Grapes Of Wrath Romanticism Analysis

Romanticism is the artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe. The strongest theme within The Grapes of Wrath that portrays romanticism is innocence and experience. In Steinbeck’s novel the main characters must migrate from their own fields of innocence in Oklahoma to the experience of highway Route 66 to California. Each character in the novel is affected differently by this ambiguity. Muley and Grandpa being the most stubborn to leave because the devotion to the land. Grandpa had followed Muley’s lead by being determined to stay, “Grandpa brought his box out and sat on it and leaned against the wall” (95). Grandpa is overcome with his connection to the land, the two physically …show more content…
Steinbeck describes the characters suffering and odyssey in graphic detail, realism is blatant and inevitable in the novel. Steinbeck 's visual of the land and the way of life as it was lived here during the 1930s said with truth and accuracy. The Grapes Of Wrath begins with a depiction of Dust Bowl, the occasion which causes all that happens in the rest of the book. Steinbeck shows a visual of the land post dust bowl, “in the morning the dust hung like fog, and the sun was as red as ripe new blood” (3). Such vivid imagery of the land through the use of color and personification. The Oklahoma farmers will feel that circumstances seem hopeless, farming families look in bewildered disbelief at the damage the dust bowl has done to their fields. There was no denying to the fact that the newfound disruption in their lives was going to take a negative toll in their everyday life. When dealing with a broken down car and two families Tom’s feelings were embedded by showing, “Tom drew his lips over his teeth and then snapped them open. He spread his hands helplessly and let them flop against his sides” (170). The internal feeling are perhaps have the most realist portrayal in the novel. Tom begins to feel more and more hopeless in his thoughts and actions. As Tom being a stronger character, the tone is set very deeply as helpless due to accentuating the intense emotions of the characters. However, the mood is not depressing all of the time. When Tom is speaking with Timothy for a job he assures, “we’ve give you hard work. You said so yourself” (294). Shifting the tone to a sense of hope for the family by allowing new employment to be found. The Association’s plans intentions are that it will stop at nothing to keep the laborers only available for cheap work. Farmers were doing whatever it took for any source of money, “they streamed over the