The Grapes of Wrath Essay

The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, is an American realist novel that captures the significance of the Dust Bowl
and Great Depression through the Joad family. This book tells the story of the family's escape from the Oklahoma Dust Bowl to California where they hoped to get jobs. Steinbeck also includes intercalary chapters in the novel where he looks beyond the Joad family to the broader picture of the lives of those struggling during the Great Depression. In the beginning of the novel he shows the struggling families as individuals; then, as they travel, they slowly begin to come together and gather with others who are in the same situations as them, until finally reaching the promised land of California that isnt quite what they expect. The first section of the novel shows the struggles of the Dust Bowl families and how they begin the slow process of changing their lives. The story begins with the young Tom Joad being released from prison and hitchhiking home to his family in Oklahoma. He finds that the large companies and banks had shut down the small farms including the Joads and most were deciding to travel to California where they had heard there were jobs available. The land has been decimated by the and dust storms. "The sun flared down on the growing corn day after day until a line of brown spread along the edge of each green bayonet. The clouds appeared, and went away, and in a while they did not try any more (Steinbeck 3)." This quote shows how bad the storms were and how there was nothing the farmers could do. In addition to being bombarded by bad weather, the families were alone. They were willing to work hard to overcome obstacles, but they still struggled individually. Men stood by their fences and looked at the ruined corn, drying fast now, only a little green showing through the film of dust. The men were silent and they did not move often. And the women came out of the houses to stand beside their mento feel whether this time the men would break. . . . After a while the faces of the watching men lost their
bemused perplexity and became hard and angry and resistant. . . .The men sat in the doorways of their houses; their hands were busy with sticks and little rocks. The men sat stillthinkingfiguring. (Steinbeck 6) This illustrates how the men stood alone as they made choices affecting the future of their families. As the novel continues, this standing alone begins to change and the now migrant workers begin to find solace in gathering together. This gathering together is first shown on one important setting of the novel, Route 66, which takes them all the way to California. This highway is important because it represents the migrants possible decisions along the way. Since it is only a two-way road, it represents the choices they have in life; they can either travel toward the opportunity of California or go back home to the poverty of Oklahoma. 66 is the mother road, the road of flight. (Steinbeck 160) This quote from the novel makes a reader realize that this was more than a road to these people, it represented their hopes and dreams, while all the while actually leading them to more hardships. In the evenings, when they stop to camp, the families begin to share their lives such as in the following quote. In the evening a strange thing happened: the twenty families became one family, the children were the children of all. (Steinbeck 264) Another setting along their journey was the small communities or camps that the travelers began to build together. Throughout their travels the Joads met up with different families and they began trusting and helping one another and began to camp together at night. The families worked together and none were left out or behind. These camps represented Steinbecks ideal society. He believed that there should be no individuals and that people should work together in the interest of the whole group not just themselves or just their family. When the Joads finally reach California they begin living in a Hooverville boxcar community where everyone works
together as one large family. The boxcars here represent the Joad family because they travel all throughout the novel, just as a boxcar does on a train. Later, their boxcar gets washed away in a storm representing what will happen to an individual if they don't work together in unity with others. Overall, all of the settings in the Grapes of Wrath could be compared to the biblical story of the israelites being freed from slavery. The Joads and other families are traveling to California because they were promised better lives and escape from the dry lands of Oklahoma. This compares to God promising a life of freedom and Moses leads them "into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey" (The Holy Bible, Exod. 3:79). Both the travelers to California and the israelites also both travel across a body of water. For the Joads it was the Colorado River where they bathe before crossing the desert. This corresponds to the israelites crossing the Red Sea and then the desert. By comparing the Joads journey to the Israelites, it added enormously to the message of hope, strength and freedom throughout the novel. John Steinbeck wanted The Grapes of Wrath to be as true as possible to what was really happening in the world. He accomplished that goal through a number of ways including his amazing settings. From Oklahoma to California, Steinbeck had numerous settings that helped capture the significance of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression in an unforgettable manner.

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The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, is an American realist novel that captures the significance of the Dust Bowl

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