Set in the swallowing depression of the 1920’s, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck provides a hallowing, realistic view into the plight of the proletariat farmer and the exploitation that was all too common during the Great Depression by major corporations. Steinbeck’s literary work serves as a window into the world of the great depression by not only providing a narrative history of the era, but also giving faces to the nameless victims through the characters of Tom Joad, the lead protagonist of the story and Ma, the archetypal matriarch of the house in this 1930’s piece of literature. Steinbeck also uses key stylistic tools to further enlighten and inform the reader to the plight of the farmers and poor folk of the 1930’s. The …show more content…
For the farmers, the combined years of drought, price caps set by the federal government to maintain low prices during World War I, and artificial inflation of the value of major farming corporations had led to a scenario that can only be dubbed the perfect storm of the farming industry. Many farmers found themselves out of work by 1925 with millions being forced off their properties as the banks reposed land bought on credit much the same as the stocks that caused the market crash of 1929.
The embodiment of the countless millions who lost their farms and land is portrayed through the primary protagonist, Tom Joad. Tom represents the common man of the late twenties and early thirties. After being paroled from prison for homicide he returns to his family’s home in Oklahoma, only to find it abandoned as the dust bowl had ravaged the land much the same as countless other farmers of the time. On his way back from prison to his family’s farm Tom reveals his most earnest quality, his honesty and ability to call things as he sees them. Tom realizes that the large corporations are exploiting everyday people and expresses this belief by saying, ”sometimes a guy 'll be a good guy even if some rich bastard makes him carry a sticker.” (Steinbeck, 11). To the truck driver who refuses him a ride at first due to the corporate sticker stating “no hitch hikers allowed” clearly on the
The dust bowl was a tragic time in America for so many families and John Steinbeck does a great job at getting up-close and personal with one family to show these tragedies. In the novel, “The Grapes of Wrath”, John Steinbeck employed a variety of rhetorical devices, such as asyndeton, personification and simile, in order to persuade his readers to enact positive change from the turmoil of the Great Depression. Throughout the novel, Steinbeck tells the fictional narrative of Tom Joad and his family, while exploring social issues and the hardships of families who had to endure the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Steinbeck’s purpose was to challenge readers to look at
The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinback is a book with the main theme being the oversoul. The oversoul is the idea of an ultimate divine spirit that encompasses all human souls. In order to reach this theme, Steinback uses a variety of metaphors that all lead up to the theme of the oversoul.
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.
Why do they run, why do they flee, why do they leave the place they call home that holds their most sacred memories? In chapter 11 of Steinbeck’s hit novel, “The Grapes of Wrath,” Steinbeck conveys a sad and sympathetic tone of voice in his writing to express the message that machinery was stripping people of their jobs, dignity, and connection with their land, which he displays with his comparison of the horse and the tractor. Steinbeck begins to establish his credibility with his exceptional use of descriptive words that help convey his hidden message in his comparison between the horse and the tractor, which helps develop the theme of this chapter. Additionally, it also helps illustrate and paint the picture for the audience to help them better understand how the effects of the Great Depression impacted common households.
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.
April 14th, 1939, John Steinbeck published the novel, The Grapes of Wrath. The novel became an immediate best seller, with selling over 428,900 copies. Steinbeck, who lived through both the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, sought to bring attention to how families of Oklahoma outdid these disasters. Steinbeck focuses on families of Oklahoma, including the Joads family, who reside on a farm. The Joad family is tested with hardship when life for them on their farm takes a corrupt turn. Steinbeck symbolizes the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, as the monster, by focusing on bringing attention to how the families in Oklahoma bypass the disastorous weather, greedy bankers, and also the unreceptive greeting by the
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.
Ungovernable economic and natural forces within The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck play a significant role in altering the circumstances that impact the Joad family during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. However, these merely provide an environment for outcomes to occur and serve as a catalyst for human action. In fact, human action is the primary factor that contributes to several turns of events for the Joads. The influence of human actions within the novel can be viewed when analyzing the symbolism of natural forces, the self-interest of business corporations and private owners, and the compassion shared within the empathetic migrant community. When natural forces within the novel are presented within a symbolic and metaphorical light, human actions and their effects on the Joad family are highlighted.
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 Steinbeck's novel, The Grapes of Wrath, he describes the struggle of the small farmer and farmworker. The principal characters define quiet dignity and courage in their struggle to survive and in the caring for their loved ones. Through this novel, Steinbeck displays his respect for all the poor and oppressed of our world.
In John Steinbeck’s tragic, mangled novel, The Grapes of Wrath, the reader is shipped off into the heart of the great Dust Bowl in the American Midwest in the peak of American hardship. Through his use of realism in the era of the modern age, Steinbeck reveals the hardships that were faced by common American citizens during the Great Depression, and utilizes the Joad family in an effort to depict the lives of the farmers who had to flee to new land in the high hopes of a new and better life. The obstacles the family faces are similar to what countless other families had to face, with very little of the population able to successful thrive at the time. By utilizing the empowering endeavors unforeseen by these poor families and the meteorological catastrophes overlooking the Midwest, Steinbeck illustrates the nationwide panic faced by many Americans in an effort to delineate their confusion and uncertainty.
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
“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
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
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.