The Grapes of Wrath

Alan Hsieh Ms. Sobocinski English 11 May 12th 2015 The American Dream F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath are two stories that portray extreme opposites, but also harbor deep similarities between each other. The main character of Fitzgerald’s book; Gatsby is an extremely wealthy man whilst the Joads in The Grapes of Wrath are disturbingly poor. Both sets of characters strive for diff goals beyond their financial states. Gatsby’s ultimate goal is to…

Introduction Characters in a story evolve due to the struggles and hardships they face throughout the story. In The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and in Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd the two characters are quite sheltered and oblivious to what is happening in the world. Lily Melissa Owens in The Secret Life of Bees is sheltered and oblivious to what is happening in the world because she has never experienced racism. It is not until Rosaleen, the Owens family house maid, goes into…

me, one essential element of a truly American story is historical references. The United States has an incredibly rich history, which can be incorporated into fictional works in a variety of different ways. For example, in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, the Great Depression of the 1930s is referenced. Steinbeck writes, “We can’t take less share of the crop-we’re half starved now. The kids…

Ma Joad is one of the most important characters in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. Ma is the mother of the main character Tom and evolves as the head of the family Ma’s personality makes her the “citadel of the family” (Steinbeck) and she keeps the family intact by being strong. Throughout the novel, Ma displays her leadership by always trying to keep the family together. Steinbeck’s characterization of Ma allows her to impact the whole family. The importance of Ma within the family…

While the Joad family moves to the state of California, the fambly endures the struggles of starting over. In the book The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Ma stays home caring for the house and children, and Pa works in the town to bring in money, because gender roles are prevalent in the world around them. Not only are are these roles spread throughout society, but they are followed by men and women alike. In the 1930’s at the time of the Dust Bowl gender roles were still widely diversified.…

to pull the family together in times of need and keep it unified throughout those times. Without the woman, the man of the home would struggle in finding secure and definite ground to stand on and would fail in ruling over the family. In The Grapes of Wrath written by John Steinbeck, he portrays one particular woman, Ma Joad, as uncharacteristically strong and courageous yet still having that touch of grace and kindness as she is forced to become a leader through a long journey. She quells her…

incidents yearly reported. Misconduct by officers have been presented throughout time through many different types of media; Television, news reports, and even books are used to show this idea. John Steinbeck addresses this in his novel, “The Grapes of Wrath” through his Jim Casy, a preacher. Casy is leading a protest with no malice then is struck and killed by police. “listen, he said. you fellas [don't] know what youre doin’. You're helpin to starve kids.”…

John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California in 1902. He spent most of his life in Monterey County, which is the setting for much of his fiction. He attended Stanford University intermittently between 1920 and 1926. Steinbeck did not graduate from Stanford, but instead chose to support himself by doing manual labor while writing in his spare time. His experiences among the working class of California lends authenticity to his depiction of the lives of laborers, who are the central characters…

world that has none. This moment takes place in two different books. The Grapes of Wrath is a realistic fiction based during the Dust Bowl. The Road is a fiction book based during a post apocalyptic world. These books may sound completely unrelated but they share a few key similarities. The Grapes of Wrath and The Road are comparable because of setting, events, and theme. Firstly, the setting in the The Grapes of Wrath is desolate. The Joad’s lives have ended in their homeland of Oklahoma…

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck follows a fictional family of tenant farmers during the Great Depression, the Joads, who are evicted from their Oklahoma land and forced to migrate west. Steinbeck’s powerful defense of the working poor as well as his indictment of the socio-economic system of 1930s America made the novel was highly controversial upon its 1939 release– many considered it communist or socialist propaganda. Despite that, Eleanor Roosevelt promoted the novel, and her support…