Grapes Of Wrath Setting Analysis

In describing the land, Steinbeck is showing humanity is continuously immersed in a struggle of good versus evil; he suggests “the way in which this sense of opposed absolutes rises from deep within man, representing something profound and inevitable in human consciousness” (Owens).

The "dirty thirties," as many called it, was a time when the earth ran amok in southern plains for the better part of a decade. This great American tragedy, which was more devastating environmentally as well as economically than anything in America's past or present, painstakingly tested the spirit of the southern plainsmen. The proud folks of the south refused at first to accept government help, optimistically believing that better days were ahead. Some moved out of the plains, running from not only drought but from the new machine-controlled agriculture. As John Steinbeck wrote in the bestseller The Grapes of Wrath, "it was not nature that broke the people-they could handle the drought. It was business farming, seeking a better return on land investments and buying tractors to pursue it, that had broken these people, smashing their identity as natural beings wedded to the land."(pg. 58) The machines, one-crop specialization, non-resident farming, and soil abuse were tangible threats to the American agriculture, but it was the capitalistic economic values behind these land exploitations that drove the plainsmen from their land and created the Dust Bowl.

The dust bowl was a tragic time in America for so many families and John Steinbeck does a great job at getting up-close and personal with one family to show these tragedies. In the novel, “The Grapes of Wrath”, John Steinbeck employed a variety of rhetorical devices, such as asyndeton, personification and simile, in order to persuade his readers to enact positive change from the turmoil of the Great Depression. Throughout the novel, Steinbeck tells the fictional narrative of Tom Joad and his family, while exploring social issues and the hardships of families who had to endure the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Steinbeck’s purpose was to challenge readers to look at

In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck effectively uses the rhetorical strategy of pathos to illuminate the dehumanization of migrant workers during the Great Depression. His story revolves around the Joad family, as they travel from Oklahoma to California in search of work. Steinbeck appeals to the reader’s empathy

One of America’s most beloved books is John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. The book portrays a family, the Joads, who leave Oklahoma and move to California in search of a more prosperous life. Steinbeck’s book garnered acclaim both from critics and from the American public. The story struck a chord with the American people because Steinbeck truly captured the angst and heartbreak of those directly impacted by the Dust Bowl disaster. To truly comprehend the havoc the Dust Bowl wreaked, one must first understand how and why the Dust Bowl took place and who it affected the most. The Dust Bowl was the result of a conglomeration of weather, falling crop prices, and government policies.

“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 sermon-like feel of the chapter is effective because it motivates the audience, willing the workers to come together and unite against the elite. The words that Steinbeck chooses to use in this chapter not only resemble biblical language, they also show a clear contrast with how the land is being used. The biblical language can be recognized when Steinbeck beautifully depicts California before the greed manifested. He describes what can be perceived as paradise, an allusion of sorts to the Garden of Eden. This language and allusion brings the audience a sense of serenity and peacefulness that soothes the reader. This sensation is ripped away from the reader when he begins to describe the rot and the decay caused by the miserliness of the elite. By depicting the good found in the land with quasi-biblical language, the greed of the privileged becomes much more malicious and cruel. This contrast helps the audience grasp Steinbeck’s message of how the greed is causing so much turmoil in a state that was once plentiful and luscious. Steinbeck also relies on symbolism to portray his message.

In (chapters 6-13), the landscape of California changes for the worst as Steinbeck tries to describe the damage that the men have inflicted on California. Steinbeck's diction with words such as "rot", "waste", and "decay" associate the former Edenic Califronia with a deathly image. This diction corresponds with the shift in imagery that shows "meat turning dark and crop shriveling on the ground" along with "black shreds(of cherries) hanging from them(the seeds)"; further depicting the change of landscape of California. Instead of "valleys in which fruit blossoms", the valley expels an "odor of sweet decay" showing the horrible state that California has turned in to under the guidance of the "understanding" men. Steinbeck also uses strong imagery to depict plentiful pears falling "heavily to the ground and splashing on the ground"; a symbol Steinbeck also changes the main theme of colors from the beautiful pink and green of the former California to a deathly black. Steinbeck also uses the vernacular of Californians to show the panic that the farmers feel by expressing such phrases as "We can't do it." and "We can't pay wages, no matter what wages." putting the reader in to the mind of the farmers to experience that panic and

Characters in The Grapes of Wrath are often contrasted to emphasize certain qualities in their relationships, the most notable being a lack of empathy versus a caring and generous nature. Steinbeck’s use of juxtaposition is key to understanding the significance of the contrast involving the landowners and the migrants and why they cannot share sympathies and opinions. These two groups are both rivals and continuously reinforce differences in their lifestyles, and such is the case for the landowners and migrants, which are two drastically different classes that will not cooperate. The migrants are searching for job opportunities and safe places, but are often cheated by the landowners, who are corrupted by their drive for cheap labor and, ultimately, riches,

Steinbeck uses the literary device of metaphor by narrating the Joad family's journey to California, in comparison to the other migrant families in the intercalary chapters. Throughout the novel, there are a few of these chapters that help develop themes like re-birth, community, perserverance, etc, through key symbols, to support the narrative chapters.

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 1930s were a time of hardship for many across the United States. Not only was the Great Depression making it difficult for families to eat every day, but the Dust Bowl swept through the plains states making it nearly impossible to farm the land in which they relied. John Steinbeck saw how the Dust Bowl affected farmers, primarily the tenant farmers, and journeyed to California after droves of families. These families were dispossessed from the farms they had worked for years, if not generations (Mills 388). Steinbeck was guided by Tom Collins, the real-life model for the Weedpatch camp’s manager Jim Rawley, through one of the federal migrant worker camps. He was able to see for himself,

Steinbeck explores the incorporation of individuals who normally compete for survival into a part of a larger, more viable whole. At first glance, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck would seem to have little in common with Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. However, Out of the Dust tells of the deep misgivings about

The main picture of the topic that Steinbeck conveyed in this section is that; the places one has lived, affect their identity. The events that convey this picture are evident as Steinbeck discusses each of the places he has lived and how each one affected his outlook on life/his identity. He grew up in Salinas, a small town in California whose demographics influenced his sensibility and created an appreciation of the land within him. He also lived in New York City which was a total violative from a small town, however both places greatly affected his writing along with his personality. The insights that he conveys still have relevance on us today because Steinbeck shows the impactfulness of where it is that you call home and being able to see the beauty in not so good situations such as his hometown of Salinas which wasn’t the best place to grow up but still shaped him to be a good person. Edina doesn’t have the problem of living in a bad environment but it exhibits that when hurdles arrive in our lives they don’t have to

When families like the Joads began on their treacherous journey to California, along with the thousands of other families, they were not socially accepted or taken care of along the way. Farmers traveling were given the derogatory nickname of “Okies”, stereotyping that they all came from Oklahoma (Schleeter). Everyone disliked Okies, especially those in California, and when they arrived they were stuck living in cardboard boxes in filthy camps (Schleeter). These squalid camps of thousands were called “Hoovervilles”, and the Joad family spent a fair amount of time in one (Marchand). Steinbeck depicted the horror these camps so fantastically, that First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt called to reform laws governing migrant camps (Schleeter). Those in poverty could only rely on one another, Ma Joad describes this beautifully in saying,” If you’re in trouble go to the poor people. They’re the only one who will help” (Steinbeck). The camps were often burned, and when the Joad’s burned, they managed to get into a government-funded, self-managed camp (Marchand). Steinbeck structured the plot of his story to move from one family, to many families, to the human experience, in order to speak for the social issues of the masses (Schleeter). He also had effect of speaking for thousands who are suffering with the same prejudices as the Joad family by speaking in third-person plural to turn