Naturalism in Grapes of Wrath
In John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family and the changing world in which they live is portrayed from a naturalistic point of view. Steinbeck characterizes the Joads and their fellow migrants as simple, instinct-bound creatures who are on an endless search for paradise (Owens 129). The migrants and the powers which force them to make their journey--nature and society--are frequently represented by animals. The Joads, when they initially leave home, are a group of simplistic, animal-like people who barely understand or even realize their plight, but as the story progresses, they begin to grow and adapt to their new circumstances. They evolve from a small, insignificant group of creatures with no societal consciousness into a single member of a much larger family--society. Steinbeck strongly portrays the Joads and other displaced "Okies" as being animalistic. They often talk about their predicament in simplistic terms that suggest that they are initially not conscious of the circumstances that force them to leave Oklahoma. Muley Graves, for instance, tells Tom Joad and Jim Casy that the rest of the Joads, whose house has been destroyed by a tractor, are "pile
The Grapes of Wrath uses naturalism to chronicle the changes in the world and in society during the Great Depression. The Joad family, and many others like them, are portrayed as small, insignificant creatures who are compelled to search for a paradise they may never find. Along their journey, however, the family grows beyond being a mere animal with no societal consciousness. The Joads discover something larger and more important to care for than themselves: the collective good of mankind. The societal forces that necessitate and oppose the Joads' westward migration are also portrayed from a naturalistic viewpoint. Although the Joads have a powerful drive to keep on traveling, they are constantly opposed by two powerful predators--nature and society. The forces of nature are predators, endangering the migrants' journey at every turn and threatening their will to survive. At the very beginning of the novel, Steinbeck introduces an image that, although seemingly insignificant, sets the naturalistic theme of the entire novel (Owens 131): an ant lion. An ant lion sets off a "small avalanche" of sand or dust from which the ant cannot escape, no matter how hard it tries (131). The relationship between society and the Joads is the same; the widespread economic ruin brought about by the Great Depression forces them to abandon their once-peaceful lives and embark on an endless struggle that seems ultimately futile. The hardship created by nature also makes society the Joads' natural enemy. Initially, the migrants' biggest societal enemy is the Bank. Steinbeck portrays the Bank as an inhuman monster (Bloom 22) which coldly devours the Joads' and other families' land with its mechanical implements--tractors. The tractor, which is more or less an extension of nature, stifles any individual thoughts its driver may be having, and forces him to accept its predatorial animal mentality. The tractor's destruction of the land, which Steinbeck compares to a passionless, surgical form of rape (Steinbeck 36), introduces the machine as the most widespread form of societal adversity faced by the Joads. As the turtle
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1429
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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