella ain’t got a soul of his own, but on’y a piece of a big one-an’then-...Then it don’t matter. Then I’ll be all aroun’ in the dark. I’ll be ever’where-wherever you look...See? God, I’m talkin’ like Casy.’” (pg419). Tom’s “I’ll be there” speech was his final influence, and his final impact moment of the book. He reaches a full understanding of the oversoul and the need for unification, and this is his epiphany along with all the other
The central conflict in The Grapes of Wrath is the Dust Bowl during the 1930’s and its effects on tenant farmers. The Joads are just one of many families affected by this disaster. The story revolves around their move to California and their search for jobs. The quality that helps them endure is their ambition. Their desire to be successful drives them to work hard and support one another. Their ambition is symbolized by their move to California and search
Tom, though, is a very complicated individual who turns out to be a tremendous asset and burden to the family. His parole causes the family an unneeded worry, but does get work that helps the family. He is the main protagonist for his family and the main follower of Jim Casy's philosophy on human nature. Jim is much more of a talker and idealist, and he actually puts what he preached into action. Jim Casy is frequently compared with Jesus Christ and his lifestyle of preaching and leading people. As well as sacrificing himself for Tom and the Joad family which upholds his common held belief. Tom carries Jim’s message after his death and aids others with it. The Joad family, along with Jim Casy, shows the benefit of people uniting in order to accomplish goals and this is a lesson that the reader can take away from this novel.
This news is disheartening to Tom, but the family’s only choice is to keep traveling west. Tom’s grandmother eventually dies too from exhaustion and heat. Finally after many grueling days in the hot sun and numerous stops to fix the car, the Joads arrive at California. However, their dreams of finding a wonderful place to live are shattered when they hear California residents calling them Oakies and saying bad things about them. Californians feel threatened by the families migrating into California because the newcomers will take all the job opportunities and they will steal food to avoid starvation. At first the Joads can’t find work and they are forced to live in one of the Hoovervilles. The Hoovervilles are very run down and Connie , Tom’s brother, runs away from the family because of the disappointment of realizing his dreams will not come true.
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
Tom Joad and his family always kept a sense of subtle hope throughout their journey from Oklahoma to California. Hope is what kept them from falling apart. Although Casy struggled with his inner faith, overall, the family did have faith that a new life in California would work out in the long run and would eventually be best for their family. They hoped that this new life would provide their family with more opportunities, and most importantly a job. When they arrived, they discovered that "all of California quickens with produce, and the fruit grows heavy”(Steinbeck). This was the beginning of a new start for the Joad family, but also the beginning of a new struggle. Throughout the novel the Joad family is challenged to survive both physically and spiritually. Their power and resilience is challenged at every turn in their unfolding journey. Casy begins to question his own beliefs along with the teachings of God preached in the Bible. Over the course of the novel, Casy drifts away from the teachings of the Bible and stops believing in the concept of right and wrong. "Well, maybe like Casy says, a fella ain 't
After meeting Jim Casy and traveling to California with his family, Tom starts to change his idea of see others and the world. Well walking to his father’s house, Tom encounters Jim Casy a former preacher he knew. Tom takes a break and they catch up with what is going on with their lives. This is one of the first examples of how Tom is starting to be more social after being in prison for four years. During their talk Casy gives Tom the idea that,”Maybe all men got one big soul ever'body's a part of.”(Steinbeck 33) Casy tries to explain to Tom that he believes that everyone in the world are just one big family. This simple idea later makes Tom leave his family so he can go help others in need. Without meeting Casy Tom wouldn’t of become the man we see at the end of the novel. Another example of Tom changing as a character is in chapter 16 where he meets a one eyed mechanic. Tom feels bad for the guy and decides to