Banning Books In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

The banning of books can be defined as a form of censorship in which a law or decision prohibits the book from public consumption due to the book’s contents. Whether it’s banned because of political, religious, or moral reasons is all specific to the book itself. Yet, these are the most common reasons as to why a book is banned because their pages discuss these topics in an abrasive way or stray away from public opinion (Book Banning). The Grapes of Wrath, a classic American novel published in 1939, was banned within the same year, specifically in places like Kern County California where the story hit a little too close to home. Since the book depicted a family’s struggles in California during the 1930s, many Californians abhorred the way Steinbeck …show more content…
There were an abundance of other difficulties that accompanied the economic deprivation such as, severe drought, migration, and high strung political tensions. John Steinbeck experienced some of these horrors first hand, and therefore was inspired to write a novel in which the Joad family is uprooted by the Dust Bowl and forced to migrate to California along with other Southerners (Benson, The Grapes of Wrath). Within The Grapes of Wrath many of the struggles of everyday people living in this time period were showcased, and Steinbeck subtly pointed fingers and alluded to the government being the reasoning behind these struggles, which led it to being banned. Specifically in Kern County California, where the Joad family resides for the majority of the book, the board of directors of the town voted 4 to 1 for banning the book. This is because they believed Steinbeck depicted the workers in their county in a very insensitive and rude manner. They even went so far as to burn copies of the novel because they believed so wholeheartedly that Steinbeck was insulting them; as well as he was called a communist simply for addressing the political tensions within the country at the time, though many believed by doing so he was rejecting American values (Overview of The Grapes of Wrath). Steinbeck had written many novels in the past including the struggles of workers within America, as well as migrants. Specifically, his book Tortilla Flat focused on the issue of poor migrants, and was seen as controversial but never received as much attention nor backlash as The Grapes of Wrath (Gale, The Grapes of Wrath). Many fans of Steinbeck support him and The Grapes of Wrath by drawing to attention that it is a historical fiction novel, and arguably more important or necessary when contrasted to other forms of literature due to its historical context. The novel