The Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck

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.

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 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.

A monopoly is when a firm sells a product that has no substitutes and is the only seller of that product. In the book “The Grapes of Wrath”, John Steinbeck really portrays the idea of monopoly in the peach picking incident. A firm gains monopoly power when they are able to set prices. This occurred when the Joads were fixing their flat tire, they got offered a job as peach pickers in Hooper Ranch by a well-dressed man. On their first day of the job, the Joads need to be escorted by police because there are people angrily yelling by the entrance. When they began their job as peach pickers their wage was five cents per box. The whole family worked from morning to sundown, only to earn a dollar on their first day of work. However, they were paid in credit and had to go to the company store in order to use that credit. Then that same night, Ma went to the company store to buy something for dinner. She realized that the prices for the goods were much higher than normal and was only able to buy some not so tasteful looking burgers and coffee. Then when she asked why the prices on the goods were higher, the clerk said ““yes, it’s high, an’ same time it ain’t high. Time you go on in town for a couple poun’s of hamburg, it’ll cos’ you ’bout a gallon of gas. So you see it ain’t really high here, ’cause you got no gallon a gas.” (Steinbeck) What he means by this is that since the area is isolated and the company paid only in credit, the only place to buy goods is the company store.

John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, was first written and later published in the 1939. From the time of its publication to date, the exemplary yet a simple book has seen Steinbeck win a number of highly coveted awards including Pulitzer Prize in 1940 and later on Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. Set at the time of the Great Depression, the book most remarkably gives a descriptive account of the Oklahoma based sharecropper Joad’ poor family in the light of economic hardship, homelessness, and the impacts of worst changing agricultural and financial sectors to the poor in America then. Throughout the chapters, the book brings into sharp focus the dehumanizing individual lives of the lower class during the time of Great Depression

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is a novel set during the mid-1930s drought and the fall of the American stock market. It depicts the plight of migrant workers throughout this time period, and follows the life of the protagonist, recently-released Oklahoma state convict, Tom Joad. He met up with former preacher Jim Casy, who renounced his ministerial calling due to his newfound belief that all life is holy, even the aspects that were categorized by others as sinful. After serving four years in prison on a manslaughter charge, Tom found Jim and together they returned to Tom’s family’s farm only to find it deserted, much like all the surrounding farms. The next day, the two men traveled to Tom’s uncle’s home, where he discovered the rest of his family packing to move to California in the hopes of finding a better life. This migration leads to death, abandonment, disappointment, and a new dream of organizing migrant workers to aid the depleted job market. The novel helped me to understand the struggle of the times, and what it means to lose everything and everyone in such a short period. Throughout these things, however grim they may seem, there is always a glimmer of hope.

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

John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath is often hailed as one of the greatest pieces of American literature in history. At the time of its release, stores tried desperately to supply the demand for this book. It tells the story of loss, hope, and endurance of the American people through the eyes of the people themselves. Steinbeck encapsulates just what it is like to live during this time period as a farmer trying to get by under the threat of the dust bowl, and the banks who want to replace the farmers with tractor drivers.

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.

In John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath, the hardships of the Great Depression lead the Californians and the Okies to treat each other kindly or harshly, based on their own concerns of the future. Social criticism and class conflict are primary themes in this novel because of the unjust treatment the Californians give to the Okies throughout the story, but this is not the only relationship Steinbeck focuses on. He also writes and explains the relationship among the Okies. Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California, where a part of this novel takes place, and Steinbeck uses his experience of working as a hired ranch hand during the Great Depression in the novel. The foundation of The Grapes of Wrath are the problems and tragedies that the Great Depression brings to the Okies.

The Grapes Of Wrath, by John Steinbeck was based on the Joad family of tenet farmers from the 1930’s who bet their chances to get a better life and decided to move to California; little did they know what California held for them. After the dust storm the general population was impoverished; mostly including migrant workers, working class such as truckers, and waitresses. Banks and factory owners had no sympathy for these classes they cut off their resources and instead of handling with the people directly they employed workers such as police to do their immoral duties. The Joad family lost loved ones and lost what they knew of a home through their journey. In the novel The Grapes Of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, class conflicts and money is shown to cause a break down in society’s humanity, as seen in men are mistreating men and allowing money to control them.

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.

In the two texts A Fine Balance (1995) by Rohinton Minstry and The Grapes of Wrath (1939) by John Steinbeck, the idea that adverse experiences impact an individual’s beliefs is explored through the different ways that the composers of both texts convey how living in a hostile environment and loss can change an individual’s personal philosophy.

     John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath is the story of the experiences of the Joad family from the time of their eviction from a farm near Sallisaw, Oklahoma to their first winter in California. The Joad family’s story illustrates the hardship and oppression suffered by migrant laborers during the Great Depression. The novel begins with the description of the conditions in Dust Bowl Oklahoma that ruined the crops and instigated massive foreclosures on farmland. Hundreds of families packed up what little belongings they had and traveled to California, where they hoped to find prosperity and rebuild their lives.

The Great Depression sparked an economical and social malfunction in United States throughout the 1930s and 1940s. John Steinbeck was a prominent author who’s writing best illustrates California during the Great Depression. John Steinbeck uses his writing to illustrate the social and economic injustice that the common man faced during the The Great Depression. John Steinbeck’s best known novel The Grapes of Wrath, does an excellent job showing generation after generation, what California was like during The Great Depression.