Grapes Of Wrath Family Analysis

Improved Essays
Family, Integrity, and Family in Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath
(Themes Found in the Ending of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath) In John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath the Joad family’s world is torn apart once the Great Depression begins and the Dust Bowl takes away their livelihood. The family goes on a journey to “the promised land” to find a better life. “It is biblical narrative with California as the promise land, or an Eden whose promise is lost” (The). The Joads believed that California would solve all their problems, but so did all the other suffering families in America that set out on the same journey. Throughout the novel, it becomes obvious that the family’s life is not at all easy and they have to overcome many obstacles
…show more content…
Bloom touches on the subject of the Joad’s survival when he writes, “The overt content is the essentially undamaged survival of their sense of fun and beauty” (Bloom). What Bloom states relates to how the family, mostly Ma Joad, tries to keep a positive outlook on all the situations put in front of them. As I previously wrote, Ma won’t push aside or ignore the bad things that happen, but she won’t take them to heart either. Ma only tries to learn as much as she can from a situation, even if it’s bad, because that is how she keeps her family alive, that is her survival. Near the conclusion of the novel, Tom has to run away in order to stay out of prison, running away is his survival. It is not a cowardly act for him to run because he tells his mother that he will always be there, but hiding in the shadows is the way he’ll have to live, but it’s also how he’ll help others survive. The most obvious example of survival would be the very concluding event of the novel, Rose of Sharon nursing a starving man to save him. Although such an act is unusual and quite odd to many readers, this act perfectly depicts the measures that were taken to save your own kind. By “own kind,” I do not mean human, I mean those you are just like you, those you are in the same trouble you are or worse. As Ditsky states, “…the scene accomplishes an emergence from the shadow of death…” …show more content…
Their journey tests the Joads as a whole, but they stick together because their family is what matters the most to them. Even when the people around them are breaking form the pressure of the economy and changing society, the Joads maintain their integrity and help those who need it the most. Survival during such tough times is the most prominent theme in Steinbeck’s novel because it is the family’s journey begins so that they can survive. The novel also ends with survival, Tom running away and Rose of Sharon saving a starving man. Steinbeck depicts life during the Great Depression through the Joad family, and themes that follow them are family, integrity, and

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Sacrifice John Ford’s inspiring film, Grapes of Wrath, pulls at the heartstrings of viewers. The film tells the story of the Joad family and their struggle to find work during the depression. The story begins with Tom Joad, the eldest son of the Joad family, finding that his family has been evicted from their home during the Oklahoma Dust Bowl and set out for California along with thousands of others in search of jobs, land, and hopes for a brighter future. Ford uses the story of the Joad family to convey the theme that the need of the many outweighs the needs of one. Ford uses Ma Joad, Tom Joad and Jim Casey to exemplify the need for supportive rather than individualistic ideals during rough times.…

    • 1016 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “She walked for the family and held her head straight for the family,” (Steinbeck 138). The historical fiction novel The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck depicts the Joad family’s arduous journey to survive and find economic stability as farmers during the Dust Bowl. Jeannette Walls’s autobiography, The Glass Castle, illustrates her family’s struggle to find personal happiness and a sense of belonging despite their lack of a permanent home. Both books feature families attempting to overcome poverty and find a sense of security while traveling nomadically and frequently changing their living situations. Perseverance and solidarity of the family are two qualities which allow the Joad and Walls families to survive the multitude of difficult circumstances…

    • 1094 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Steinbeck writes a perfectly good explanation of what human society is. Getting hit hard with obstacles, dealing with it and learning from it. Every single person in this world goes through tough times. The author illustrates the tough times during The Great Depression in more depth. He chooses a character to carry out his theme.…

    • 1304 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Steinbeck shows the determination of the human spirit through his characters’ resilience in tough circumstances: through Tom Joad’s courageous perseverance in helping his family, through Muley Grave’s stubborn loyalty to his land, and through Ma Joad’s strength to take up the position as head of the family. In the novel, Steinbeck shows the unfair working situations that migrants face when…

    • 1060 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Jungle and The Grapes of Wrath share a common theme of corruption. In The Jungle, you see a version of trickle down corruption. Corruption was found from the top political bosses trickling down to the small businesses. This made it close to impossible for a poor man to have a chance in Packingtown. The Grapes of Wrath was morally corrupt.…

    • 649 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Grapes Of Wrath Analysis

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages

    THe outcome of these confrontation both end in a victory for ma and that much more respect earned. some may say that men are the rock of the family but in this case the mother is the anchor upon this navigating ship. Ma's will and love for her family shall lead the joads to a life they never knew existed but they will always have eachother. In the Joad's lowest point in the novel, Ma emerges as their leader of an almost broken family.…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is a very well-known novel due to it being an American classic, but also because the realism of the story about how migrate families were treated during the Dust Bowl of the 1930 's is one of the most shameful eras of American history, but has shown how much the US has evolved since then. The Joad family is just one story of a thousand migrate families in search of work, land, and food. The Joad family headed form east to west and encountered many dilemmas such as shortage of gas, food, and having to suffer family death, cruel people, and receiving poor wages. Although society as a whole were going through a rough time with the ongoing dust bowl and people were migrating in search of work, there is a beauty…

    • 878 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    With alcoholic father Rex and irresponsible mother Rose Mary, it is hard to maintain stability, or any hope for it. In The Grapes of Wrath, the Joads are also financially unstable and find themselves traveling just to get by. Family unity, loyalty, self-sufficiency,…

    • 1112 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Grapes of Wrath, one of John Steinbeck’s signature and most controversial literary masterpiece, is a historical fiction novel that takes place in the Midwest region of the United States during the Great Depression. The book entails the struggles surrounding the Joad family as they journey to California, the “promised land”, in search of a better life. The way Steinbeck tells this narrative is distinct in the style he employs within the story unlike any other author. Known as intercalary chapters, Steinbeck writes each chapter along an interchangeable pattern between setting and dialogue. However, this technique often interrupts the story as a whole due to having a loosely-organized structure.…

    • 1039 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    John Steinbeck values and respects the people throughout the book who sacrifice themselves for other people’s needs. Readers witness these values when Ma suffers for the family’s goal, Casy sacrifices himself for the benefit of others, and Rose of Sharon comes up with a decision…

    • 768 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The men are put out of mindforgotten as they became unemployed and poor (“Women and the Great Depression” 2). As the farms only needed the strongest men, the others became weak to the point of leaving their families. For example, Noah, the oldest Joad son, decides to live by the river instead when the Joads do not need him anymore (Steinbeck 186). This represents the men who feel pressured and incompetent to the women’s standards during the Dust Bowl times. Most of the problems of homelessness lies in expectations of the men (“Invisible Women of the Great Depression” 6).…

    • 1203 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the film “The Grapes of Wrath”, it follows the Joad family on their journey to California, looking for jobs. On their way there they face diversity and many other problems that is keeping them from their new life. They stay in 3 different location that show the life these people had to live in order to make a living.…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath we learn of a long and strenuous journey by the Joad family. Then of course in How To Read Literature Like a Professor the title of the very first chapter is "Every Trip is a Quest" which is indefinitely expressed throughout the entire book of The Grapes of Wrath. The theme "Every Trip is a Quest" can be a common theme through any journey or trip in life, whether a literal trip or a personal journey throughout daily life. In The Grapes of Wrath one can analyze this theme and break it down into different sections; life leading to the journey, information relating to Tom Joad, and both minor and major setbacks throughout their journey to California through Route 66.…

    • 778 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    SYNTAX: The author switches back and forth between the Joad family and the migrant farmers in general. Quotations are used when the chapter is about the Joads. However, when it is about migrant farmers, Steinbeck does not put quotation marks. This is mostliekly he used these quotes to mean that any farmer in the nation oculd be saying that becasue they all share the same struggle. .…

    • 2112 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, there are three main types of people that are encountered on the Joad’s journey. There are people that help them, hurt them, or ignore them. Examples that will be given show each individual trait and whether their action can be justified or not. Being forced out of one's home isn’t something happy to look upon. At the beginning of the book, when the author introduces the Joad family, the reader instantly learns that they are being evicted from their homeland.…

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics