The Harvest Gypsies And The Grapes Of Wrath

A major drought, over-cultivation, and a country suffering from one of the greatest depressions in history are all it took to displace hundreds of thousands of Midwesterners and send them, and everything they had, out west. The Dust Bowl ruined crops all across the Great Plains region, crops that people depended on for survival. When no food could be grown and no money could be made, entire families, sometimes up to 8 people or more, packed up everything they had and began the journey to California, where it was rumored that jobs were in full supply. Without even closing the door behind them in some cases, these families left farms that had been with them for generations, only to end up in a foreign place where they were neither welcomed

Steinbeck exploits a disturbing and melancholy tone in The Grapes of Wrath in order to describe the desolation and destitution of California, once the Joad family arrives. A majority of the novel supports Steinbeck’s disturbing tone, especially with the novel set during the Great Depression; moreover, the setting of the novel proves parallel with Steinbeck’s disturbing tone. Many families traveled to California in attempts to begin a better life; however, many of the migrants discovered that California’s lifestyle did not meet any of the expectation many of the families had. The poverty, low wages, and unemployment that the Okies faced in California proved disappointing, and Steinbeck continually illustrates the struggles the Okies face to

The Grape of Wrath saw the Joad family travel to California in search of work which was scarce and getting scarcer by day as more people trickled in

“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.

Homelessness is an issue that many unfortunate individuals struggle to cope with . These people are often ignored by society . Some homeless people do not respond well to outreach groups because they have fully lost trust in humanity. In the Grapes of Wrath , farmers must move west looking for job opportunities and permanent lodging. In the novel Steinbeck portrays the Joad family as one of these group of people. They are willing to undertake any type of job, in order to achieve the American Dream . The main reasons why people are displaced can be due to a nation’s economic situation, climatic state, and the sheer fact that politicians in charge ignore the needs of the common man. Homelessness is still a relevant problem today because it

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.

John Steinbeck's epic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, chronicles the struggles of the Joads as they join the thousands of fellow "Okies" in a mass migration westward. The Joads reluctantly leave behind their Oklahoma farm in search of work and food in California. While Steinbeck writes profoundly and emotionally about the political problems of the Great Depression, his characters also show evidence of a deep concern with spirituality. When they feel hopeless and are uncertain about their immediate future, their concentration on religion dwindles. On the other hand, when they leave their home, the Joads regain spiritual faith; they have something to live for: California. Once

Unfortunately, a new life in California was not as ideal as they thought it would be. There were less jobs available than were advertised. In California, many farmers found themselves still unemployed. They gave up farming corporations when they discovered that a good portion of California’s farmlands were owned by large farms with various different crops and eventually they looked to do different work. (“The Dust Bowl” 2)

The 1930’s were a decade of great change politically, economically, and socially. The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl wore raw the nerves of the people, and our true strength was shown. From it arose John Steinbeck, a storyteller of the Okies and their hardships. His books, especially The Grapes of Wrath, are reflections of what really went on in the 1930’s. John Steinbeck did not write about what he had previously read, he instead wrote what he experienced through his travels with the migrant workers. “His method was not to present himself notebook in hand and interview people. Instead he worked and traveled with the migrants as one of them, living as they did and arousing no suspicion from employers militantly alert against

During the early 20th century, the United States was going through various changes in a short period of time that molded into this modern America we know today. The United States was swept away by an economic boom in the 1920's that was filled with promises of abundance and prosperity. The mass-production and mass-consumption flourished during this time and as a result, the United States went through a process known as Urbanization . However, this economic growth came to an end in 1929 when the stock market crashed, resulting in billions of dollars to evaporate. This led to the infamous Great Depression. The 1930's was a challenging time in American history. Not only was America going through this economic crisis but the 1930's was also met with one of the worst environmental disaster in the Central Plain known as the Dust Bowl . Large numbers of Americans had to evacuate and many of these of refugees moved to California to look for work. The book The Harvest Gypsies: On the Road to the Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, illuminates on the social injustices and the struggles many of these refugees had to face in western agriculture. He provides detailed articles of descriptions of the workers daily lives which he observed personally and argues that migrant workers are American citizens who deserve equal treatment and rights just like any other natural born citizen and discusses various ways to end the migrants' poverty and suffering.

In American Exodus, James N. Gregory presents the struggles and misconceptions of the Okie migrant, their defiance to cultural oppression and the change they brought. To analyze the brunt force of the Dust Bowl and the Depression of the Great Plain region; he traces the movement from route 66, evaluates the reception in California, and shows how the migrants both accommodated and left from the culture of the Golden State. Throughout the book, he dismisses many of the stereotypes created by John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (1939), and Dorothea Lange’s messages in photography. In doing so, Gregory presents a social wave, from the norm of stereotyping and the defiance of culture itself by bringing about unity in the form of narration of events and sub-topics. Furthermore, this event is brought to the hands of historians and future historians, a subject that often ignored in American history that has impacted various states including California.

     The book, Grapes of Wrath, follows the life of the Joad family, who live in Oklahoma during the Depression. The story begins with the return of Tom Joad from prison, where he has spent the last few years. He killed a boy in a bar fight and is now on parole. He is taken by surprise when he returns to Oklahoma only to find that his house is in ruins and his family is not there. He doesn’t know that, while he was gone, the banks forced his family and thousands of others off their land. Tom is accompanied by a former priest, Casey, who searches with Tom for his family. Tom and Casey find the Joad family at Tom’s uncle’s house. The family is preparing to move west to California in hopes that they

John Steinbeck was a writer who is most famously known for writing The Grapes of Wrath. Before he wrote his masterpiece, first The Harvest Gypsies had to be written. This is a collection of seven articles written by John Steinbeck in 1936. These seven articles are the results of Steinbeck’s investigate reports of American migrant workers during the Great Depression. Steinbeck wrote to inform the people of the mistreatments and alienations that were known to the squatters. Squatters were primarily composed of immigrant workers, but as a result of the dust bowl an increasing number of white Americans began to fill up the lower and middle classes. Families in the squatters’ camps ranged anywhere from those who once owned their own grocery stores to one family who had “fifty acres of land and a thousand dollars in the bank (Steinbeck, 27).”

     John Steinbeck wrote about what surrounded him. At the time he was writing, the nineteen-thirties, a great depression was plaguing the United States. Many people were out of work. Many farmers were losing their farms and homes. An extreme drought had also wrecked the farms of the Midwest and made them into what is now referred to as the "dust bowl". It was a terrible time to be poor, and most were. People died of malnutrition every day. In California, where Steinbeck resided, migrant workers dominated the workforce. Thousands traveled from all around to pick fruit in the farms of the Salinas Valley for minuscule wages. Thousands more could not find suitable

“They had no argument, no system, nothing but their numbers and their needs. When there was work for a man, ten men fought for it – fought with a low wage. If that fella’ll work for thirty cents, I’ll work for twenty-five”(Steinbeck). The renowned novel, The Grapes of Wrath, is a realistic portrayal of life and social conditions during the 30’s when the Dust Bowl swept across the nation, causing many to fall deeper into the depression. This caused many families to leave their homes in search of a safer and more hopeful land. The Grapes of Wrath follows Tom Joad, his family, and many other migrant farmers as they migrate from their Oklahoma farms into their new, hope filled life in California. The struggles that these characters endure