Nationality: He was an American author who lived in Salinas, California. He was educated at Stanford University. He first worked as a fruit picker, but then moved to New York. He didn't like it in New York so he moved back and became an author.

Style: John Steinbeck's style is to write about something that he knows first hand. He likes to have all the details before writing his stories. Prior to writing The Grapes of Wrath, he caught up with some migrants from Oklahoma and rode with them on their journey to California.

His style in The Grapes of Wrath is to have a chapter with dialogue and the story, and to then give a picture of the times. He describes the depression of the 1930's and gives the reader a full view of what the migrants were going through. There is a dialogue and 'story' chapter, which is followed or preceded by an 'intercalary' (between) chapter. The 'intercalary' chapters are what serve to show the migrant's struggling, and the big picture of what times were like.

Genre: The Grapes of Wrath is considered a protest novel to many. Steinbeck originally wrote it to

The deaths and rebirths alter the roles of Ma and pa and switch the amount of power each has. Pa experiences death and rebirth in his role in the family. At first, he is the patriarch of the family, the 'go to' man. However he becomes weaker on the journey and loses his power. He must resort to wrath to keep sane, but sadness is what will kill him. At the end, his anger is weakened and his sadness is at a peak. He tries to build an embankment for Rose of Sharon but it collapses as the flooding waters tear it down. This is symbolic to Pa and his role; they collapse as the running waters of uncontrollable forces tear down his will to survive and his will to keep the family together. Ma, who must take his role when he has fallen, frequently tests him. Ma is reborn into the role of a matriarch. Ma's courage and will to keep the family together is dying in certain parts, but is reborn throughout the entire novel, and is at a strongpoint when she tells Rose of Sharon to nurse the starving man at the end. Pa must resort to Ma for strength and she is given full power over the family. As the book says, "when the men die out, the women must take over". Ma's initial role is to keep the family together, but in the end, her role is not only to keep the family together, but also to lead the family. In the last scene, it is Ma who sends Rose of Sharon to nurse the starving man back to life.

Notes: As you read The Grapes of Wrath you must take into consideration that Steinbeck has traveled with Oklahoma migrants so that he is writing from experience. However, because he wants to get sympathy for migrants he may exaggerate conditions a little. Steinbeck uses a lot of symbolism in his writing. He starts with a turtle symbolizing the Joad family and the hardships they will face. Characters symbolize and foreshadow events, and small things can play a larger role than expected. Steinbeck's mastery of symbolism and his relating to the bible can be seen throughout the entire novel.

The Joads begin their journey, but it quickly begins with a chain of death and rebirth. The first of these is when Grandpa is forced to leave his land. Grandpa is like a fish and his land is like the sea. If he is taken out of the sea, he will not survive. The Joads dope him and then force him to move on. Very shortly, he dies of a stroke. Grandma's purpose for living is to compete with Grandpa. These two are happily married (though they don't admit it) and are always competing. She becomes a 'religious fanatic' because Grandpa is anti-religious. Their relationship is marked by frequent quarreling and humorous arguments. As soon as Grandpa dies, she soon passes away. Other deaths come with the separation of the family. Connie (Rose of Sharon's husband) abandons her, Casy is arrested, the dog has been hit by a car, Noah leaves the family by the beautiful river the Joads come across in California, and later in the novel Rose of Sharon's baby is born dead.

These deaths and rebirths take place not only on the exterior, but also within characters. After Tom kills the California cop, he dies from his life of freedom and is reborn into his life of imprisonment, only this time he is in hiding. Though a cop murders Casy, he has a lot of dying and rebirths throughout the book. When we first see him he has died from his life of old preaching and is reborn into a life with the people, because he thinks that the people are holy. As he travels with the family he dies from his adopted style of just living with the people and is born into a new life of speaking for the people and organizing the people to strike back against the corrupt government. This leads to his death, but his death was for his family, the family of humanity. He is often related to Jesus Christ, which are his initi

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Approximate Word count = 2536
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)