The Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck And The Grapes Of Wrath

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.

Steinbeck utilizes the novel as a form of social protest by enunciating the brutal and inhumane way the wealthier class treat the migrant workers. For instance, in order to not loose any profit from the fields, the affluent bankers decide to forcefully drive the families off the fields using tractors to “bite into the house corner, crumble the wall, wrench the little houses from its foundation”(39). However, the working class does not have the opportunity to refuse this decision because of the desperate

John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, takes place during the Great Depression, a time when troubled and distressed American men and women lived; a time of poverty and an economic crisis. When change is thought upon, it is to be thought of new life and new experiences. The Great Depression is the kind of change that replaces a part of American living with “ Somepin’s happening. I went up an’ I looked, an’ the houses is all empty, an’ the lan’ is empty, an’ this whole country is empty” ( Steinbeck 94). In his work, Steinbeck presents the hardships that Americans had to go through by being mindful of particular aspects which makes the reader understand the characters’ distress. For example, the landscape of the farm lands. Even though the land has its brutality, it grows to be the scenery for humans to be able to recognize and consider their troubles about work and life in general. With these concerns, there are differences between the people who are accustomed to the landscape and admire it, and those who do not agree with it. In the novel, Steinbeck uses attributes of class conflict and injustice as a way of presenting and socially commenting that the Great Depression brought attention to more problems beyond the idea of poverty.

      In his novel The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck portrays the movement of a family of migrant workers, the Joads, from Oklahoma to California during the Great Depression. Steinbeck's novel, though it is surprisingly lacking in surface-level symbolism, was "conceived [on] simultaneous levels of existence, ranging from socio-economic determinism to transcendent spirituality" (DeMott, xiii). One of the many levels on which this novel can be read is as a parallel to the stories of Christ and the Exodus (Louis Owens, John Steinbeck's Re-Vision of America, quoted in DeMott, xiii). Steinbeck intertwines allegories based on these two stories throughout his novel. Through

A few years later, Steinbeck returned to California to write “Grapes of Wrath” and to further research the flawed California labor. “He was not, however, merely researching materials for his next book, but passionately involved in the suffering and injustice” (Lisca 16). His fervor for the migrant cause almost lead him to abandon his recent writing and revise “Of Mice and Men” and sell it so he could donate to money to the migrant workers.

In the American novel The Grapes of Wrath, throughout intercalary chapter 17, John Steinbeck discusses the “worlds” created by migrant families at night; bonded by one intent, and by the same trials. “Because they had all come from a place of sadness and worry and defeat, they huddled together…the twenty families became one family, and the children became the children of all” (192). Chapter 16 is the first time the Joads experience one of these migrant families’ worlds. Along with the Wilsons, the Joads travel for two days, and on the third, “they settled into a new technique of living; the highway became their home and movement their medium of expression” (163).

The Grapes Of Wrath introduces many real life topics, and difficulties relevant to the people in the 1930s and some still relevant to today. Throughout the book topics like migration, corporate profit, and even environmental impacts of human choices are all present in the book. Steinbeck is shown to makes many claims about each of these topics, but the topic that stands out the most are the issues with the criminal justice system. Steinbeck believes that the police and the criminal justice system are corrupt and generally police have a tendency to abuse their authority against poor people and migrants.

In the novel The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck portrays the lives of migrant workers as a difficult life. The migrant workers Steinbeck’s novel are described as facing constant struggle, fear, and discrimination. Steinbeck’s portrayal of migrant workers in the 1930s can be compared to the lives of of migrant workers today. Migrant workers today also face fear, discrimination and a constant struggle to survive. Although certain aspects of migrant workers has changed since the 1930s, Steinbeck’s portrayal of the lives of migrant workers in The Grapes of Wrath is consistent with the lives of migrant workers today.

Characters in The Grapes of Wrath are often contrasted to emphasize certain qualities in their relationships, the most notable being a lack of empathy versus a caring and generous nature. Steinbeck’s use of juxtaposition is key to understanding the significance of the contrast involving the landowners and the migrants and why they cannot share sympathies and opinions. These two groups are both rivals and continuously reinforce differences in their lifestyles, and such is the case for the landowners and migrants, which are two drastically different classes that will not cooperate. The migrants are searching for job opportunities and safe places, but are often cheated by the landowners, who are corrupted by their drive for cheap labor and, ultimately, riches,

The unconventionally written intercalary chapters of Steinbeck's novel, “The Grapes of Wrath”, are designed to show the readers a view of economic depression and social aspects of America during this time period. Steinbeck tells the reader about the situation through a macroscopic point of view, when he writes the intercalary chapters. It is through these intercalary chapters that Steinbeck tells us about the struggle of many migrant farmers who are pushed out of their homes and start to live their lives on the road, while trying to find places for them to work. Between each of these intercalary chapters are narrative chapters where Steinbeck gives the readers a microscopic view of the situation, by giving us an example of one of the migrant

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

In the novel The Grapes of Wrath, author John Steinbeck describes the lives of the poor families, land and property less farm workers in California during the Dust Bowl. This novel tells the story of the hardship of the thousands of migrant workers; also describes a close story of the struggle the Joad family faces throughout this novel. The living conditions of these migrated workers were miserable, filled with starvation, homelessness depression and despair. There are multiple views of Karl Marx’s idea of communism presented in this novel, including his radical ideas that the proletariats should unite and revolt against the bourgeoisie. In the novel it has been stated that in order for the proletariats to change their current state, the proletariats need to form a union, revolt against the bourgeoisie, and eventually establish self government. Through the Marx’s lens you will see how communism guides through all the oppressions the Joad family faces in this novel which are by religion, property, family, law and work; and see how the capitalism causes the demolition on forming an utopian society. Steinbeck wrote the novel from a Marxist point of view. Steinbeck is supporting Marxist ideas by illustrating the powerful bourgeois individuals who are involved in capitalism, as bourgeoisie owners try to take advantage of those less fortunate. The upper class exploits the less fortunate in capitalism.

The novel, The Grapes of Wrath, is a story that construes the journey of the Joad family through the brutal migration from Oklahoma 's destroying Dust Bowl to California corrupt promised land. Through the depiction of events and portrayal of characters, the bible takes part in the novel as one whole allusion. The anecdote of the struggle for survival in the fallen state of Oklahoma and in the “promised land” of California, reveals the same ideas shown as we explore in the bible. In The Grapes of Wrath, author John Steinbeck integrates the allegory of biblical references and values to create the image of a family’s journey to California during the Dust Bowl of the early 1900s.

“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.

The undeniable connection between psyche and place of residence had been addressed in literary works throughout time, but nowhere is it more prevalent than in Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. As readers follow the Joad family on their journey, they see how the identity of each character and the overall family dynamic changes based on where the Joads live. Examples of this can be seen from the very beginning in Oklahoma, through the journey to California, and in the many migrant camps once they reach the “Golden State”. As illustrated through the Joad’s story, and the story of roughly 200,000 other migrant families through the inter-chapters, readers can clearly see that where one lives is the central factor to their identity.