Evaluation of the Characters in Director John Ford’s Grapes of Wrath

Through the roughest times in life, we come across crises that reveal the true character in those around us. Those who are strong are divided from the weak and the followers divide from the leaders. In the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, author John Steinbeck presents the character Ma Joad who serves an important role as the rock that keeps the family together. The Joad family, apart from many families in Oklahoma, is forced to leave their homes in search of work and better opportunities; California not only leaves them in poverty but despair. But through it all Ma Joad is the leader of the family that exhibits selflessness in order to protect and secure her family.

John Steinbeck's novel "The Grapes of Wrath" comes out in a movie. The background of this film is the 1930s American Great Depression. It is a film that explains the background of the times through the story of many peasants leaving the land and experiencing bourgeois life due to the Great Depression. The US economic depression occurred in 1929. To make matters worse, in the central part of the United States, many hardships are caused by extreme drought and sand storms. Many farmers ruin corn farming due to drought and sand storms. They ruin their major revenue sources and fail to repay the debts owed to the financial institutions of the East, and they are forced to sell their land of their lives for a bargain

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.

Sometimes in crisis people show their true colours. In John Steinbeck's novel turned movie “The Grapes of Wrath”, the Joad family was forced from their home in Oklahoma and have to move in california in search of work. They face many trials and tribulations along the way. Ma Joad stays strong throughout the story, trying to hold her family together through the difficult times.In the movie “Grapes of wrath” Ma Joad is the backbone of the family and provides the family with support, healing, and leadership.

Ma is a very determined and loving woman. She is recognized as the center of strength of the family. It does not matter if the reward is small or big, Ma will meet every obstacle unflinchingly. Throughout the book, Ma always had a way of staying strong when times got rough and keeping the family together. Ma found it hard to stay strong though with the loss of her mother, but pulled through for the sake of the family. Ma consistently proved to be the book’s strongest supporter of family. The two tendencies are not in conflict but assembles a philosophy of selfless sacrifice. Ma demonstrates this best when she tells her daughter to feed the starving man in chapter thirty. With her strong nature, Ma Joad suggests that even the most horrible circumstances can be battled with grace and

The Grapes of Wrath written by John Steinbeck is an award winning classic that displays the struggles that the Joad family must face on their way to California from Oklahoma. Paired with non-Joad chapters, the novel reveals the harsh truth on how society does not welcome people from Oklahoma and how other people must face the struggles of the 1930’s. The Joads must make the perilous route to California due to the Dust Bowl and the Depression that has struck. What they believe will an an all American dream, is actually a nightmare that the Joads must face. Although Grapes of Wrath is portrayed as an American classic, in reality it’s a radical novel that depicts discrimination, the reversal of gender roles, and the harsh struggles of a family

Steinbeck uses a third person omniscient point of view throughout The Grapes of Wrath to describe the conditions multiple characters face; while Tom Joad is considered the protagonist of the novel, Ma Joad proves to be the overall central character. As the novel progresses, Ma displays the qualities of a dynamic character, developing skills such as leadership, drive, and strength; furthermore, she became the reason that the Joad family stayed together throughout their voyage. Ma’s intuition served her well, prior to, during, and after traveling to California. Her loving bond with Tom Joad provides an overall accentuation of Ma’s significant role in the novel.

It was obvious that the mother and father were the main heads of the house, the grandparents overall had the final say. But that quickly deteriorated as the family got the grandfather drunk and passed out to carry him along on their voyage. And as the two grand parents passed away, it was the mother that the family, mainly Tom, turned to for guidance. Family also had several seemed to evolve from previous notions of blood or love ties, to anyone willing to come along on the journey to California, and anyone willing to help out. Another essence of family importance in noticed when the husband of the couple that had accompanied the Joads on their journey had abandoned his new wife and their expecting child. I think this is a good example of how romantic and family love had been torn apart due to the horror of the great depression.

Walter does not take Mr. Linders money when he offers it for his family to not move into Clybourne Park because he was thinking about Travis, he was being pressured by his family, and feeling guilty about losing the rest of the money for the bar.

In John Steinbeck’s novel Grapes of Wrath, the main quester is not just a single individual, but an entire family. Although much of the focus is on Tom Joad, a young man who was just released from four years in jail after killing a man with a shovel, Steinbeck focuses on the reunion of the Joad family and the struggles that they are forced to face during their quest to find a new home and to fulfill the American dream. Tom Joad, Al Joad, Rose of Sharon, Noah Joad, Ma Joad, Pa Joad, Uncle John, Grandma, Grandpa, as well as an old, retired preacher named Jim Casy, all play important roles in defining the overall theme of searching in this novel. There is not only a physical quest for all of these characters, but also a mental and spiritual quest

    Ford attempted to establish a sense of historical context by inserting two paragraphs of prose on the screen immediately following the opening credits:

“The Grapes of Wrath”, a story about love, unity, and survival, is yet another novel set in the Great Depression in America during the years of 1929 through 1939. This story just so happens to be a story with many twists and a protagonist who performs several questionable acts throughout the entirety of this story. The Joad family is the main focus of the story along with the Wilson family. The Joads, in pursuit of a better life, left the farm and set a course for California. Life had been difficult for the Joads and were able to succeed by holding onto each other.

The Grapes of Wrath is an important commentary on society and humanity, and is intended to evoke intense feelings from readers.  John Steinbeck, the author, attempts to create many true emotions about the book and the reality that it was based on.  Steinbeck uses images that are very effective and have a large impact on how the characters are perceived.  Some of the images show the dismal abyss that the Joad family survived in, and others show hope, endurance, and strength.  Some of the most effective images are those of sadness, failure, and devastation, which cause the connection between the unforgiving and tormented land and the anguish and persecution which the resolute Joads must face constantly throughout their lives

A central theme throughout The Grapes of Wrath is the importance of family. Throughout the family’s travels, the Joads encountered other families seeking a better future. For example, the Joads became friendly with the Wilsons. Almost immediately, the two families become one, sharing one another’s adversities like Grampa Joad’s death and committing to one another’s survival. In Chapter 17, the narrator explains how overtime all of the migrants ultimately came together and became one big family. “Twenty families became one

One of the greatest novels of all time, John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, is a well-known American classic. Renowned for its portrayal of the struggle of migrant families during the Dust Bowl; the novel not only details the Joad family’s 1500 mile journey from Oklahoma to California but that of all migrant workers. The Joad’s travels reflect the hardships migrant workers had to face while trying to survive in a country that hated and feared them. The novel was published in 1939, and one year later it was made into a motion picture. John Ford’s film, also titled The Grapes of Wrath, was a major success, and a marvelous adaptation. However, while visually satisfying, the film does not convey the depth or intensity of Steinbeck’s classic. Neither a loose, nor truly close adaptation, The Grapes of Wrath falls into the category of an intermediate film. The Grapes of Wrath fails to convey a vital theme of the novel, the relationships cultivated not just between the Joad’s, but between all of the migrant families.