Ma Joad The Grapes Of Wrath

“…seems to be the glue that holds this family together” (Hams 1). Through the journey to California, there are many struggles faced along the way but she retained her composure and remained calm just to appear strong for the family. “She seemed to know, to accept, to welcome her position, the citadel of the family, the strong place that could not be taken” (100). The position Ma is in is not effortless. She puts in a great deal of effort to remain the rock of the family, even though she has lost her many possessions. Without her, there wouldn’t be a Joad family.

Tom Joad lives his life with the “one foot before the other” type of attitude. The future does not concern him in the beginning of the novel. He does not think about the next day until the next day is there. He does this because he does not want to worry himself. He is afraid that if he becomes worried about his future, then he will become obsessed with it and will eventually be driven to insanity. As the novel went on, Tom realized that it was he that held his family together and provided the determination and support to keep going on. He possesses the skills and knowledge to make money on his own, but he decides to stay with his family and help them move along. The Joad family encounters many dilemmas where Tom has to make crucial decisions. Tom starts to realize what is best for his family’s future.

In chapter ten, Ma confesses to her son that she has doubts about finding work in California. She has little faith in what awaits the family. Tom reassures her by telling her what he told her before, that the only way to survive was to live from day to day and not worry about the future, and the things she could not control or predict. This helps to Ma have the confidence to lead the family during the journey. The rest of the novel is just about the family doing what they can to survive from one day to the next, never knowing what tomorrow held in store for

The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinback is a book with the main theme being the oversoul. The oversoul is the idea of an ultimate divine spirit that encompasses all human souls. In order to reach this theme, Steinback uses a variety of metaphors that all lead up to the theme of the oversoul.

In the novel, Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, depicts the struggles between upper class, middle class, and poor, migrant workers which show how natural human greed and selfishness amongst those with sustainable income increases tension between the separate classes. Steinbeck also uses the empathetic views shared amongst those in the same situations and how it gives them a want to help each other survive. The rich are wasteful with things they are unable to profit from; they cannot stand the poor nor the thought of the stagnation of their company. They are unable to accept a large consistent profit; the business itself is not the monster that begins to die from a constant profit but the greedy humans behind it.

A clear concept in John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath was the way families were run. At the beginning of the twentieth century, men led the family. They made the decisions and they made the money for the family while the women worked behind the scenes and kept everything going. What the men did not realize, or did not want to recognize, was that the women were the ones who were really in control. Though they did not take credit for it, they were the ones who bought and cooked the food the men ate, bore and reared the children the men helped create, and did everything they could to make a better life for themselves and their families. This changed once the Dust Bowl struck. Soon after, women took charge of the family affairs and slid

“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.

“She made her decision quickly. Six weeks had passed since her time with Tariq. Any longer and Rasheed would grow suspicious.

Throughout the year we have read about a varied amount of characters who have had many different personalities. There have been heroes like Frederick Douglass who has helped make the United States into a better place. Also we have had many villains like Abigail Williams who is a deceptive and vengeance-seeking person. Lastly we have the victim, Desdemona who is sweet and innocent, but not in the eyes of her lover. All of these people have big roles in each of the readings we have looked at.

The Grapes of Wrath was a depiction of life in the Great Depression, specifically in the areas the Dust Bowl affected. The Joad family represents the “Okies”, which were people who went west looking for jobs. They also showcase the unfortunate events that happened to millions of people during the Great Depression. The Joad’s land was taken away/plowed over by superintendent and the land agents. After the destruction of their home and land they head west, to California, in search of jobs. With the Californians only using the Okies for cheap labor and giving them poor living conditions, they didn’t receive the best reputation. The Californians were rude to the Okies and treating them how they did is because the Okies were taking their jobs and

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 definition of Ma’s character could be found in the way she took care of her family. She fiercely defends and hides her son who broke his parole, and serve as a nurse to her pregnant daughter. She definitely devotes her time into the family’s needs which makes her their stronghold even before their long journey to California begins. “She seemed to know, to accept, to welcome her position, the citadel of the family, the strong place that could not be taken. And since old Tom and the children could not know hurt or fear unless she acknowledged hurt and fear, she had practiced denying them in herself.

In Steinbeck's novel, The Grapes of Wrath, he describes the struggle of the small farmer and farmworker. The principal characters define quiet dignity and courage in their struggle to survive and in the caring for their loved ones. Through this novel, Steinbeck displays his respect for all the poor and oppressed of our world.

This quote runs through Jack’s mind while he and Anne are lying next to each other in a flashback. Anne asks Jack what he plans to do with his life and Jack responds by saying that he was thinking about studying law. Anne then claims that Jack made it up on the spot and it did not seem genuine. This is when Jack thinks this quote. This quote almost perfectly sums up Jack’s personality. He is saying that he had not thought at all about his future or cared to dwell on it. He did not care what he did with his life. He simply wanted to get a job, get a paycheck, spend the money and then go back to work on Monday like any normal person would do. He had no ambition to do something special with his life. Jack is a smart guy yet he refuses to muster

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