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.…
In addition, Gram and Gramps also helped Sal accept her mother’s death. Within the book, on page 143 Gram says to Sal, “Sometimes you know in your heart you love someone, but you have to go away before your head can figure it out” (Creech 143). I can infer, that Gram was trying to explain to Sal that her mother didn’t leave because of her, but to clear her mind. Gram saying this to Sal was important for Sal’s knowing that her mother didn’t leave because of the baby that died before birth. Along with Gram saying that to Sal, she one day realized, “that our whole trip to Lewiston had been a gift from Gram and Gramps to me. They were giving me a chance to walking my mother’s moccasins - to see what she had seen, and feel what she might have felt on her last trip” (Creech 262). Although Sal didn’t realize it during the trip, looking back, she figures out that Gram and Gramps were leading her through the stages of grief and allowing her to cope with the loss of her mother. Surely, Gram and Gramps had an impact on Sal accepting her mother’s death in numerous ways.…
<br>Granny Weatherall is characterized as a very old lady who is extremely stubborn and bedridden. Granny Weatherall is a sickly old lady in denial. She believes that she is not sick although she is lying on her deathbed. Her life consisted of two men and her children with them. Granny Weatherall remembers her first love, John, leaving her at the altar. She later marries George who she has many…
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.…
In 1939, John Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath to stir up readers against those who were responsible for keeping the American people in poverty. The Grapes of Wrath tells the story of the Joad family, migrant farmers from Oklahoma traveling to California in search of a fantasy of prosperity. The novel's strong position stirred up much controversy, as it was often called Communist propaganda, and banned from schools due to its vulgar language. However, Steinbeck's novel is considered to be his greatest work. It won the Pulitzer Prize, and later became an Academy Award winning movie in 1940. The novel and the movie are both considered to be magnificent masterpieces.…
Steinbeck uses symbolism to portray the allusion of the individual turtle’s straightforward actions to that of the hardships of the migrant worker’s journey to California. The wild oat symbolizes an obstacle that the turtle faced, originally being carried along with the turtle; A burden being carried in this instance. The spearhead seeds “stuck” in the ground from this burden, which conveys the idea of a permanent legacy being left behind, evidence that he overcame such. The turtle continues his journey despite the intentions of the truck driver who previously intentionally attempted to steer his journey of course, leaving behind with him a shallow trench in the dust. The tracks the turtle leaves behind is the physical evidence of the turtle’s…
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…
Jim Casy is an allusion to Jesus Christ. They have the same initials and live…
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall portrays a determined eighty year old woman whose technique of denial and repression causes her to die without faith in her God. The story opens with Doctor Harry attempting to care for Granny Weatherall. She curses him for thinking she is ill and for talking down to her. She tells the doctor to “leave a well-woman alone.” She begins to think of all the work she needs to do around the house she believes to be hers, but is her daughter, Cornelia’s. She denies still thinking of George, her ex-fiancé, who “jilted” her the first time by leaving her at the altar. She recalls the first time she tried to prepare for death when she was sixty years old. She visited family and did her farewells. After living twenty more years, she feels she has been jilted a second time by God for not giving her time to prepare for death with a sign. She refuses…
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.…
Chapter seven might as well have turned The Grapes of Wrath into how to force misfortunate people to buy cars. The author’s tone turns invective during this character’s lines, and this must of been how back in the Great Depression people cursed each other. The tone also creates hate toward the car salesmen, and maybe this is where the stereotype of sales people being thieves. Tenant farmers are placed as the prey instead of the predators which is the precedent of what this books is. Steinbeck is the attorney of people whose freedom of speech right is insignificant and suppression by the public who sees them as the problem.…