The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck....Is tom Joad a hero?
In the novel, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, the protagonist, Tom Joad, takes on challenges for himself, and for the greater good of all people, thereby, in essence, becoming a hero. Steinbeck, during the mid-1930s, witnessed people living in horrendous conditions of extreme poverty due to the Great Depression and the agricultural disaster known as the Dust Bowl. He noticed that these people received no aid whatsoever from neither the state of California nor the federal government. The rage he experienced from seeing such treatment fueled his novel The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck sought to change the suffering plight of these farmers who had migrated from the midwest to California. Also, and more importantly, he wanted to suggest a philosophy into the reader, and insure that this suffering would never occur again (Critical 1). Steinbeck shows in The Grapes of Wrath that there is no one man, but one common soul in which we all belong to.
Tom Joad is doubtless the hero of the story. He is probably also the person who undergoes the most remarkable change in the course of the story.
At the beginning of the book we are confronted with a young man who is just trying to find his way back into society. After a few years in prison for manslaughter he is out on parole and tries to make his way to the farm of his father where he wants to start anew. Tom does not have any big plans for the future but just sets one foot in front of another. This is the way he survived his years in prison. He thinks that people should no worry too much about the future, but just take things as they come and try to make the best of every situation.
When he comes back to his family, he is welcomed with open arms. Everybody loves Tom and is happy that he is back. It soon becomes clear that Tom is not the ruthless killer you could expect him to be but just a poor fellow who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tom has a remarkably good relationship with the members of his family. He
Tom Joad is doubtless the hero of the story. He is probably also the person who undergoes the most remarkable change in the course of the story.
At the beginning of the book we are confronted with a young man who is just trying to find his way back into society. After a few years in prison for manslaughter he is out on parole and tries to make his way to the farm of his father where he wants to start anew. Tom does not have any big plans for the future but just sets one foot in front of another. This is the way he survived his years in prison. He thinks that people should no worry too much about the future, but just take things as they come and try to make the best of every situation.
When he comes back to his family, he is welcomed with open arms. Everybody loves Tom and is happy that he is back. It soon becomes clear that Tom is not the ruthless killer you could expect him to be but just a poor fellow who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tom has a remarkably good relationship with the members of his family. He
Bibliography: 1) Angoff, Charles. Review of The Grapes of Wrath. In North American Review, Summer, 1939, p. 387. 2) Jackson, Joseph Henry. Review of The Grapes of Wrath. In New York Herald Tribune Books, April 16, 1939, p. 3. 3) Fadiman, Clifton. Review of The Grapes of Wrath. In New Yorker, April 15, 1939, p. 101