Grapes Of Wrath Gender Roles 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.

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.

This quote explains how the Joads work. They work each of their jobs as hard as they can and

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.

In the 20th century, the average home life in rural Oklahoma was full of hard workers in the pursuit of the picture-perfect home surrounded by plentiful land. As the sun rises over the land in the morning with a red hue, it signals the commencement of the day ahead. The farmer has already been awake since before the sun broke the horizon, preparing his little equipment and his animals for his land’s work. The farmer’s wife is in the kitchen, cooking her husband a warm breakfast as a sign of her gratitude. Their children wake, running into the kitchen, bellies growling. After gobbling up the breakfast, they run outside to play and do chores of their own. The rest of the farmer’s wife’s day is spent cleaning, cooking, and looking after the

Steinbeck also touches base on how gender affects love and moral values through Rose of Sharon in The Grapes of Wrath. Rose of Sharon is Tom's younger sister. She is married to Connie Rivers, and has been staying with his family. She is pregnant with their first child, and "she [is] all secrets now she [is] pregnant, secrets and little silences that seemed to have meanings. She [is] pleased with herself, and she complain[s] about things that [don't] really matter" (Steinbeck 13.52). She dreams of living comfortably in California with her husband, going to see movies on the weekends, and buying pretty clothes for her baby. She worries constantly about her baby's health, and relies on her mother for information. While the family encounters obstacle after obstacle, Rose of Sharon can't seem to shake her self-centered perspective of the world. As their journey progresses, Rose seems to be willing to help more often than not. It is almost as if she has accepted her womanly duties and hopes that in return she will be loved and cared for by Connie. Her plan does not fold out. As the family gets settled into their first camp site, Connie disappears. Rose’s husband leaves her, while she is pregnant, on a massive trip to California, where she had hoped to start a better life with him and the baby. Love is torturing her. Now that she’s alone, she knows she has to take full responsibility for the life she is carrying. She works herself to

   The emphasis on family in America is decreasing. Divorce rates, single-parent households, and children born out of wedlock are all increasing. Furthermore, instead of the network of aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, and other relatives that was prevalent in early America, Americans today are more distant from their extended family. As sociologist David Elkind said in a 1996 interview with Educational Leadership, "Instead of togetherness, we have a new focus on autonomy. The individual becomes more important than the family" (4). This means that one of the basic needs of humanity, belongingness and love, is very likely going unfilled in many people.

In the year of 1939, the Great Depression affected the lives of many located within the United States. This was a severe, and most widespread depression which affected people across the world. For the reason that there was a fall of the stock market, a drought ravaged the agricultural heartland. Those who were dependent on their farmland to provide for their families became imposed by coercion to retreat and re-locate their entire families. This migration was a struggle during this period because the lack of resources and money to survive. Among other elements, starvation and homelessness caused many to die at an early age. John Steinbeck's, The Grapes of Wrath, exhibits the Joad's, a family who undergoes the collapse of the agrarian

     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

wilderness, he also had rejected an old religion to try and find his own version

In this day and age, we face many problems. These problems include racism, poverty, and sexism. John Steinbeck, in The Grapes of Wrath, approaches the issue of sexism, writing about multiple empowered women. The novel is about the Joad family making the treacherous journey from Oklahoma to California in search of a better life. On the way to, and on arrival at California, there are three examples of women that are leaders and helpers.

In the 20th century, the average home life in rural Oklahoma was full of hard workers in the pursuit of the picture-perfect home surrounded by plentiful land. The sun rose over the land, signaling the commencement of the day ahead. The farmer had already been awake since before the sun broke the horizon, preparing his little equipment and his animals for his land’s work. The farmer’s wife was in the kitchen, cooking her husband a warm breakfast as a sign of her gratitude. Their children woke and soon were running into the kitchen, bellies growling. After gobbling up the breakfast, they ran outside to play and do chores of their own. The rest of the farmer’s wife’s day was spent cleaning, cooking, and looking after the kids until the sun went down and it was time for bed. Set in this time, The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, holds contrasting female characters. Some characters show the defiance of the gender roles at the time, while others adhere to them. In some instances, a female character can surpass the expectations set upon her by the patriarchal society in which they live she lives, setting her free to use a voice she never was allowed.

In the story Grapes of Wrath there is a definitive line between the roles of men and women. This shows the reader the life in the Dust Bowl America that a women would have and a man. The women are to accommodate the men by being quiet and reading the men’s expressions, “ ... the women came out of the houses to stand by their men- to feel whether this time the men would break” (3).The men handle the hard laboring things and bear the weight of working for there family. The women do the household chores and take care of the children, while the men do the work. The women are almost sacred that the men would “break” because how would they take care of the family without a man leading them. However, throughout the novel the reader does see a blurred

The importance of female and male roles, is that they can define behaviors or values. Meaning during this time of The Grapes of Wrath and Things Fall Apart, women are expected to do all house work or stay home. While males, go to work and provide for the families. In Things Fall Apart, and The Grapes of Wrath the female and male roles are very present. In Things Fall Apart, when Okonkwo inherited Ikemefuna from another tribe then Okonkwo had to play the role of being a father to Ikemefuna. Which means, he had to provide a lot more considering he just inherited another child. In The Grapes of Wrath, Tom Joad comes back from serving time in jail and his family lost land because of “Job- Eliminating Tractors.” When he comes back to find his family, Tom finds out that they are planning a trip in search of jobs. In this part of the book, it doesn’t mention any females considering to get a job or to look for one. Male and female roles aren’t only gender roles, they can mean many things such as the way you act or the actions you commit.