...Prior to writing the book, Steinbeck took a “four week journey from Bakersfield to Needles in which he lived and worked with Depression migrants.”(Reuben, Paul P) During World War I, wheat prices were high so most farmers plowed the grassland and planted dry land wheat as “bushel of wheat sold for $1 in 1929.”(The Farmers Plight) Because of over production, wheat dropped to “$.30 cents in 1932” and farmers were not prepared for the phenomenon of the Dust Bowl. (The Farmers Plight) Steinbeck’s novel begins by detailing the dust bowl that hit Oklahoma, "Houses were shut tight, and cloth wedged around doors and windows, but the dust came in so thinly that it could not be seen in the air, and it settled like pollen on the chairs and tables, on the dishes."(Steinbeck pg. 3) Drought and soil erosion brought on by over farming turned the agricultural land of the Great Plains into a giant dust bowl during the 1930’s. The once rich grassland turned into a giant dust bowl during the 1930’s “due to drought and soil erosion brought on by over farming” (Divine, APP). Herman Goertzen, a Midwestern farmer experienced one of the most devastating storms first hand, “It was like a black wall that went over that area, south of us, there. It went through and it was just like shutting a barn door.”(Goetzen) He states, “The iron guard bit into the house corner, crumbled the wall and wrenched the little house from its foundations so that it fell sideways, crushed like a...
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...The Truth about Migrant workers Behind the Oklahoma dialect of ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ and the telling words contained in article four of ‘The Harvest Gypsies’, it is evident Steinbeck is attesting to the deep struggles and obstacles migrant workers had experienced in the 1930s. John Steinbeck’s main point it seems, is to let the readers know and understand the extent of the migrant worker struggles and how it has taken a toll on simple things such as their dignity, self- confidence and ability to govern themselves. Steinbeck also goes on to give the readers the impression he strongly favors the construction of more Federal Government camps to assist the migrant workers during their current struggles. The struggles of migrant workers as portrayed...
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...The Grapes of Wrath, authored by John Steinbeck, is a novel that depicts the struggles of an average midwestern family, The Joads, as they escape the horrors of the Dust Bowl in search of a new life in the state of California. The novel keeps The novel is revered as an American classic and has many positive reviews, but for me, the novel proved to be decent. The novel begins with introducing Tom Joad as he was attempting to hitch-hike back to his family’s farm. The novel continues with the Joad family, as they are forced to leave their land. The Joads face hardships of losing family members and a family friend, having minimal funds, and their only mode of transportation failing. The novel comes to an end as Tom must flee his family and the...
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...The novel Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck illustrates the wide variety of struggles the United States population had to face around the time of the Dust Bowl era. Many individuals tried to incorporate these struggles into a single song, using Tom Joad - one of the main characters in Grapes of Wrath - as the primary point of interest. The most influential song created and sung by Bruce Springsteen, “The Ghost of Tom Joad”, had also been sung by many other musicians such as Rage Against the Machine and Nickleback in the early 2000s. These musicians had changed the feeling and tone of the song to their own understanding of the struggles during the Dust Bowl. No one song had proven to be the correct one that demonstrated the struggles of the people during that time, yet all of them also had a different influence on the individuals that listened to it. Bruce Springsteen’s original version of the song, “The Ghost of Tom Joad” has many different elements in the song that makes it vastly unique. The tone of the song can be described as very depressing and melancholy since the singer uses a very soft voice. He uses this soft and weak voice to help the listener understand that during this time, many farmers and individuals didn’t have a voice and had to follow the crowd of people traveling west or east in order to get by. The gloomy feeling the...
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...Oyibo 1 Onye Oyibo Mr. Cannon English III AP March 5th, 2014 The Grapes of Wrath Research Paper Throughout the Grapes Of Wrath, author John Steinbeck incorporates an adequate amount of Realism as well as Romanticism within his novel. Although these philosophies are brought upon the audience, Steinbeck prominently bases of The Grapes of Wrath upon a substantial use of Artistic Romanticism, through the similarity between the themes as well literally devices. Steinbeck stress the use of literally devices throughout the novel which establishes The Grapes of Wrath philosophy of Artistic Romanticism and Realism. Artistic Romanticism is based upon the romantic viewpoint of a particular outlook on the relations among God, Nature, and the individual manifested meaning. Throughout the novel of “Romanticism and Transcendentalism” the author is capable of unveiling the abstract meaning behind the philosophies of Romanticism. Romanticism was an not just an artistic movement but also, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution (Holman, Hugh M. "Definitions of Romanticism."). In literature, Romanticism has been found through recurrent themes of advocating criticism of the past. As well as in the novel (Phillips, Jerry, Andrew Ladd, and Michael Anesko. Romanticism and Transcendentalism) the author touches base on multiple in-depth examples and meaning of...
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...The Grapes of Wrath a well-known classic by John Steinbeck was published in 1939, and before it was published, migrant workers were living in very harsh conditions in several parts of the United States. The Grapes of Wrath is about an Oklahoma Dust Bowl family, the Joads, who suffer various hardships while migrating to California. The Dust Bowl was a period of time in the 1930s where harsh droughts led to severe dust storms which ruined million acres of prairie land in America. This story tells us the plight of all those migrants during the Great Depression through the perspective of the Joad family. In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck uses intercalary chapters to provide background for the various themes of the novel, as well as to set the tone. Steinbeck’s previous book had bought him much success and Steinbeck did not want his success to weaken his commitment to the intellectual goals of his writing. So later, he embarked upon a trip from Oklahoma to California with a group of migrant workers. He worked and lived alongside them in a work camp in California. His experience was the inspiration for this novel. The story begins just after Tom Joad is released on parole from McAlester prison for homicide. On his journey to his home in Oklahoma, he meets former preacher Jim Casy whom he remembers from his childhood and the two travel together. He finds out his family has been evacuated from their land and are leaving for California. Tom and Casy join them. Going west on Route 66...
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...Born on February 27, 1902, in Salinas, California, John Steinbeck never finished college and instead as his intended profession he worked as a manual laborer before achieving success as a writer. His novel published in 1939,The Grapes of Wrath, about the migration of a family from the Oklahoma Dust Bowl to California, won a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award. Steinbeck served as a war correspondent during World War II, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. He died in New York City in 1968 (Biography.com editors. "John Steinbeck Biographies." the biography.comwebsites, A&E Television Networks, 2016, biography.com. Accessed 13 Nov....
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...November 2012 John Steinbeck: A Champion for the Common Man Born with the hand of a writer, John Steinbeck’s career sparked great political controversy, and greatly influenced the writings of his time. Widely considered one of America’s greatest novelists, his books are still frequently studied in school. Among his many accomplishments is the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Nobel Prize in Literature. With notable works such as The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, he expressed his dissatisfaction with capitalism and his sympathy for the struggle of the common worker in a way that captured the world’s attention – which resulted in some of his work even being banned. In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck explores the pervasive theme of loneliness and illustrates the fallacy of the American Dream. Widely considered his masterpiece, however, is The Grapes of Wrath which depicts the struggle of a family of Oklahoman farmers who are forced into a migratory existence due to the drought and dust storms following the Great Depression. When considering both The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, it is clear Steinbeck drew from his own personal experiences as a laborer when writing each of these novels. On February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California, John and Olive Steinbeck welcomed their third child and only son, John Ernst Steinbeck. John Ernst Steinbeck, Sr. was a county treasurer and Olive Hamilton Steinbeck was a schoolteacher. By all accounts, Steinbeck enjoyed a happy...
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...Daniel xxxxxxxxx Professor xxxxx History 102 5/17/2015 The Dust Bowl During the 1930’s our country was going through some tough times economically which was known as the “Great Depression”. To make things worse the farmland of America was experiencing what became known as the dust bowl. The Dust Bowl lasted for about a decade and it significantly impacted the southern plains. The northern plains were not hit as hard, but they still experienced major drought, strong winds and saw a big decline in their agricultural industry. The Dust Bowl is also responsible for many Americans leaving and moving from the southern plains. For nearly 10 years a yellowish brown dust from the southern plains and a black wall of dust from the northern plains swept through the heart of our country. This made everyday life in this region extremely difficult. Simple acts such as breathing, eating, and even talking while walking were no longer so simple. Mothers were forced to make their children wear dust mask to and from school, wet sheets were hung in front of windows in an effort to stop the dirt from entering their homes. Many farmers were defeated and slowly watched all their crops blow away (About the Dust Bowl). It was best stated by John Steinbeck in the novel “The Grapes of Wrath” “And then the dispossessed were drawn west from Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico; from Nevada and Arkansas, families, tribes, dusted out, tractored out. Car loads, caravans, homeless and hungry; twenty thousand...
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...In John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, every gory detail of the 1930’s California dust bowl is explored in the greatest of detail, and every fiber of the hardships those involved faced are brought into the spotlight. Among a gripping story with visceral characters, The Grapes of Wrath manages to raise profound questions that challenge the standards of morality set by society. What is right and wrong, and how do we as people know which is which? Through careful social commentary, and keen examination of standards through stupefying metaphors, Steinbeck spins a literary web of striking exposition that goes the extra mile to force an analytical perspective onto the reader. It is with these aspects of literature that Steinbeck is able to effectively...
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...slavery. He addresses his experiences and views on civil disobedience, which were also revisited almost a century later in John Steinbeck’s account of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, The Grapes of Wrath. This novel reflects Thoreau’s ideas about civil disobedience such as, less government involvement is better, people should make their own laws, and they should work together to fight injustice. One of Thoreau’s principle beliefs is that the less government is involved in community affairs, the better. He is in complete agreement with the claim that “government is best which governs least… [or] which governs not at all” (Thoreau...
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...Course: Date: Shattered American Dream Every immigrant has a dream, a vision full of hope expecting to make it wherever he goes. In grapes of wrath, they had this vision too. “[People are] movin’ ‘cause they got to. That’s why [we] folks always move. Movin’ cause [we] want somepin better’n what [we] got” (Steinbeck, 128). The American dream was seen as a simple concept by the immigrants in the Grapes of Wrath. According to them, “You can reach anywhere and pick an orange” (Steinbeck, 34). They thought they will just go to California and get plenty of jobs for everyone and get rich. This is highlighted in page 34,”there’s work there and it never gets cold”. What the immigrants did not know was that finding an ideal life in the west was nearly impossible. Additionally, those who were looking for an ideal life were corrupted by the system. In his book, Steinbeck said that the attainment of the American dream was nearly impossible due to the economic instability and constant government interference. The Joads found unpredictable jobs in California (Ownby 73). They failed to achieve the American dream and so they did not succeed in California. Before they migrated from Oklahoma, the Joads had a good life. They had land, a home and money. Their migration was fuelled by their hopes of finding success and a better life in California. The Grapes of Wrath is set during the great depression. The great depression was a result of the inaction by the federal government which led to failing...
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...When I first began reading the Grapes of Wrath, I did not understand why the chapters would tell the story of the Joad’s journey then go back and describe something that did not relate to the Joad’s journey. I was confused why John Steinbeck chose to describe inanimate objects, people, places etc. in a detailed way. I realized that once the Joad’s journey began an intercalary chapter followed. The chapter had a lot of impact because sometimes it would relate to the Joad’s journey. For example, when the Joad’s bought a truck, the intercalary chapter explained a used cars salesmen trying to take advantage of farmers need for cars by selling a car that was in bad shape for high prices. As a reader, the intercalary chapters were interesting chapters within the book, it broke up the Joad’s journey and allowed it to be a sneak peek to what might happen in the following chapters....
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...The Grapes of Wrath is primarily a story about the Joads, an all-American farming family, and their journey westward, but through the use of inter chapters, the novel also depicts the hardships faced by the general population during the Great Depression. These chapters are added to give more detail and history about the economic and familial circumstances simple people must go through. The use of inter-chapters in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath adds to the novel stylistically, thematically, and symbolically by allowing readers to experience the struggles of average American families and relating those situations back to the Joads. Steinbeck’s use of inter-chapters add to the novel stylistically by using them as a foreshadowing technique. In chapter 7, it says “Squirt in a couple quarts of sawdust. Put some in the gears, too. We got to move that lemon for thirty-five dollars” (). Steinbeck is telling the readers about corrupt car salesmen who tamper with cars to take advantage of desperate families for profit. This chapter is foreshadowing the events in chapter 16 when the Wilson family’s car breaks down and the Joads stay back to help them. Another example is chapter 9 foreshadowing the...
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...Introduction Written by John Steinbeck in 1939, “The Grapes of Wrath” is an in-depth look at how economic forces of the time had a tragic effect on the lives of the working class. The story and examples of the five economic structures are told, as the Joad family travels to seek a new life in California. The novel details how the economic changes that were taking place impacted the Joads and the people of Oklahoma, making them desperate to find a new life. Forced from their homes and land, they hoped that migrating west would allow them to find work, allowing them to provide for their families. Steinbeck shows in detail how economic forces and externalities, can affect the lives of individuals, families, communities, and the nation. While...
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