Comparison between Grapes of Wrath and Fifth Business

A detailed Summary of Comparison between Grapes of Wrath and Fifth Business

People who feel trapped often do desperate things that affect themselves and others. "Fifth Business" and "The Grapes of Wrath" are two novels that both consist of trapped characters that are affected physically, emotionally, and socially. These elements are the very foundation of entrapment, which lead to the downfall of the characters. Mary from the novel "Fifth Business" and Grampa from "The Grapes of Wrath" are two characters that have a fatal flaw in their lives and characteristics that lead to their destruction.

Mary and Grampa are the two characters that can be portrayed as being physically trapped. Mary is physically trapped by her own actions. When she meets a tramp in the gravel pit, she allows him to make love to her. This event causes her husband Amasa to resign from his job as a Baptist Minister due to shame and disgrace. After this happening Amasa keeps her tied in a harness so she cannot get out of the house. Mary's actions affect and ruin her family life. Later in the story it is mentioned that she is in a small hospital behind bars and often under sedation due to her abusive behavior towards Dunstan Ramsay. Dunstan is the one who has cared most for her during her life; however, she considers him her worst enemy

Social entrapment is also the cause of destruction for Mary and Grampa. Mary's life is ruined after the tramp incident. Local people make fun of her by calling her a "hoor". Her reputation is destroyed and with that her social life also diminishes. Due to her bad reputation she is unable to interact with the people in the community. Later in the story she is isolated, by the death of her husband and the loss of her nine year old son Paul, who runs away to join the circus. This causes her to become insane, and the town also reacts to her insanity in a harsh manner by not helping or talking to her. Her isolation and her terrible reputation force her to be entrapped socially. Grampa is also trapped socially, because of his surroundings. He lived during The Great Economic Depression, which itself explains the situation. During those days, it was very difficult for many people to socialize with others, because of The Depression. Without any money, it is not easy to survive; furthermore, no money is wasted for social activities and purposes. This is the case with Grampa. During The Depression there was no money to spend on social activities; therefore the time of The Depression provoked him to be trapped socially. His old age also accounts for his social entr

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Approximate Word count = 849
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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