Food System In John Steinbeck's Grapes Of Wrath

Throughout John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath, many concepts appear that were noted in How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster. However, the three chapters of Foster’s how-to guide that most apply to Steinbeck’s novel were “It’s All About Sex…,” “Every Trip is a Quest (Except When It’s Not),” and “It’s More Than Just Rain or Snow.” On more than one occasion these concepts are hidden within the book, and two of them actually seem somewhat linked together. After reading between the lines, The Grapes of Wrath has an extremely intricate plot and many ulterior meanings. Foster’s book helps to solve these meanings and make it so that the novel can be completely understood.

The Great Depression marked one of the most economic and social downfalls in the history of the modern world. During this time, a handful of American writers chose to reflect how their lives were affected during this time period through literature. Because of the divide in social class during this time, various standards of personal position were demonstrated through the published opinions of literary activists. John Steinbeck, known as one of the most popular American modern authors to ever put pen to paper, illustrated how the Great Depression and movement into the modern world left its noticeable footprint on him and the world around him. With that, Steinbeck’s “writing in the 1930’s protested against tendencies in the American way of life...” (Gray). Steinbeck undoubtedly had his mind set on prevailing the new American lifestyle to the world. In his novel The Grapes of Wrath, indicates

The novel The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is set in a time during the great depression, in a poor farming town where everyone is reliant on one another for their own survival. During a tough summer of farming due to dust suffocating large numbers of crops, families are struggling to survive. When the large companies that own the land realize it would be more profitable to evict the current residents and farm it all with large machinery many families are forced to leave their homes of many generations and travel halfway across the country to support their families. We see many examples of man’s inhumanity to man and greed throughout the course of this novel.

As a result people began to unite and help one another in similar situations as them. This is best displayed in the novel The Grapes of Wrath written by John Steinbeck. As families were forced out of their homes by the corporations, these farmers slowly united to form groups, called Hoovervilles, that were able to aid each other in times of distress. As a result of the Dust Bowl, Ma helped the Wilsons

Allusions are used in literature for multitudes of reasons; usually to foreshadow an event in the novel, or to give the piece a deeper meaning. Sometimes, allusions are used to prove authorial purpose. In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck uses allusions to prove the resiliency of the human spirit and how hope can persevere through even the worst of situations.

During the Great Depression, many citizens faced an arduous lifestyle of unemployment. However, many people managed to entertain themselves by reading literature such as The Grapes of Wrath. John Steinbeck witnessed an injustice towards farmers during the Great Depression, and this inspired Steinbeck to present his perspective of the maltreatment to the open through The Grapes of Wrath. The fictional novel describes how unfortunate conditions, during the Great Depression, force an Oklahoma farmer family to travel to California in search for an easy life, job opportunities, and a bright future. John Steinbeck represented and connected his tones through his trope, making it an excellent read. In the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck

Quest is a method where a literary work is broken down into five simple components. The five aspect of Quest consists of a quester, a place to go, a stated reason to go, challenges and trials, and a real place to go. This method can be applied to a novel by John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath because many examples are peppered throughout the story.

In the American epic novel, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, there are pivotal and dynamic changes that occur in the various significant characters of Jim Casy, Ma Joad, and Tom Joad. Steinbeck specifically uses these characters to show their common realizations about all of humanity, in order to demonstrate his underlying meaning about the importance of people coming together, helping each other out, and surviving. Ma Joad illustrates this idea clearly when she speaks to Tom mid-way through the novel: “Why, Tom, we’re the people that live. They ain’t gonna wipe us out. Why we’re the people--we go on.” (350)

A family torn apart by poverty and desperation in the Great Depression leave their home in the dust bowl in hopes of finding a new life on the green pastures of California. This was the foundation of an award winning novel, “The Grapes of Wrath,” written by John Steinbeck. Steinbeck achieved great success as an author after writing “The Grapes of Wrath” as it sold over 10,000 copies a week for months after its debut. To illustrate life in the dust bowl, the author uses literary elements or formal components such as a sophisticated tone, natural dialect in the form of slang, and figurative language.

Through such hardships as the Depression, the Dust Bowl summers, and trying to provide for their own families, which included the search for a safe existence, we find the story of the Joad's. The Joad's are the main family in John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath, which he created to give voice to the hundreds of families that found themselves at their absolute rock bottom during the Great Depression of the 20th Century in America.

Sixteen of the thirty chapters in the book The Grapes of Wrath written by John Steinbeck are intercalary chapters, between the narrative chapters of the Joads family journey. The Intercalary chapters provide knowledge to magnify the thoughts portrayed in the narrative by the author. By using this writing technique, Steinbeck intends to capture the reader's attention and make it more comprehensible. While reading the Grapes of Wrath, i found myself more engaged due to the intercalary chapters. This unique, structural choice provided background information and enhanced the story of the Joad’s family journey.

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is a timeless novel that illustrates the battle of low-income workers; being such, it can be related to many present-day issues. There are many people that don’t know it but families like the Joads, who work endlessly every day just to put food on the table, still exist. An article by Bruce Horovitz and Yamiche Alcindor was written for USA Today, two years ago on the topic of fast food strikes widening into a social justice movement. The article speaks of thousands of fast food workers protesting for an increase in wages across the nation which is quite similar to Casy and his fellow strikers asking for more than two and a half cents for work in The Grapes of Wrath.

In the novel, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck uses word choice and imagery to enhance the reader’s understanding of the setting and characters. In word choice, he uses simple words to describe the setting, the restaurant and truck, . He uses imagery to describe the setting and to characterize the “man”. This passage uses simple words to describe the truck and the restaurant, such as, “A huge red transport truck stood in front of the little roadside restaurant.”

In The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, the author uses the link of the lifestyle people were forced to live, to show just how bad this period was for living. The time of the Dust Bowl was not an admirable time in Americas history. Lifestyle during this period included dusty air, miserable temperatures, and a homeless type of living. These three life style characteristics specifically made living during this time extremely bleak and gloomy.

John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath was a controversial, yet intriguing, novel at the time it was written, and remains so today. It gives the reader a new perspective on life during the 1930’s by shedding light upon the often unspoken hardships of workers and the less fortunate. This complex novel was written in the time of the Great Depression and incorporates social realism as it follows the Joad family’s journey westward in search of opportunities. Social realism, as defined by the Oxford dictionary, is the realistic depiction in art or literature of contemporary life, as a means of a social or political comment. Although not explicitly stated in the text, The Grapes of Wrath contains many indicators of social realism within the book, including