Grapes of Wrath 5
The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, is a novel about the Dust Bowl migration. It is the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads, and it is also the story of thousands of similar men and women. The Joads are forced off their land, so they move West to California. When they reach California, they are faced with the harsh reality that it is no the Promised Land. Steinbeck's purpose in writing The Grapes of Wrath was to inform the public of the migrants' plight hoping that it would cause social change. Steinbeck employs the theme of the rich versus the poor to accomplish his purpose. It is a classic conflict between good, portrayed by the poor, and evil, portrayed by the rich. Throughout the book, a turtle appears and reappears several times. As John Bloom notes, "The turtle itself becomes a symbol for the poor Okies"(Bloom 13). The turtle sets up a parallel between his journey and the journey of the Joads. A connection is made between the Okies struggle and the naturalistic struggle to survive. The turtle symbolizes the persistence neccessary for good to prevail over evil. The turtle overcame every obstacle that he faces. As the turtle is walking d
own the highway, a truck approached him. The driver saw the turle, and deliberately swerved to hit him. The driver of the truck symbolizes the owners, who deliberately try to strike down the migrants. The turtle continues steadily on westerly; the same direction of the migrant people. The greatest sin the owners commit against the migrant people is burning and wasting food just to drive up the prices. They burn piles of golden oranges while the starving people stare and watch. This affects the people, and it is said that, "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage" (Steinbeck 477). They are waiting for the results, the fruits, of their suffering which will be social change. The wealthy farmers oppose changes because the plight of the migrants benefits them. The actions of the rich contrast greatly with the actions of the poor. Roy Simmons pints out that the "actions of the rich leave the poor unaided by humanity" (Simmons 53). The rich are constantly trying to cheat the poor. The junk dealers, knowing that the farmers must sell their possessions, buy at very cheap rates. The car deal
Some common words found in the essay are:
Farmers Association, Ma Joad, John Bloom, Grapes Wrath, Roy Simmons, Dust Bowl, Ironically Joads, West California, Land Steinbeck's, grapes wrath, poor people, John Steinbeck, social change, dust bowl migration, examples poor, throughout book, actions rich, starving people, migrant people, bowl migration, contrast greatly,
Approximate Word count = 791
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
