Grapes Of Wrath Essay

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.

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John Steinbeck, in the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, constructs the Dust Bowl setting so that it acts as a functioning character within the novel. Steinbeck supports this characterization of the setting through his use of personification, irony, and symbolism to show that the nature of the Dust Bowl functions as a major antagonist against the plight of the migrant workers. The author’s purpose is to foster an understanding of the unique struggles that faced the migrant workers so that the devastation of the Dust Bowl can be fully realized. Steinbeck writes in a colloquial tone for those seeking to understand the role of nature in historical events.

The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, is considered by many to be the hallmark of American literature. It covers the journey of the Joad family as they stick together through one of the harshest eras in American history, the Great Depression. The structure of the Joad’s narrative is interspersed by smaller, highly descriptive interchapters, which sets the novel apart from other classics in its ability to make the reader understand and relate to the Joads and everything they went through. The detailed, impactful vignettes foreshadow problems the Joads have to overcome and the overview descriptions in the vignettes contrast with the specificities of the Joad’s story. They contain Biblical allusions, colorful descriptions, and objects that can interact with the main characters later in the narrative. Through the use of imagery and diction, the vignettes make Steinbeck’s message more impactful and meaningful.

“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 Grapes of Wrath introduces new characters in chapter four. The characters can easily be related to every day lives, including our own. The character that can be connected most with myself is the turtle. Constantly, I feel I am never noticed and I am just kicked around by people every day. Some people notice me, but only get out of my way instead of offering their help. Some people target me as a way to prove they are larger than me. They swerve towards me to injure me or scare me. Steinbeck's ultimate goal is to make the reader sympathize with the turtle. The turtle is a helpless creature who is abandoned on the road, and the most care he gets from any passing drive is just an attempt to not hit the turtle. Tom Joad comes along

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.

Jesus always took the blame for his people, resulting in a painful death. In The Grapes of Wrath, Jim Casey (J.C.) is a replica of Jesus. When the Joad family first experienced the wrath of the Great Depression, they were losing faith. As their faith is running out, so is there basic knowledge of doing good. Common good is something everyone has to strive to achieve. Jim Casy strives for greatness whenever he is doing something for the common good of the people he is with. He does the right thing all the time, even when he does not feel like doing it. He encourages to do good for the better of others. The principles during The Great Depression are different than today’s principles. Back then, leaving behind all your belongings and looking forward to new beginning were just the small principles in life. Some of the bigger principles are doing what is right at all times no matter how hard it is to do. During the story, Jim Casey always puts others first, even when this means taking one for the team and getting himself in trouble, because that is what people do for the Good of the Community, and he believes he is the perfect man to help everyone he encounters.

1-1. “Before me and Neeka started asking D about her life, we were erasers too—she got to step into our world, with all the trees and mamas calling from windows and kids playing on the block, and forget.” (18)

The Grapes of Wrath is set in the horrible stage of our American history, the Depression. Economic, social, and historical surroundings separate the common man of America into basically the rich and poor. A basic theme is that man turns against one another in a selfish pride to only protect themselves. For example, the landowners create a system in which migrants are treated like animals and pushed along from one roadside camp to the next. They are denied decent wages and forced to turn against their fellow scramblers to simply survive.

     The book, Grapes of Wrath, follows the life of the Joad family, who live in Oklahoma during the Depression. The story begins with the return of Tom Joad from prison, where he has spent the last few years. He killed a boy in a bar fight and is now on parole. He is taken by surprise when he returns to Oklahoma only to find that his house is in ruins and his family is not there. He doesn’t know that, while he was gone, the banks forced his family and thousands of others off their land. Tom is accompanied by a former priest, Casey, who searches with Tom for his family. Tom and Casey find the Joad family at Tom’s uncle’s house. The family is preparing to move west to California in hopes that they

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

During Chapter 2 of The Grapes of Wrath, the reader is introduced to the main protagonist of the novel: a man named Tom Joad. In the chapter, it is revealed that Tom Joad had previously served time for homicide, and had just been released from prison after serving his sentence for four years. Tom, as it is revealed during segments of his dialogue, intends to return to his family homestead in Oklahoma, where the novel takes place, in order to make a new life for himself. Tom’s relatives work on a farm. This farm is, ultimately, the destination of Tom Joad’s journey during this chapter. Although the novel does not reveal much about Tom’s background during this chapter, his dialogue suggests that he is a very pragmatic man who is not afraid to

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

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