Grapes Of Wrath Character Analysis

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.

Throughout the book, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, the physical transition of the Joad family from a small close-knit group of people living a quiet life on a farm in Oklahoma, corresponds with the internal transition of the concept of family. As the Joads leave their farm and journey westward, they no longer live just within their own isolated unit. Becoming involved with other families as they migrate, changes their focus and by the end of the book, the family members each reach out in their own way to embrace all of mankind as a family.

Her dignity is shown because she grows to appreciate everyone as much as she had with her family in the beginning. Throughout The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck highlights Ma Joad’s dignity through her bold actions.

Many families were broken apart during the civil war, where the father had to leave his spouse and children behind; forcing them to take care of themselves in his absence. In the novel Little Women, Marmee is the ideal representative of a motherly role model in a transcendentalist family during the eighteen hundreds. She continually guided her daughters to find joy in the most menial tasks. She stood strong in the presence of her daughters, although she had to raise them alone in the absence of their father, who has left to volunteer as a Chaplin during the Civil War. Her girls made it clear how they aspired to be as good hearted as she was. A mother’s hard work is seen through her children’s actions.

“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.

In the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck depicts the stories of migrant families during the Dust Bowl, where dust covered plantations, resulting in barren fields with incapabilities to grow crops. Due to barren lands, landowners forced the farmers off the fields, which causes the farmers to lose all of the reasons to stay. Therefore, the farmers set out onto a new journey that will hopefully lead them to a place where life can restart. However, this journey is not a perfectly smooth path; on the journey, the farmers face various adversities. Out of the countless families, John Steinbeck highlights the Joad family, who suffers through numerous misfortunes on the way West, toward California. Through the Joad family, Steinbeck portrays the novel as a form of social protest by emphasizing the unjust treatments the families receive , the deterioration of the false allusions the families hold of the American Dream, and by suggesting a future revolt of the working class.

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

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)

One of the most significant recurring events in The Grapes of Wrath is the change that Ma goes though. At the beginning of the novel, Ma is described based on her appearance, while Pa is described on his character. Ma was a typical woman in this time period; she never interrupted when the men of the house were having a conversation. In the family meeting, she started to speak her mind, but then got quite so Pa could talk, because he was a man. By the middle of the novel, after things started going wrong on the road, Ma begins to take control of situations, telling Pa and the other men what will happen and how the plan is set up. Near the end of the novel, after Pa has given up hope for the family, Ma takes command of all situations, for instance, when Agnes's parents come to the family to talk about Al, they speak to Ma, not Pa.

The cold, soaked earth, which was a source of life not too long ago, abducts a young child while the mother can only watch hopelessly as the husband shovels mounds of dirt. This event is not too different than most that citizens living during the Dust Bowl had to deal with. The self-destructive nature caused the American people to keep expanding and shaping the land as they saw fit. Because of this they overworked the land which, combined with drought, caused the Dust Bowl. The big corporations soon bought out most of the land in the Mid-West and many families were soon forced to make their living by other means. The shift of these families out west to a limited number of jobs

Ma Joad keeps the family nourished throughout their travel. As a mother, she follows the traditional role of a caretaker. However, the men did not fulfill their place in the family in the traditional sense. Without a job, the men lost a sense of leadership. Ma Joad continues to uphold her strength as a mother. Thus, there is a shift in roles, Ma Joad becomes the guide of the family. Ma Joad demonstrates her strength when they reach California. On their way to Weedpatch, a mob of men “armed with pick handles and shotguns” surround the truck. One of them says, “We ain’t gonna have no goddamn Okies in this town” (279). Tom’s hand “felt for the jack handle”, a reaction that signifies his anger and urge to fight back. As the leader, Ma Joad “caught his arm and held it powerfully” (279). Ma’s emotional strength allows her to dismiss the derogatory comments. Tom recognizes Ma as the leader of the family and therefore release his urge to fight. Ma utilizes her love to power her strength against those who bring trouble, and to protect her family. Thus, her undeniable strength makes her the leader of the

     This is what I find fascinating about the book - the strength of the people who are put through horrendous conditions.  They are driven from their homes, forced to live in a half-starved, miserable existence; yet they survive.  Perhaps my favorite character in The Grapes of Wrath is Ma Joad.  She seems to me to be the strongest and most steadfast character in the novel, and I admire her.  Throughout all of the hardships that the Joads have to endure, Ma stands tall and proud, a pillar of strength that holds her family to-gether.  Her overriding concern throughout the book is that the family has to stay to-gether.  She says more than once, "It ain't good for folks to break up" (p.225), and that belief brings her out of the role of obedient wife to that of a woman who will even resort to physical conflict to get her way.  At one point in the

The Grapes of Wrath tells the story of two types of ‘families’ in that the Joads are a factual one and the body of migrant workers as the other. The Joads are actual blood

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 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