Masculinity In The Grapes Of Wrath

The story takes place in the 1930's in the states of Oklahoma and California. At this time the United States is under a Great Depression and some states are experiencing a great drought, most commonly known as the Dust Bowl. Citizens experienced great struggles that no one should ever go through. Some of these include: no food, no income, no shelter or eviction, death and loss of loved ones. Banks "breathe profits; they eat interest on money. If they don't get it, they die the way you die without air" (Steinbeck 39). Personally, I would not like to experience these times. There would be no humanity left, because

The Grapes of Wrath was published in 1939, an era where racial discrimination was far more common than today. The whites of America stood at the front of a great nation with the colored and racially diverse working class sitting beneath them facing threats and physical pain from their pale counterparts. Despite this, John Steinbeck focuses the novel on the prejudices of the white man against their own people. The police and farm owners of California react to the influx of poor workers the way many white people reacted to recently freed slaves during the 1860’s and 70’s. They see no flaw in taking advantage of them, starving them or beating them. One major theme of The Grapes of Wrath is that everyone is connected and contributes to the good of mankind. Coinciding with that idea is that one discriminatory act is identical to any other by the way they are brought to exist.

“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

The Grapes of Wrath was a depiction of life in the Great Depression, specifically in the areas the Dust Bowl affected. The Joad family represents the “Okies”, which were people who went west looking for jobs. They also showcase the unfortunate events that happened to millions of people during the Great Depression. The Joad’s land was taken away/plowed over by superintendent and the land agents. After the destruction of their home and land they head west, to California, in search of jobs. With the Californians only using the Okies for cheap labor and giving them poor living conditions, they didn’t receive the best reputation. The Californians were rude to the Okies and treating them how they did is because the Okies were taking their jobs and

Throughout the last three centuries, the United States of America has prospered on the ideals of liberty and justice for all. Although these ideas are expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance, it has not been enforced in the states. The Pledge of Allegiance claims “liberty and justice for all” but the United States has not lived up to that claim. There are economic issues, sexism, and racism which makes the claim untrue. In The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, this claim is solidified by these three elements. The government in this novel, along with modern culture has not lived up to the claim of “liberty and justice for all”.

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 novel The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck has multiple themes that can connect to the three songs This Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie, American Soldier by Toby Keith, and Castle On The Hill by Ed Sheeran. Each piece of literature contains some type of literary elements such as repetition, imagery, and personification. The Grapes of Wrath correlates to the three songs listed above because they connect to Steinbeck’s message that people are always fighting for their rights specifically to migrate and their belief system.

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

Throughout the book, there have been four fathers in total who we have seen live their lives. They are Rasheed, Jalil, Tariq, and Babi. All four of the fathers have impacted the storyline in a major way. They have all been good fathers at times, some more than others. All of the fathers mean well, but some have become desperate, stressed, and have changed through their experiences to become who they are and how they treat their families.

The willingness to overcome shows the characters’ strength in the novel. Although, this was short lived, the conflict in the novel sifted from nature versus man to man versus man. Most blamed others for their tragedy and fought against each other, instead of with each other. In Grapes of Wrath, men made a profit off of the misfortunes of others. The farmers that could not pay the bank therefore, their homes were brought down by tractors, and the people that controlled the tractors were their neighbors.

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.

The Dust Bowl, a series of severe dust storms in the 1930’s, left the southern plains of the United States as a wasteland. The storms occurred due to the lack of use of dryland farming techniques to prevent wind erosion. Powerful winds would pick up loose soil and carry the sediment around the countryside. Called “black blizzard” or “black rollers”, these storms had the potential to black out the sky completely. Due to the inability to grow and sell crops, banks evicted families and foreclosed their properties, leaving them homeless and without an income. The author of The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck, wrote his American realist novel to allow readers to understand the experiences of the migrants from the Dust Bowl era. Not many

The Grapes of Wrath Feminist Theory Feminism isn't about making women strong because women are already strong. It's about changing the way the world perceives that strength. The strength that seemed overlooked in the time The Grapes of Wrath was written.

In chapter five of The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck uses the theme of inhumanity within the banks to support his main idea. Steinbeck applies this theme to help the reader understand that the misfortunes the tenant farmers went through weren’t just from the earth, but also from their human neighbors. Throughout the chapter Steinbeck refers to the banks as monsters, and speaks about their hunger of more money, by forcing tenants off their land, along with how the banks are turning the people’s neighbors into ruthless human beings.