Within the novels The Day of the Locust and The Grapes of Wrath, both authors create meaning through the use of symbols, metaphor and allegory.
Both novels, The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, were published in 1939, a year of high tension both within America and the world on a whole. Nazism seemed ready to sweep through Europe, Communist Russia looked an unlikely ally and, within its own boarders, America was still recovering from both the previous European war and the severest depression in economic history. America was adamant to stay out of another European conflict and felt safe in its wavering condemnation of Hitler and Nazi Germany foreign policy. However, within both of these books, each …show more content…
Likewise, John Steinbeck, who grew up in California and knew first-hand the strife of the migrant workers , presents a cruel adaptation of …show more content…
However, within this chapter Steinbeck alludes, through allegory, symbolism and metaphor, to the plight of migrant workers and to his protagonist Tom Joad. The structure of Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath is that every other chapter which follows the Joad family on their journey and hunt for a better America, while the remaining chapters, usually odd numbered, tell of the plight of the migrants as a whole people. These chapters do not focus on specific characters and often to not name them. Some of these chapters are also allegorical; within these chapters Steinbeck wants the reader to know that while the Joad’s are having a miserable time, so are the many peoples of America. Exempt from those people are the bank, which Steinbeck argues is “…a monster…” . Chapter 3 is one of these chapters. The tale of the turtle “…boosting and dragging his shell along” is actually that of the migrant class, personified both through the turtle and through the books protagonist Tom Joad. The turtle is a product of the land, the same way that the tenant farmers are, “We were born on it…” . Steinbeck uses the turtle as a symbol of the work of the tenants, and the hill as a symbol for the oppression and obstacle which the higher classes put on the working classes. The turtle is described as having “his head held high” , which mirrors the way the tenants refuse to leave their land in chapter 5, “…we got
Both novels, The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, were published in 1939, a year of high tension both within America and the world on a whole. Nazism seemed ready to sweep through Europe, Communist Russia looked an unlikely ally and, within its own boarders, America was still recovering from both the previous European war and the severest depression in economic history. America was adamant to stay out of another European conflict and felt safe in its wavering condemnation of Hitler and Nazi Germany foreign policy. However, within both of these books, each …show more content…
Likewise, John Steinbeck, who grew up in California and knew first-hand the strife of the migrant workers , presents a cruel adaptation of …show more content…
However, within this chapter Steinbeck alludes, through allegory, symbolism and metaphor, to the plight of migrant workers and to his protagonist Tom Joad. The structure of Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath is that every other chapter which follows the Joad family on their journey and hunt for a better America, while the remaining chapters, usually odd numbered, tell of the plight of the migrants as a whole people. These chapters do not focus on specific characters and often to not name them. Some of these chapters are also allegorical; within these chapters Steinbeck wants the reader to know that while the Joad’s are having a miserable time, so are the many peoples of America. Exempt from those people are the bank, which Steinbeck argues is “…a monster…” . Chapter 3 is one of these chapters. The tale of the turtle “…boosting and dragging his shell along” is actually that of the migrant class, personified both through the turtle and through the books protagonist Tom Joad. The turtle is a product of the land, the same way that the tenant farmers are, “We were born on it…” . Steinbeck uses the turtle as a symbol of the work of the tenants, and the hill as a symbol for the oppression and obstacle which the higher classes put on the working classes. The turtle is described as having “his head held high” , which mirrors the way the tenants refuse to leave their land in chapter 5, “…we got