Delano grape strike

When The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck was published in 1939 the U.S. was slowly recovering from one of the worst economic depressions in its history; many people lived in poverty after losing their businesses, homes, farms, etc. One part of the country was hit rather hard by this depression, an area known as the Dust Bowl; many farmers either abandoned or were forced off their farms and went west to find work. The Grapes of Wrath follows one family, the Joads, migrating west in search of…

“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…

During the Great Depression of the 1930’s, there was mass unemployment, starvation, and millions desperate for a job. Farmers in the midwest, in particular, were hounding for employment, for their farms were destroyed by drought, the dust that followed the drought, the sweltering summers, and the harsh winters. They could no longer sustain a suitable life on their land, so they moved west to California, where jobs working on large farms were advertized. Workers expected livable wages and a…

John Steinbeck’s protagonist Tom Joad acts as a prime example of a flawed and naturally human character in The Grapes of Wrath. Throughout the novel, Tom faces massive character growth as he sheds his “carpe diem” lifestyle and takes on a concern for humanity. This change displays the growth in Tom’s leadership abilities and his ability to nurture the strength of his family. Tom’s actions and reactions throughout the course of the novel build off of one another, as he undergoes both a physical…

“The Grapes of Wrath” is set in the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma. Tom Joad is being released from prison where he was serving four years for manslaughter. He meets a preacher, Jim Casy, who has given up his calling because he believes that he is as lost as his congregation and is not fit to lead anymore. Tom and Jim head to California to find Tom’s family who had left to find work. Tom eventually find his family and they set up in the migrant camps that are overcrowded and lacking food. They find out…

“To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, they did not cut the scarred earth.” The novel of Grapes of Wrath begins with a graphic detail description of the landscape. The land is changing to drought and winds are creating dust bowls. At this time the economy is weak from the devastation of the crops and bankers are being to reclaim their land. Forcing families like the Joads to move westward. The Joads and many other Okis leave behind their home…

The text, Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck is one of the most popular books in America today. The book starts out in Oklahoma during the 1930s. In this novel, the Joads are forced off their property and without work. Ma Joad hears of work in California and the Joad family heads westward hoping to find some source of income. Steinbeck describes all the struggles that they endured and the novel ends with no hope for the Joad family to survive. Timothy Tennyson points out, “The Grapes of Wrath…

This “childlike” perspective allows for the most prominent topic of the novel, racism to be explored when a mob comes to kill Tom Robison. Scout strikes up a conversation with Walter Cunningham, who is part of the lynching mob, about his son, not knowing what is actually going (pg 205). Scout doesn’t see the underlying racist intentions the men have due to her inexperience while Atticus does since…

The Grapes of Wrath undoubtedly demonstrated the conflicts that American families endured on their journey from the Dust Bowl to California. This novel was written by John Steinbeck, a novelist and writer who witnessed the discrimination farmers had to tolerate on their migration to California. This gruesome journey caused misery, agony, regret among various families. Still, a majority of these families clung onto something crucial: their religion. The families prayed to God for their…

Chapters twenty six through thirty give a climatic ending to The Grapes of Wrath. The very final chapter took me by surprise the most and I had to pause in my reading to go back over the section to make sure I wasn’t misreading anything. These last five chapters also help to give further support to several conclusive themes, such as family and unity. They go full circle, demonstrating how the characters and the migrants have changed since being pushed from their lands. This character development…