John Steinbeck's 'The Grapes Of Wrath'

The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinback is a book with the main theme being the oversoul. The oversoul is the idea of an ultimate divine spirit that encompasses all human souls. In order to reach this theme, Steinback uses a variety of metaphors that all lead up to the theme of the oversoul.

In the novel, Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, depicts the struggles between upper class, middle class, and poor, migrant workers which show how natural human greed and selfishness amongst those with sustainable income increases tension between the separate classes. Steinbeck also uses the empathetic views shared amongst those in the same situations and how it gives them a want to help each other survive. The rich are wasteful with things they are unable to profit from; they cannot stand the poor nor the thought of the stagnation of their company. They are unable to accept a large consistent profit; the business itself is not the monster that begins to die from a constant profit but the greedy humans behind it.

Which is worse; parents placing money before their children, or hdhdhshdhdhdhdhshsj? The clear answer is that both are equally disturbing. Sadly, both these examples are not uncommon. According to Ross, many families are breaking down as parents place work above children and children are more willing to self destruct as they notice they are being placed second. These modern-day examples are connected to The Grapes of Wrath by a common theme, money before people. This is a dangerous but common theme that John Steinbeck endeavors not only to warn but to inform his readers of. Although there are some instances of the Okies aiding one another, money before people is a central theme in The Grapes of Wrath as well as real life because it is the

The Great Depression was a time of instability and fear for millions of Americans. Thousands lost their jobs and livelihoods, and while many gave in to desperation and fright, thousands more stood up in the face of terror and took their place of power. In the case of John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath, these everyday heroes were women. By intermingling themes of nurture and power, portrays a shift toward matriarchal structure in the Great Depression era.

A United Kingdoms survey found that child-parent relationships are breaking down as parents put work before their children, especially in middle class families (Ross). This statistic can explain many of the darker portions of our culture, from the lack of complete families to the increase of drug abuse. Yet one may wonder how this is in any way connected to the novel, The Grapes of Wrath. However, both the statistic and the novel have a similar theme- Money being placed before people. John Steinbeck endeavors to teach us how dangerous and common this mindset can be through his novel. Although there are some instances of the Okies aiding one another, money before people is a central theme in The Grapes of Wrath because it is the main source of motivation for the antagonism displayed towards the Okies.

Set in the swallowing depression of the 1920’s, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck provides a hallowing, realistic view into the plight of the proletariat farmer and the exploitation that was all too common during the Great Depression by major corporations. Steinbeck’s literary work serves as a window into the world of the great depression by not only providing a narrative history of the era, but also giving faces to the nameless victims through the characters of Tom Joad, the lead protagonist of the story and Ma, the archetypal matriarch of the house in this 1930’s piece of literature. Steinbeck also uses key stylistic tools to further enlighten and inform the reader to the plight of the farmers and poor folk of the 1930’s. The

John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath establishes an image of an American family struggling and coping with the strain that came along with the Dust Bowl. With a colorful and moral outlook that derives from their roots in Oklahoma, each member of the Joad family makes vital discoveries regarding his or her aspirations, dreams and fortunes; together, the characters demonstrate the wide range of sentiments that originated through America‘s Great Depression. Throughout this experience, John Steinbeck presents a familial system which at first is rooted in patriarchy. However such form of control falls and it is the female members of the Joad family who embark on a significant role amongst difficulties. When the men are unable to adapt and act in a new situation, the woman of the family become the leader and guider emotionally, physically, and mentally. By exploring the dynamics of gender roles in a family, John Steinbeck comments on the potential of females to be agents of change in his timeless novel The Grapes of Wrath.

John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, depicts a migrant farming family in the 1930s. During this time, life revolved around the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, making circumstances difficult for almost everyone involved, especially those who had little. This time of drought and despair caused people to lose hope in everything they’ve ever known, even themselves, but those who did not, put their hope in the “promised land” of California. Here, the grass was thought to be truly greener on the other side. The Joad’s did not get so lucky, however, as Steinbeck’s novel describes the family’s pilgrimage and the hardships faced on their journey. The novel, a romantic gospel and naturalistic epic, presents an Exodus by the family, going from “I” to “we”, home to homeless, and selfish to loving.

Over the course of a student’s life under the American education system, they will, without fail, read at least two books by California writer and possible communist, John Steinbeck. The longer, sadder and more proletarian book, Grapes of Wrath, tells the tale of the great migration of Midwestern farmers traveling to California during the 1930s. Grapes of Wrath was not Steinbeck’s first venture into the tragedies that faced migrant farmers once they reached California- he had previously written Starvation Under the Orange Trees in 1938. Steinbeck uses these two works to describe the atrocities that migrants’ faces and place blame on land owners and corporations and declaring the government the saviors of the workers. Opposing Steinbeck’s arguments is Keith Windschuttle, who uses his article, Myth of the Oakies, to claim that Steinbeck is over exaggerating nearly everything in Grapes of Wrath, from the amount of migrants that moved to California to the reality that faced the migrants in California, and that Grapes of Wrath is actually a novel praising communism.

Since the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the United States of America is known as a capitalist society. This is a society in which capitalism behavior results in the sole objective of manufacturing capital. Though this is advantageous to the ones making the money, the most destruction is recognized in the lower class where each week’s pay is how the families sustain. The novel, The Grapes of Wrath reveals the story of the Joad family traveling to California during the Dust Bowl searching for labor. The concept of how they are able to overcome the challenges presented, as well as the effect that the capitalist ideals comprised on society’s people are presented within the novel. This contrast shows that the upper-class is not able to put the blame for events that occur throughout the story in the lower class on any sole event or person. This results in the frustration of many “Okies” who have their farms taken away from them as well as any decent paying job. For the duration of the novel, the wealth of individuals is valued more greatly than the expense of human decency or lives.

John Steinbeck, widely viewed as one of the most finest and powerful American writer, born to a middle-class family in 1902 in the Salinas Valley of California. Steinbeck is a writer who often spoke for the people. The Grapes of Wrath is a great movie, published in 1939, filled with many universal truths and views on human nature and society, especially where class is concerned. In the article, John Steinbeck The Grapes a wrath: A Call to Action says, “Steinbeck’s novel showcased the other side of the coin: the people who remain behind the scenes while the public benefits from the fruits of their labor, literally” (1). Steinbeck was outraged by the socioeconomic system. In particular, he displays the utmost respect for the dignity of the tenant farmer to whom the novel gives voice to. In the early 1930s the Great Depression was not the only tragedy to take place, a massive drought destroyed the agricultural lands of the Great Plains, especially in Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle. Moreover, reasons where excessive wheat cultivation after the first World War, these lands were already suffering from loose topsoil and, without rain, the crops simply were not able to take root. The novel centers on Tom Joad and the Joad family’s experiences during this hardship. However, the Joad family 's life served as the symbol representing all California migrant workers during the period. Moreover, the novel is also a display of conflict between poverty and wealth, as

The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, is set in post Dust Bowl tragedy, or the “Dirty Thirties”, when families were forced to move West in search of jobs when their land was taken from them by the banks and their tractors. Throughout the book, Steinbeck uses a set of intercalary chapters that are woven in between chapters expressing subtle themes, while still having connections to the main story following the Joad family (and company). Symbols, themes, and motifs connect both the intercalary and the narrative chapters together from the beginning to the end of the book. Steinbeck included many symbols that acted as vessels for themes about humanity and its cruelty, faith, family, dignity, leadership, and endurance. Through loss, hardship, and hunger, the Joads journey West to California with hopes of a better life and a chance to start anew.

There are a lot of different people under a certain category in this world from an economic perspective. Some people are born into a rich family and are blessed to receive everything they ask for. On the other hand, some people are forced to work their whole life and no matter how hard they work; things do not turn out as they planned. Today, I will be talking about the difficult situations that the Joad family encountered in the film “The Grapes of Wrath”. The “Grapes of Wrath” was directed by John Ford in 1940. This film is also based on a famous novel by John Steinbeck. This film was made to give the viewers an idea of how the Oklahoma Dust Bowl and the Great Depression played a significant role in families economically. In my opinion, the theme of “The Grapes of Wrath” was the struggle of human dignity.

“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still” said Dorothea Lange. This quote is shown to be true in the time of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression and is captured by all the breathtaking photographs that were taken during this struggling time. In the 1930s large dust storms began to occur due to severe drought and farming techniques. During this time millions of tons of topsoil were moved (Cox). This impacted hundreds of thousands of farmers in the great plain region. Unfortunately, the conditions left the farmers with little choice and many of them had to foreclose on their homes

Since the first civilizations, religion has greatly influenced the development of life. It has been a constant presence in America, tracing back to the Puritans who voyaged to the New World to escape religious persecution. Centuries later, religion has retained its place in American society, being expressed in a variety of ways and particularly emanating in times of struggle and hardship. Amidst a period of great difficulty for average Americans, John Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath in order to be a voice for the poor who suffered from the consequences of the Great Depression and to express the holiness of their suffering. Through his seemingly simple plot and humble characters, John Steinbeck reveals a complex series of Christian parallels in The Grapes of Wrath.