In the movie and or novel The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck approaches and takes on, many political and social problems that the depression held. One topic that seems to be overlooked is how the storyline has many examples of economic forces at work in the film.
One of these economic forces, which are also one of the most apparent, in the film is the message of unemployment. At the opening of the film the family of the grapes of wrath are faced with eviction from their farm home; which is due mostly because of the dust bowl as well as the great depression. The family, out of work, decides to travel cross-country with the hopes of finding a job as migrant workers, only to find that a hiring ploy had been pulled, which made this next economic force apparent to the family.
This next economic force at work in the story is supply and demand. The hard pressed family soon after arriving in California realized that the demand for jobs far exceeded the supply, thus sending them from farm to farm, looking for work. Although this example of supply and demand is not applied to consumers and goods, this example still shows the economic force of supply and demand at work and how it affected the family.
The last of the economic forces at work in the film that I will mention is the economic force of labor. Labor, by definition is; the physical and mental effort of humans used to produce goods and services. In the movie, this is exactly what the many hopeful workers hoped to do in California, making a desperate trek from the Midwest of the United States, to the farms, vineyards, and orchards of the west coast, trying to overcome the previous economic forces of unemployment, and supply and demand for jobs to raise their income and standard of living to a point where one could survive.
Sadly, John Steinbeck isn't one for happy endings, concluding on a light point of hope and insight amidst surrounding sadness and distraught. The analysis of this novel/movie as in the standards of economic forces is insulting to this great piece of American literature, defacing it's deep underlying messages given in the last chapter (or scene) through intense "biblical" imagery, that show an account of humanity and humanity's perseverance to survive and succeed.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
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.…
- 487 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
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…
- 108 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
“America, the land of opportunities” When people hear this phrase, they may think America have always had a handful of opportunities for everyone, but this wasn’t the case in the novel “The Grapes of Wrath” written by John Steinbeck. In the 1930’s, North America faced the Great Depression, the longest economic slump ever experienced by the country. Author John Steinbeck wrote about the tragic experience of a poor American family (The Joads) as they get kicked off their Oklahoma home and moved west towards California, during the time of the Great Depression through his book. Steinbeck’s novel became so popular that the movie, consisting of the same name as the book, directed by John Ford was even made after it. Like every novel and that was made into a film, it will have its similarities and differences. Audiences will have their own opinion on which of the two versions is better. However the book will stand on top in how it gives the audience more opportunities, it has an extended story and portrays the hardships of the great depression better. Therefore, of the two versions of “The Grapes of Wrath” I will be arguing that the novel version is better than the film in how it provides more for the audience.…
- 1693 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
The Dust Bowl that occurred in the 1930’s along with the Great Depression was one of the lowest times in American history. The novel, The Grapes of Wrath written by John Steinbeck, takes place during this time period. The Grapes of Wrath is told from the perspective of the Joads, who are coerced to leave their home and farm in Oklahoma. The novel documents their journey traveling from Oklahoma to California. The protagonist in this novel, Tom Joad, is first introduced in Chapter 2 when he has to hitch a ride with a truck driver in order to return to his family. From the moment Tom was introduced till the last time he occurs in the novel, one should notice a significant change in his actions and behaviors. Tom Joad goes through a journey of self-change, which in the end turns him into a better person than he was before.…
- 710 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The novel, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, is a classic American novel about the Great Depression. The novel is written in incalerarly chapters and is about the struggles that migrant workers faced during this time. When Steinbeck was writing his novel, he did lots of research and the struggles he writes about are from real stories. As we look closely at the chapters individually, from the syntax and diction, we are able to conclude the overall purpose of the novel. Steinbeck’s use of parallelism and diction, in chapter 5, supports his message that the farmers were against something they could not take down alone.…
- 1275 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
It is perceived throughout literature that characters within a novel are solely prompted by personal interests. Yet, we learn that they are sometimes driven throughout the work ascertaining a purpose larger than themselves. Whether it is an author’s use of literary elements (such as dialogue, characterization, or conflict) or even in their craft alone, it is inevitable in the two classic works: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and The Crucible by Arthur Miller. In The Grapes of Wrath, we discover an unavoidable change in the character Rose of Sharon. When we are first introduced to Rose of Sharon, she is exceedingly dependent on her husband and primarily concerned about the well-being of her child. Yet as the novel progresses, Steinbeck innovates Rose of Sharon into a seemingly new character. This is also present with The Crucible’s John Proctor. He begins absent-minded, careless, and only uneasy about keeping his affairs with Abigail Williams silent. However, Arthur Miller worked to evolve Proctor’s character with his use of conflict, irony, and a creative mind-set. Both characters, Rose of Sharon and John Proctor, progress into nearly entirely new people all from the endeavor of the authors. The focus though, is how the authors are able to do it.…
- 1125 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
The biggest plight against the farm workers was that they were taken advantage of from all angles. They continually endured irregular work, terrible working conditions, inhuman living conditions and absurdly low wages. The growers thought that they could continue the status quo because the migrant worker, specifically the Mexican and Filipino, were thought of as passive and unintelligent.1 The farm workers wanted to eradicate their constant subjection to this type of environment so they were forced into a revolutionary stance for that to change.2 They unionized along with other migrant workers in Southern California into the Workers Union of the Imperial Valley.3 How the farm workers thought about themselves change. They went from accepting the horrible conditions; to seeking a life more desirable and this is what would crack the door for the Communist Party to eventually be able to provide the necessary support for the unionizing movement.…
- 1224 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
The dust bowl was a tragic time in America for so many families and John Steinbeck does a great job at getting up-close and personal with one family to show these tragedies. In the novel, “The Grapes of Wrath”, John Steinbeck employed a variety of rhetorical devices, such as asyndeton, personification and simile, in order to persuade his readers to enact positive change from the turmoil of the Great Depression. Throughout the novel, Steinbeck tells the fictional narrative of Tom Joad and his family, while exploring social issues and the hardships of families who had to endure the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Steinbeck’s purpose was to challenge readers to look at the harsh realities around them for “the purpose of improvement”. The rhetorical strategies used in the “Grapes of Wrath” elicit a deeper understanding from its readers for the hardships these migrants faced and helped them to fight for a better way. (John Steinbeck, "Banquet Speech," Nobel Foundation, http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1962/steinbeck-speech.html, Accessed 30 August 2013.)…
- 1767 Words
- 8 Pages
Better Essays -
In the intercalary chapters of Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck focuses mainly on the struggles of all the farmers as a whole group, the first use of propaganda. The first chapter begins painting the picture of the struggles Americans begin to face, “The surface of the earth crusted, a thin hard crust, and as the sky became pale, so the earth became pale, pink in the red country and white in the gray country” (Steinbeck 1). The land turned into a desolate wasteland, unable to bear fruit, any sign of life was gone. The people unable to payback their loans had their homes taken from them, taken as payment by the banks. A strong piece of propaganda was the bankers, how they were shown as monsters, “The monster has to have profits all the time. It can't wait. It'll die,” (Steinbeck 32 ). This shows how the banks and companies were creatures with no feelings at all. It painted all banks in a very bad way, Steinbeck wanted to make the people of America believe that they didn’t care at all. Also, by giving the banks a bad image it also could give the government a bad image. This novel never showed the government stepping in a giving those trying to find work…
- 995 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The Joads are on their way to California. The land which seems to be a heaven with great work, little white houses, and many acres of land. But the Joads soon find out that California may not be the paradise they dreamed of. Their journey to California will be full of hope and despair along with keeping their dignity in the midst of all the wrath. One of the biggest problems they will face is how poorly they will be treated. The one thing that made the Joads successful is that they stuck together as a family and supported each other. . These things mentioned above reoccur throughout the novel. These are some of themes in the Grapes of Wrath.…
- 2277 Words
- 10 Pages
Good Essays -
Industrialization produced a negative impact on society.The people in the United States industry went through a hard time working and earning money in the early 1900’s. There are 3 out of many reasons why people had a rough time, for example poor working conditions, lack of sanitation, and child labor. These reasons show a lot about what people are going through in the industry.…
- 366 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
The Grapes of Wrath recounts the story of the Great Depression in Southwest America. By the mid-1930s, the drought had destroyed multitudes of farm families, and America had fallen into the Great Depression. Unable to pay their mortgages or invest in the kinds of industrial equipment now required, many Dust Bowl farmers were forced to leave their land. Without employment, thousands of families traveled to California in hopes of finding new means of survival. But the farm country of California quickly became overcrowded with the migrant workers.…
- 921 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In "Grapes of Wrath" they had dreams of moving to California to get job that could set up a new life for them and help support having a home. They did everything that they could do to push themselves no matter how hard it would get. They knew that getting to California would be a struggle. They got as much as money that they could loaded…
- 616 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Big companies would force workers to work long days for very little pay. Many immigrants did not know this before going to work for these companies. This would make the company's rich, but the workers were poor. This practice was used by Carnegie. He would work his workers 12 hours a day. He only gave his workers a day off once a year, on July 4th. A lot…
- 676 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The tone set forth in The Grapes of Wrath, was a quiet, sad tone from the start, based on Steinbeck's description in the very first sentence of the book "To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth..." Another tone portrayed early on was anger by sellers and businessmen, "Spend all their time looking. Don't want to buy no cars; take up your time. Don't give a damn about your time." Steinbeck achieved the poor, sad tone as one of his main objectives from the very beginning. He conquered it through his writing style. Every other chapter he set a tone, a mood, a sense of being, and what the time was like by taking the reader away from the Joad family, and painting a picture through a specific subject, but through random description. Steinbeck often used short sentences, fragments as a matter-of-fact, but he used them craftily and well to where they made sense. He used this to cause a tone of desperation. "If he'll take twenty-five, I'll do it for twenty. No, me, I'm hungry. I'll work for fifteen. I'll work for food. The kids. You ought to see them..."…
- 450 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays