John Steinbeck's book The Grapes of Wrath depicts the sufferings of a southwestern family of poor tenant farmers who migrate to California in hopes of finding prosperity, but sadly only find poverty and despair there. The book portrays the transition the Joads family experiences as they become migrant laborers under the command of the rich. A change in their concept of family and in their personal roles is brought about by their predicament. However, the family stuggles to survive by working together and fighting for each other despite numerous challenges they encounter.
The purpose of the Grapes of Wrath is, essentially, social protest. It was designed to inform the public of the migrant pilgrimage. It is a plea for the landowners of California and the banks in the dust bowl
What both Emerson and Steinbeck agree on is that all men are joined in spirit. Emerson believed that all things were permeated with the Over-Soul. As Emerson put it, "It is the one soul that animates all men." Steinbeck expresses basically the same theme through the observations of the preacher, Jim Casy. Casy believes that "All that live is holy" (pg 127) and that "there ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue. There's just stuff people do. It's all part of the same thing." Tom Joad paraphrased one of Casy's speeches by saying "one time he went out in the wilderness to find his soul. An' he foun' he jus' got a little piece of a great big soul." (pg 373)
The Grapes of Wrath is a novel of social, more than literal, importance. It deals with social realism, by portraying the world as it actually exists, without fantastic o
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