Weakness in Men in the Grapes of Wrath

Through the roughest times in life, we come across crises that reveal the true character in those around us. Those who are strong are divided from the weak and the followers divide from the leaders. In the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, author John Steinbeck presents the character Ma Joad who serves an important role as the rock that keeps the family together. The Joad family, apart from many families in Oklahoma, is forced to leave their homes in search of work and better opportunities; California not only leaves them in poverty but despair. But through it all Ma Joad is the leader of the family that exhibits selflessness in order to protect and secure her family.

This quote explains how the Joads work. They work each of their jobs as hard as they can and

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.

There was one section of the book that I could relate to, it was on page 309. Tom Joad’s father, or furthermore known as Pa Joad, was describing Ma Joad when she was littler. He described her as a wild one, and she was “scairt of nothing.” When he was describing Ma Joad to Tom, I prospected it a little and the younger Ma Joad was like my mother.

First, her reading is too hopeful. If Steinbeck does wish to relate the Joad family to many American families, what is his end goal? The Joad family suffers relentlessly from the start to the end of the novel. Crockett fails to comprehend the full function of Steinbeck’s biblical allusions. They are not merely used to establish parallels among characters and readers, but to illustrate their incompatibility with reality. Hence, Steinbeck does not use biblical allusions to relate characters to readers, but to highlight the unrelatability between the characters in his book, and the characters in the bible. Characters in the bible suffer temporarily, while his characters suffer perpetually.

“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.

Do the needs of an individual family or group supersede the needs of the many? In The Grapes of Wrath written by the John Steinbeck, the readers see the strength that is needed to be a mother when outside forces rip a family apart. Ma Joad is the living representation of strength given her unique role in the family. Ma took an almost patriarchal role in the family and demonstrated that she was unique among other characters due to her strength, love, and family power.

Moreover, in Chapter Thirteen, as the Joad family continues on their journey, they meet the Wilson family. The two families decide to carry on with their trip together. It is at this point that Steinbeck follows the pattern of the circle of life. Steinbeck begins by writing about the rebirth of Tom Joad. Next, Grampa dies. Following this, there is a birth for the Joads when they add the Wilson family to their own. However, as previously stated, in order to represent the hardships of the journey, many more deaths than births occur in the novel. In Chapter Eighteen alone, Noah leaves the family, the Joads continue on without the Wilson family, and Granma dies. It may seem like these losses would tear the family apart, but Ma Joad understands the concept of family, and tries her hardest to keep the family as one unit. For example, Ma Joad sits up all night with Granma's dead body, jut so the family can cross the border. "'The fambly hadda get acrost'" (312).

Josh Turner once said, “Life is a series of punches. It presents a lot of challenges. It presents a lot of hardship, but the people that are able to take those punches and able to move forward are the ones that really do have a lot of success and have a lot of joy in their life and have a lot of stories to tell, too” (Hardship Quotes). Rudy Ruettiger had many struggles in his life that set him back. He has taken those punches from life and moved forward getting closer to his dream every step of the way. He defied everyone’s doubts and beat the odds. This man wanted so badly to get into Notre Dame and he did just that. Shawn Grim, on the other hand, was a man who did not come from a very successful family. He had to work harder than ever before just to attempt to achieve his dream. Shawn did not succeed at his dream and was filled with heartbreak because of it. Rudy Ruettiger and Shawn Grim both had very similar dreams, but different hardships to work through that broke one down and

1-1. “Before me and Neeka started asking D about her life, we were erasers too—she got to step into our world, with all the trees and mamas calling from windows and kids playing on the block, and forget.” (18)

The traditional human family represents a necessary transition between self and community. In the difficult era of the 1930's, the family's role shifted to guard against a hostile outside world rather than to provide a link with it. With the drought in the Dust Bowl and other tragedies of the Great Depression, many were forced to look beyond the traditional family unit and embrace their kinship with others of similar necessity. In his novel The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck uses the theme of strength through unity to comment on the relationship between the dissolution of individual families and the unification of the migrant people. The journey of the Joad family

   In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck uses both obvious references and subtle contrasts to emphasize the main theme of the novel: the sanctity of man's relationship to the natural world and to each other.

While not given a name until Tom Joad reunites with his family, Grampa is an implied character introduced in the intercalary chapters of the novel. The man in the chapters is referred to as Grampa, but it is never directly confirmed to be the Joad family head. The intercalary chapters are also heavily implied to describe the Joad’s struggles, which allows for the assumption that they are the same character. He is described as very passionate about his land, remembering how he had to “kill the Indians and drive them away” for it (pg. 45). He is very driven and prepared to protect the land where his family grew at any cost.

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 1930s were a time of hardship for many across the United States. Not only was the Great Depression making it difficult for families to eat every day, but the Dust Bowl swept through the plains states making it nearly impossible to farm the land in which they relied. John Steinbeck saw how the Dust Bowl affected farmers, primarily the tenant farmers, and journeyed to California after droves of families. These families were dispossessed from the farms they had worked for years, if not generations (Mills 388). Steinbeck was guided by Tom Collins, the real-life model for the Weedpatch camp’s manager Jim Rawley, through one of the federal migrant worker camps. He was able to see for himself,