Bryon and Mark start this chapter in a pool hall where they are planning to make some money hustling pool. They are only sixteen years old, so it is illegal for them to be in a pool hall with a bar in it but they are usually successful at hustling because they look so innocent. After checking for an undercover cop and not finding one, Bryon asks Charlie, the bartender for a CCoke. Charlie reminded him that he and Mark already owed for three dollars worth of CokeCokes and refused to give him another until he paid on his debt. Mark joined Bryon at the counter and asked for a Coke. Bryon told him their credit was no good, but Charlie gave in to Mark and gave them Cokes after all when Mark promised to bring the money in the next day. Bryon says that talking people into things is...…
In the book The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck it tells the story of how it was like to live in the times of the Great Depression. One paragraph in particular stands out from all the others. This paragraph shows the reality of what it was like to be in the Great Depression and the hard times people had to go through. The Great Depression was a horrible time in American history the government had money problems, people were losing their money or it was lost before they could even get to it. This paragraph has a lot of symbolism and imagery in a small body of words.…
The Grapes of Wrath remains one of the greatest angry books. Its dominating idea is that of imminent, overwhelming anger. Steinbeck, as a responsible writer, was concerned with exposing a problem in all its complexity instead of arguing a single solution. In writing his novel, he decided to depict for the readers the insult and deprivation suffered by people like the Joads. To present the story of simple human beings while providing at the same time the social documentation. Steibeck's anger of the whole situation turns into a book to show an example of the fate of Joads and their problems while moving with the mass to…
The Great Depression was a hard time for Americans. The time of the depression was a time of recession in the economy. Nobody's life was easy during this time; People tried to make the best of it though. The Great Depression affected people in many different ways.…
The author, John Steinbeck, of “The Grapes of Wrath,” wrote this masterpiece of a novel in 1939. Steinbeck who utilized his books to write about the lives of the most downtrodden people of society during those times, used “The Grapes of Wrath,” to depict and fixate on the lives of workers migrating from Oklahoma to California during the early part of the 1930s (Steinbeck-Introduction Section). In Steinbeck’s story “The Grapes of Wrath,” he breaks the chapters down into three parts. Chapters one through eleven describes a terrible drought, called the Dust Bowel, which had ravaged an area of land known as the Southern Great Plains located between the western parts of Oklahoma to the panhandle areas of Texas. The area received its name because…
I think that the chief reasons for the mass migration to California where based on a few different reasons. The first reason was because everyone was poor. They didn't have enough money to have the most basic necessities in life. They would even go to such lengths as to steal a neighbors house. No body was happy living in Oklahoma. They all had such hard lives that no one had time to do what they wanted to do. It was farm from sun up to sun down. That is what everyone did, and they didn't even get that much compensation for all the devotion that they put into their work day, after day, after day. If I worked at something for twelve hours a day, and just made hardly enough money to keep living, I would get quite frustrated and not be very happy at all.…
Rose of Sharon begins as a self-centered, complaining and pessimistic young woman. She is married to Connie, and they are expecting a child together. During the Joad journey to California, Rose of Sharon suffers many personal tragedies including Granpa’s and Granma’s death, Connie’s abandonment. These tragedies mold her into a more sympathizing and worldly woman. For example, at the end of chapter thirty, the transformation of Rose of Sharon’s character is clearly shown though a scene in which Rose of Sharon decides to save the dying man with her breast milk despite his protest. She is not forced to do this by anyone, but she makes the decision because she deeply wants to offer survival for the starving man. She is not the complaining and pessimistic woman as before, but instead, she becomes a more compassionate and understandable woman. For instance, Steinbeck shows the compassion and sympathy of Rose Sharon in her action in helping the man through the quote: "She looked up and across the barn, and her lips came together and smiled mysteriously" (578). The word “together” demonstrates the unity in the community in which helping others is the top priority. While the verb “smiled” confirms the happiness and voluntariness in Rose of Sharon’s action. This act of Rose of…
As the Joads ride on their journey to California, they travel as a whole, one unit, one family. And on one night they camp off the side of the road, and run into the Wilson's, creating and merging into one large family, with one goal in mind, reaching California. But as the days of traveling continue, the family struggles to stay intact due to obstacles such as the staggering heat, lack of money, automobile breaking down, doubts brought upon by people who have been in California, and even death. But Steinbeck defines "family" as a unit with members who think of other members before themselves, and Ma expresses this idea clearly with Granma's death. The Joads have a connection where each member truly has someone to have their back when in need. Tom shares this with Casy and Al, Ma and Granma, Pa with Granpa and Uncle John, Ruthie and Winfield, Rose of Sharon and Connie, but then there's Noah who doesn't feel the same love which is one of the reasons that persuades him to depart from the family. They also have a structure in which Tom, Pa, Al, usually make family decisions and the eventually the final verdict is given to Ma. Overall, family is suppose to take care of each other when in time of need and work as one rather than individuals.…
As history has shown many individuals have traveled a far distance. During the journey citizens often find out that they come across tough decisions in order for them to survive. In this situation they had to overcome difficult odds, traits like coverage, bravery, endurance, and spirit were needed during their adventure. The reason for their choices and the result following their actions affect the opinions of others. The novel Grapes of Wrath, was by John Steinbeck emphasizing the Joad’s endurance in intercalary chapters to give background for many of the events in the story. Steinbeck completely foreshadows the occurring events of society in the chapters of the novel. He narrows down the characters in the Joad’s family. Showing how their decisions affect the choices being made during their travels. Family in this novel means survival, without them being there for each other. The Joads would have never been able to deal with the amount of problems that occur within their travels. They found out that when reaching out to other migrant families there stronger together.…
“Jesus Christ, one person with their mind made up can shove a lot of folks aroun'! You win, Ma.” This quote originates from Tom Joad after Ma had revolted against the family when they suggested the idea of splitting up. Ma stubbornly picked up a jack handle and waved it at the Joad family, including the normal head of the family, Pa. Ma's outbreak was astonishing to the Joads and marked the beginning of her fierce leadership of the family and the degradation of Pa's role as the head man. Throughout the tale of the Joads' migration to California, Ma had begun as a timid woman without having much say in the family decisions, but steadily took…
The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, constantly shifts the narration viewpoint from chapter to chapter throughout the entire novel. Even though it may readers, the shift in narration is important because not only does it provide perspective, but it also keeps the reader interested and informed throughout the story.…
These were the Hamilton children. And it was mystery how Liza, produced them year after year and fed them, prepared food, clothes, “and clothed them with good manners and iron morals too” (East Of Eden 54). Sometimes brought children with strict code is to make them better in moral. But Cyrus was never strict instead he was angry. Liza enjoyed universal respect because she was a good woman and raised good children. She could hold up her head anywhere. Her husband and her children and her grandchildren respected her. In East of Eden she was exact opposite to Cathy, and best example of wife, mothering and moral of her family. Hamilton and Liza were good at parenting and done their duty fruitfully to their children without partiality. They know…
Family is defined as “a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not” (Dictionary.com). The idea of families acting as a unit is explored in the novel The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. The novel is focused on a family from Oklahoma, the Joads, as they journey to the West because they are driven off their land. The Joads are tested as a basic social unit as they encounter the difficulty of loss, new people, the search for work, and much more. Steinbeck explains many points about family throughout the novel, including the idea of loyalty. In The Grapes of Wrath, loyalty to the family is demonstrated by Ma and Tom Joad??? and can easily relate to modern families.…
There is something mysterious about the reason why people feel the need to look out for one another. In some cases, it is like humans feel a certain obligation of compassion. The Grapes of Wrath encourages this part of human nature. During the Joad’s westbound journey, the characters were held face to face with people who needed help just as much as they did. In this way, John Steinback presents the question: how can we as humans support the livelihood of one another? His answer is that humans must support each other’s livelihood by providing what others are deprived of.…
The word mother is a simple word but has many more different definitions. This could be the legal, social or traditional way of looking at a mother. A legal definition of a mother is such that as the legal dictionary 2012 states ‘a woman who has born a child is deemed a mother’. However this cannot always be the case for some women. As some women cannot bear children so one of the alternative solutions for them is to go down the route of adoption, other stages also such as fostering or even surrogacy. The social way of looking at a mother was mainly confined to mother and child and that the mother…