Immigrants In The Film The Grapes Of Wrath

Deborah Miranda’s Bad Indians utilizes a unique blend of writing styles to piece together a clearer and more distinct view on the Mission system, Gold Rush, and settlement of California. Through this revolutionary collection of writing, we receive a detailed account of the treatment that California Indians had to endure during the Missionization era and are able to draw our own conclusions in regard to whether the missions were a positive or negative aspect of California history. Although Miranda’s ancestors suffered and survived horrible conditions, she, in my opinion, does not villainize the Mission system, but rather displays the facts as they are, therein allowing us to reach our own conclusions in relations to this history. Because there

Seventy-five years later, John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, and the film adaptation, are still relevant to life now, because there are several relatable themes running through the book and movie. The novel depicts the about the economic inequality of the 1840s and 1930s. Yet still today, there is economic inequality. The wealthier people with jobs also look down on the poorer, unemployed people. Perhaps there is a fear that the jobless will come in and steal jobs. However, the American dream is clearly present in the novel and has been throughout history.

The 1930’s were a decade of great change politically, economically, and socially. The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl wore raw the nerves of the people, and our true strength was shown. From it arose John Steinbeck, a storyteller of the Okies and their hardships. His books, especially The Grapes of Wrath, are reflections of what really went on in the 1930’s. John Steinbeck did not write about what he had previously read, he instead wrote what he experienced through his travels with the migrant workers. “His method was not to present himself notebook in hand and interview people. Instead he worked and traveled with the migrants as one of them, living as they did and arousing no suspicion from employers militantly alert against

During the early 20th century, the United States was going through various changes in a short period of time that molded into this modern America we know today. The United States was swept away by an economic boom in the 1920's that was filled with promises of abundance and prosperity. The mass-production and mass-consumption flourished during this time and as a result, the United States went through a process known as Urbanization . However, this economic growth came to an end in 1929 when the stock market crashed, resulting in billions of dollars to evaporate. This led to the infamous Great Depression. The 1930's was a challenging time in American history. Not only was America going through this economic crisis but the 1930's was also met with one of the worst environmental disaster in the Central Plain known as the Dust Bowl . Large numbers of Americans had to evacuate and many of these of refugees moved to California to look for work. The book The Harvest Gypsies: On the Road to the Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, illuminates on the social injustices and the struggles many of these refugees had to face in western agriculture. He provides detailed articles of descriptions of the workers daily lives which he observed personally and argues that migrant workers are American citizens who deserve equal treatment and rights just like any other natural born citizen and discusses various ways to end the migrants' poverty and suffering.

The photograph “Migrant Mother” was taken by Dorothea Lange in the year 1936 in Nipomo, California. The photograph depicts a mother by the name of Florence Owens Thompson. Thompson was a mother of seven, and her photograph because an iconic symbol of the Great Depression. The Grapes of Wrath, a novel about the migration during the 1930’s, was influenced by “Migrant Mother.”

As a result of the historical events which took place in the novel, the economy was on a downturn. Since consumers lost buying power, a proportional relationship between the decrease of industrial production and business failure was created. The staggering combination of inflation and increase in unemployment rates resulted in many individuals losing their farms, businesses and homes. Consequently, many people migrated to western states such as California, hoping that because of its geographical location and economical development during the past years, it would be beneficial and filled with career opportunities. Nevertheless, this wasn’t the case. The majority of those who migrated were slapped in the face by reality and the disappointment

Showing the overwhelming American influence in the shaping of the frontier, this quote captures the general structure of the frontier, at the time, and one can easily bridge the likeness between the absence of the frontier line to the American aspects and dreams. Meaning, America motivates its citizens to spread and lay claim to the land because the American dream is to become successful and in the late 19th century, and before, land possession meant success. Attributing the expansion of the union and the suppressing of the frontier to the railroads and steamboats that allowed citizens to travel far westward, Turner explains that the western frontier no longer exists, and the frontier is scattered with no directionality as the settlements. “By 1880 the settled area had been pushed… and Montana and Idaho were receiving settlers,” (3 Turner). Turner credits the biggest effect of the frontier on American history as a central promotion for democracy, “…here and in Europe,” (6

If one reads more deeply into The Grapes of Wrath, the reader may find that the journey of the Joads mirrors the journeys of other Okies and other forced migrations in history. The journey of the Joads has its ups and downs. Migrants are not always received with open arms; they are commonly persecuted and looked upon as subhuman. For them the promised land becomes the land of despair and suffering. While exposing the ordeal of their poverty, Steinbeck also seeks to affirm the sanctity of life and the unifying, clarifying forces inherent in human suffering (Wilson 529). In many ways, the journey of the Africans to America as slaves is similar to the dust bowl migrations. Both are forced from the land that they love by seemingly non-human forces. They were taken to the land of riches where they were poor. The slaves were however taken by force but the Okies were seduced by the lure of work and

In the modern eye, the stories of the McCardles and Loves and their failed western dreams are nothing short of tragic. It is hard not to ask, “Why didn’t they just give up?”, when learning about the ruin brought onto their families by both environmental and economic factors. Their stories are eerily similar to one another: young lovers go West in search of prosperity fueled by their new commitment to each other and their shared goals. However, the plains prove to be ruthless, leaving experts to wonder if the homestead act failed the people of the United States.

In the beginning chapters, Steinbeck uses the tractor as a symbol of the power of progress to destroy workers hope. Although the tractor contributes to much higher profit margins, scores of tenants are pushed off the land and are left to fend for themselves. In California, the tenants meet similar exploitation. The landowners send out handbills saying they need workers. In the description of the handbills Steinbeck contrasts the dream of prosperity with the grim reality: the handbills (QUOTE) were designed to promise a bright future but instead function only to lure as many people in as possible as to ensure that the landowners could pay the tenants as little wages as possible. Steinbeck pushes the idea of profits over people to its logical conclusion when he remarks that children “must die because a profit cannot be taken from an orange” (349). Essentially, Steinbeck depicts the landowners as caring so much about money that they will stop at nothing to secure their profits, even if it means exploiting labor, kicking thousands off their land, and starving

One reason why i know all was not right was because in the book on page 12 paragraph 4 it says. “Rush then noted that in recent days he had seen an unusual number of bilious fever, accompanied with symptoms of uncommonly malignity”. which shows that more people are getting sick with similar symptoms. So they realized that there was a sickness going around.

     John Steinbeck wrote about what surrounded him. At the time he was writing, the nineteen-thirties, a great depression was plaguing the United States. Many people were out of work. Many farmers were losing their farms and homes. An extreme drought had also wrecked the farms of the Midwest and made them into what is now referred to as the "dust bowl". It was a terrible time to be poor, and most were. People died of malnutrition every day. In California, where Steinbeck resided, migrant workers dominated the workforce. Thousands traveled from all around to pick fruit in the farms of the Salinas Valley for minuscule wages. Thousands more could not find suitable

Over the years, the idea of the western frontier of American history has been unjustly and falsely romanticized by the movie, novel, and television industries. People now believe the west to have been populated by gun-slinging cowboys wearing ten gallon hats who rode off on capricious, idealistic adventures. Not only is this perception of the west far from the truth, but no mention of the atrocities of Indian massacre, avarice, and ill-advised, often deceptive, government programs is even present in the average citizen’s understanding of the frontier. This misunderstanding of the west is epitomized by the statement, “Frederick Jackson Turner’s frontier thesis was as real as the myth of the west. The development of the west was, in

In 1893 when Frederick Jackson Turner delivered his famous essay “The Significance of the Frontier in American History,” the United States had recently fulfilled the goal of Manifest Destiny by finishing its conquest of the West. Westward expansion had been an integral aspect of the American identity and its citizens were left wondering what would continue to propel the United States into the future. At the same time, people were also looking back and trying to decide how exactly the frontier had shaped American life. The common belief was that the United States’ conquest of the West was glorious and peaceful and Turner’s essay serves as a perfect example of this line of thinking. For Turner and his ilk, the West was an uninhabited

In the novel The Grapes of Wrath, we are shown many social issues within the story. Social issues are displayed through homelessness, adaptation, prejudice and more. The social issues bring the novel together as one, and they have a great effect on the Okies in the book. Also, adaptation plays a big part in the social issues. Steinbeck captures great struggles in migrant work on the farm and shows how workers needed to come together as one.