Alienation In The Grapes Of Wrath

If you have read “The Grapes of Wrath”, then you should know that it reflects on the hardship people had to go through once they were left on the road to fend for themselves. Real, hardworking people who had lives were forced to give them up and go elsewhere. Chapter twenty one is one of my favorite chapters because Steinbeck reveals some major themes. Though the novel is written and meant to fit into one particular story, it still has a lot of information that may be worth taking a look at. One could argue and claim that this chapter includes nothing but a story and that is all. Further examination con disprove claims like this because Steinbeck added a much more significant point to his novel.

When you think of the word end you think of the end of a book or movie when the true definition is “a final part of something, esp. a period of time, an activity, or a story” or “

Steinbeck's intercalary chapters in The Grapes of Wrath have nothing to do with the Joads or other characters of the novel, but help describe the story in different terms. They are similar to poems, offering different viewpoints of the migration, and clarifying parts of the story that the reader might not understand. An excellent example of this use can be seen in chapter 21, where an examination of the attitudes of migrant Okies and the residents of California reveals the changing nature of land ownership among the changing population of California and gives greater meaning to the fierce hostility that the Joads meet in California.

Stating that “there ain’t no sin and there ain’t no virtue. There’s just stuff people do. It's all part of the same thing. And some of the things folks do is nice, and some ain't nice, but that's as far as any man got a right to say.” (23). Steinbeck uses Jim Casy’s self-indulgence that tells of pleasure before rules and presumes to deny punishment is highly unusual for a one-time preacher. Casy struggled with his inner faith, and also his actions and speeches that defied what a regular man of the trust would do. The spiritual being of Jim Casy was evolving and furthermore conflicting from a man of thought to a man of action. Towards the beginning of the book, Casy would spend many nights sleep deprived, philosophizing to himself. But he would publicly declare how selfish people can act and react towards one another. Either people do beautiful things such as the Joad family, or they don’t do fair things such as the justice system where it is truly unfair to those who haven’t commit any plausible crimes. Keeping individuals of the migrant workers to isolate themselves from society and not cooperate on wanting a better

The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, is considered by many to be the hallmark of American literature. It covers the journey of the Joad family as they stick together through one of the harshest eras in American history, the Great Depression. The structure of the Joad’s narrative is interspersed by smaller, highly descriptive interchapters, which sets the novel apart from other classics in its ability to make the reader understand and relate to the Joads and everything they went through. The detailed, impactful vignettes foreshadow problems the Joads have to overcome and the overview descriptions in the vignettes contrast with the specificities of the Joad’s story. They contain Biblical allusions, colorful descriptions, and objects that can interact with the main characters later in the narrative. Through the use of imagery and diction, the vignettes make Steinbeck’s message more impactful and meaningful.

“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 novel, The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck depicts the stories of migrant families during the Dust Bowl, where dust covered plantations, resulting in barren fields with incapabilities to grow crops. Due to barren lands, landowners forced the farmers off the fields, which causes the farmers to lose all of the reasons to stay. Therefore, the farmers set out onto a new journey that will hopefully lead them to a place where life can restart. However, this journey is not a perfectly smooth path; on the journey, the farmers face various adversities. Out of the countless families, John Steinbeck highlights the Joad family, who suffers through numerous misfortunes on the way West, toward California. Through the Joad family, Steinbeck portrays the novel as a form of social protest by emphasizing the unjust treatments the families receive , the deterioration of the false allusions the families hold of the American Dream, and by suggesting a future revolt of the working class.

The Grapes of Wrath introduces new characters in chapter four. The characters can easily be related to every day lives, including our own. The character that can be connected most with myself is the turtle. Constantly, I feel I am never noticed and I am just kicked around by people every day. Some people notice me, but only get out of my way instead of offering their help. Some people target me as a way to prove they are larger than me. They swerve towards me to injure me or scare me. Steinbeck's ultimate goal is to make the reader sympathize with the turtle. The turtle is a helpless creature who is abandoned on the road, and the most care he gets from any passing drive is just an attempt to not hit the turtle. Tom Joad comes along

One would say that on a literal level The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is about the Joad family's journey to California during The Dust Bowl. However, it is also about the unity of a family and the concept of birth and death, both literal and abstract. Along with this, the idea of a family unit is explored through these births and deaths.

To quote Ma Joad in the film The Grapes of Wrath, “I ain 't never gonna be scared no more. I was, though. For a while it looked as though we was beat. Good and beat. Looked like we didn 't have nobody in the whole wide world but enemies. Like nobody was friendly no more. Made me feel kinda bad and scared too, like we was lost and nobody cared....Rich fellas come up and they die, and their kids ain’t no good and they die out. But we keep a comin’, we’re the people that live. They can’t wipe us out; they can’t lick us. We’ll go on forever Pa, ‘cause we’re the people.” This statement captures the resilience of the American working class since the birth of the country. Ma 's speech can be read as a proclamation of necessary fictions to bolster the morale of the family. She is the uncomplaining maintainer of status quo in the home, the ultimate mother figure who not only attends to physical needs, but mental needs as well.

The cold, soaked earth, which was a source of life not too long ago, abducts a young child while the mother can only watch hopelessly as the husband shovels mounds of dirt. This event is not too different than most that citizens living during the Dust Bowl had to deal with. The self-destructive nature caused the American people to keep expanding and shaping the land as they saw fit. Because of this they overworked the land which, combined with drought, caused the Dust Bowl. The big corporations soon bought out most of the land in the Mid-West and many families were soon forced to make their living by other means. The shift of these families out west to a limited number of jobs

Ye, have heard that it hath been said, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy." But I say unto you, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hat you, and pray for them which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

The Joad family’s dogged tenacity reflects Steinbeck’s own unwillingness to give up, and acts as a plea for the reader to be similarly determined. The author introduces various roadblocks that the travelers have to overcome with an enduring passion. As he describes, sometimes in gruesome detail, the issues that they face, his own emotions are evident. Steinbeck himself viewed some of the environments in which the Joads live, and his distress at the inhumane conditions is expressed

If I should die bfore i wake ch1-2: "we even wore the same coat, with the same star decorations: canary yellow stars, one on the front and one on the back" (11). The star symbolizes that Chana is a Jew. Do you believe that it was wise for the kids to try to go to school? No because not only do the kids not get to go to school they have to work. What is the motive for chana to keep cleaning?

Ma was trying to soothe her and explain that, yes, there will be ups and downs in life but it doesn’t matter what they are, it matters how one overcomes these struggles and what one takes from each interference. Further along the Joad’s journey to California, Ma ran into a dilemma—Granma’s health. Instead of sharing with the family the news of granma’s death and mourning over their loss, she kept this devastation to herself and grieved alone for the sake of the family’s arrival to their destination (252). If all else failed, Ma’s strength never fell short of shining through. She was the main provider of the family’s anticipation for potential victory, and she executed this task exceptionally well.