...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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...Henry David Thoreau was extremely opposed to the Mexican War and refused to pay taxes by means of protesting 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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...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 door, ten others will walk in to take your job. You are hopeless. Flash forward to 1930, now you are small farmer, but the same issues still plague you. After being forced from your home you flee to the west coast in hopes of a modern promised land, but find only oppression and squalor. This is the setting of John...
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...Ma Joad emerges as the "mainstay" of the Joad family throughout John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Throughout the journey, Ma's motherly instincts and kind nature allow her to provide the best environment for her family. Ma insists on keeping the family together mentally and physically despite all aspects of life appearing grim. She will do anything for her family’s success, as well as other’s, as she becomes the authoritative figure within the family. To begin, she wishes to keep her family together mentally and physically. To do so, she had to think and act positively, so her family would also possess hope, even in their circumstances. For instance, before the family left their home in Oklahoma, Tom discusses how a man who lived in California said that “...too many folks lookin’ for work right there now...live in dirty ol’ camps an’ don’t hardly get...
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...Throughout John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, The Joads family shows traditional gender roles deteriorating as they travel to California during the Dust Bowl. Steinbeck explores the emblematic thoughts of gender at the time, by restating and challenging them. During the Great Depression, it was prevalent that the male figure was the head of the family, in charge of working, making major decisions, and overall supporting the family. However, women were perceived to be domesticated in their house, doing household chores, like cooking and cleaning, and bearing and taking care of the children. Nevertheless, in The Grapes of Wrath, the author John Steinbeck defies these roles that were stereotyped, by illustrating the development of the...
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...In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck speaks religion throughout the novel. Through his portrayal of showing the biblical foreshadowing through experiences they faced, he shows the religious background they had at the beginning of the book and how it's tested as they grow. Jim Casy was portrayed as a failed preacher that came along with an ex-convict to journey to the west for work. This character was the figure of Jesus through the book. As the relationship between Tom and Casy grows they stick with each other through thick and thin. “It’s all me, all right, Casy said. You got smart with the wrong guy” (Steinbeck 266). Casy takes the blame for the actions of Tom and Floyd. Jesus takes the place for all of our sins by dying on the cross...
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...What would it feel like to watch your own house and everything you’ve worked so hard for, be destroyed by a man made piece of technology in a matter of seconds? This is just one example of what society was like during the Great Depression and all throughout the 1930’s. The Grapes of Wrath shows us what life was like for the average American in the 1930’s; put lightly, it was extremely bitter. The Joad family faced a countless number of issues throughout the movie, including poverty, drought, and house foreclosure. Contemporary society still faces some of the same issues. For instance, we still see steady rates of unemployment in America, as well as a distrust in the economy. Over the years, we have failed to learn that we must stick together as a society when times are at their worst. Consequently, these things will never change if we do not choose to make the change. As a society we must come together as one when faced with opposition....
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...Canada at its lowest “The bank is something more than men, I tell you. It’s the monster. Men made it, but they can’t control it.” – John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 5. The great deperssion was a severve time during the late 1920’s and 1930’s. The stock market crash in 1929 sent the economy spiruling down to an all time low affecting families, businesses, lifestyles and changed the lives off all. It left thousands on the street, homless, poor and with absoultley nothing. To find a stable job and a good living was nearly impossible during that time. Living during the Great Depression was an Extremly difficult time. It affected families lives and living environment, it affected jobs and income, it also affect large and small business...
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...The classic novel “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck depicts the struggles the Joads, an impoverished Oklahoma family, face when attempting to find a better life. When forced to leave their comfortable home, the Joads’ only option is to migrate to California. Striving to keep the family stable the Joads tragically transition from being an average family to being a stressed, decaying family. This deterioration results from being treated like emotionless slaves by the wealthy owners of large corporations. Steinbeck creates events in the literature that parallel the need to improve 1930‘s and 40’s treatment of migrant workers. Three situations that demonstrate the author’s protest for change include the demolishment of the Joad house, Granpa’s...
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...The Grapes of Wrath follows Tom Joad and his family as they journey their way to California, and the hardships they endure. The book opens up when Tom gets paroled from the state penitentiary and hitchhiker home. Along the way he encounters Jim Casey. Jim Casey preached to Tom and his family when Tom was a child. Casey tells Tom that he is no longer a preacher, having lost his calling. He says he still believes in the lord, but not necessarily the spirituality. Casey believes the holy spirit is love. Not just the love of God, but the love of all people. Tom invites Casey to join him on his walk home. When they get to where Tom once lived, they find the farm abandoned. While figuring out what to do next, Muley Graves a neighbor of the Joads....
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...The Grapes of Wrath is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The Grapes of Wrath is a beautifully written but extremely moving and heartbreaking novel with interesting, realistic and well-developed characters. Among the characters, Ma Joad, Jim Casy, and Tom Joad emerge as prominent figures. Ma Joad, the leader of the family who holds down the fort when things begin to falter or break apart; Jim Casy, the former preacher and spiritual man who sees the deeper soul of humanity; and Tom Joad, the rebel who makes strides to transform his character, to carry on Casy’s fight and the fight for his people, who speaks for an entire group. Set in...
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...Steinbeck depicts Henry and Elisa’s marriage as lukewarm and strained as a result of a lack of physical affection. Elisa is described as a strong, lean woman of thirty-five years of age (Steinbeck 227). Despite her health and age, Elisa has borne Henry no children. Either the couple cannot have children, which understandably throws a wrench in their relationship, or they do not sleep together. Either way, Elisa and Henry’s relationship is suffering. This couple never show love through physical affection. The only physical contact between Elisa and Henry in the duration of the story is a pat on the knee (Steinbeck 233). They never exchange hugs or kisses. Elisa’s body is described as rigid when she interacts with Henry (Steinbeck 233). When Henry comes out of the house, dressed for dinner, “Elisa stiffened and her face grew tight” (Steinbeck 233). Physical affection stimulates a marriage and tells a spouse that their partner loves and cares for them. The lack of physical affection exchanged between Elisa and Henry is slowly destroying their already strained and lukewarm relationship. Like Elisa and Henry, the Coble family’s relationship is also lukewarm and strained as a result of a lack of physical affection shown between family members. When Matt comes home from work, Daisy is snappish because she had a hard day with Donny (Tyler 187). She never hugs or kisses her husband. As Donny’s grades drop and his behaviour worsens, Daisy puzzles over what she did wrong as a mother. She...
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...In The Grapes of Wrath, the Dust Bowl hit the Great Pains where dust storms destroyed agriculture and farms. Vegetation did not get enough water because irrigation and dry land farming techniques did not work. Since farmers could not produce food because of the drought, many were kicked off the land with no money, and went looking for jobs. This quote fits within the narrative because this little story discusses the typical life of a family in the Great Plains who lost their job because of the Dust Bowl. The point of the book was to explain the hardships of this time period through the eyes of a family who is dealing with them. This quote is important because it underscores the difficulties that the farmers and their families are experiencing...
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...They were no longer able to grow the crops they needed and that resulted in a loss of income and not being able to pay the banks. These storms forced many families to change their everyday lives. In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck describes the families and the ways they had to protect their homes saying, "Now the dust was mixed with the air, an emulsion of dust and air. Houses were shut tight, and cloth wedged around doors and windows, but the dust came in." (Steinbeck 3). This shows how the lives of families revolved around protecting themselves and their homes from the dust and dust...
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