Guns In John Steinbeck's The 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.

Similar to a cactus’ bloom in the heat of the desert, through adversity humanity prospers and processes. Society, as a whole, has experienced, at least once, hardships in their lifetime, and through these trying situations people acquire compassion. Being familiar with challenges, people more readily accepts the distress of others and offer required assistance during times of difficulty. Although adversity is seen as the creator of contempt and hatred because of its negative effects on mentality, adversity fosters compassion through the creation of empathy, morality, and association in a person with others in a calamity.

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.

Metaphors are used a lot throughout the book The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Some examples of metaphors in the story are, the sand turtle trying to cross the road in chapter three, the bank monster that is described in chapter five, and the car dealership that is described in chapter seven.

Steinbeck exploits a disturbing and melancholy tone in The Grapes of Wrath in order to describe the desolation and destitution of California, once the Joad family arrives. A majority of the novel supports Steinbeck’s disturbing tone, especially with the novel set during the Great Depression; moreover, the setting of the novel proves parallel with Steinbeck’s disturbing tone. Many families traveled to California in attempts to begin a better life; however, many of the migrants discovered that California’s lifestyle did not meet any of the expectation many of the families had. The poverty, low wages, and unemployment that the Okies faced in California proved disappointing, and Steinbeck continually illustrates the struggles the Okies face to

Throughout Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck raises the issue of how the wealthy do not properly help the poor, and often treat them as invaders who should be left out on their own. He uses Grapes of Wrath to show how human nature causes people to ignore the plight of the poor when it is convenient for them. Throughout the novel, the “Okies” are often abused, and the wealthy commonly took advantage of their desperation to earn money to gain cheap labor. They were often paid unlivable wages, and forced away from any hospitable places solely because they were thought of as poor immigrants. This type of exploitation is a common occurrence throughout the novel. One example of this was when an employer set the wages for 20 cents an hour, which was far

The Grapes of Wrath is a book that takes place during the late 1930s. The 1930’s were known as the Dirty Thirties. One of the essential characters in the book The Grapes of Wrath was a man who went to prison for four years. He comes back to his homeland to find that all farms around him were deserted. They remained deserted as a result of the Great Depression.

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.

The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, is a novel which demonstrates the lives of families during the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s and the struggles they faced on their route to California. Throughout the novel, Steinbeck applies his writing style in order to convey the theme and general plot of the novel.

Guns are extremely powerful weapons. They can cause destruction, harm or even death. They can be used to defend and protect or to threaten and kill. However you look at it, guns are powerful instruments, not only physically but socially. As high school students it is

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.

    Steinbeck's political views are quite evident within The Grapes of Wrath. The subject of much controversy, The Grapes of Wrath serves as a social protest and commentary. Steinbeck's views as expressed through the novel tie directly into the Marxist ideals on communism.

In The Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family experiences many hardships on the journey to and in California, ranging from dying family members to a lack of sufficient food. In the third chapter of the novel, author John Steinbeck introduces a determined turtle who attempts to make its journey across a highway. The turtle is apparently nearly run over multiple times, and is actually hit by a car. This causes the turtle to be flipped on its shell, until it catches its footing and “little by little the shell [pulls] over and [is] flopped upright”(16). The turtle then continues its journey and successfully crosses the highway. Although this chapter may have seemed out of place, as the turtle seems to have nothing to do with the novel, Steinbeck’s use of symbolism is apparent. The turtle itself is supposed to symbolize the Joad family and the struggles they face trying to find a better life. Like the turtle, the family is knocked down many times, and like the turtle the family is still able to find its footing and stay determined. The Joad family’s goal is to make a living in California, and although they will face many challenges, they still have their eyes set on crossing their own personal and hazardous turtle highway.

   When Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath, our country was just starting to recover from The Great Depression.  The novel he wrote, though fiction, was not an uncommon tale in many lives.  When this book was first published, the majority of those reading it understood where it was coming from-they had lived it.  But now very few people understand the horrors of what went on in that time.  The style in which Steinbeck chose to write The Grapes of Wrath helps get across the book's message.

However, this anger presented in the novel is not a negative one. The characters are about to burst out of it and as result they will seek improving their conditions and fighting against this inhumane treatment. Many people agree on the fact that the novel is greatly about anger. For instance, Malcolm Cowely believes that the novel is one among the “great angry books that have the power to spur readers on to protest and action.” ( Cowely, American Tragedy p.382-383)