The men came were silent and they did not move often. And the women

came out of the houses to stand beside their men-to feel whether this

As a theme, Steinbeck wanted the reader to see that humanity is on a journey, and for good or bad humanity continues to move ahead. Along with journey come changes, another important idea in the novel, which correlates directly with the main theme.

Journey is the main idea in the beginning of the novel when Tom Joad first gets out of prison and is looking for a ride home.

He says this to Tom and at the same time the turtle still struggles to escape toms jacket.

Walking home he spots a turtle. Lying on the highway, missed by a car, hit by a truck, the turtle still struggles to continue his own journey towards the southwest. So already in the novel, two journeys are taking place, one a man's journey and the other, nature's journey.

The third level of reading is not always as apparent as the other two but important none the less. The third level is that there are stories of journeys within each other. Tom's individual journey is the same as the Joads which is the same as the other Okies which is the same as mankind's journey which is the same as the turtles journey in the beginning of the novel. The idea is that each may not be doing the same thing but all are moving ahead. None of these knowing their outcome still move ahead.

Both of these ideas are seen in Chapter 6 when Casy gets the spirit back and decide

Some common words found in the essay are:
Uncle John's, John Steinbeck, Tom Joad, Joads Okies, Jim Casy, throughout novel, Tom Casy, idea novel, theme journey, third level, Wrath Classic, Grapes Wrath, move ahead journey, ahead journey, move ahead, turtle struggles, main idea, beginning novel, novel tom,
Approximate Word count = 640
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)