The novel begins with the description of the conditions in Dust Bowl Oklahoma that ruined the crops and caused foreclosures on farmland. Tom Joad is the first character introduced. He hitches a ride with a truck driver at the diner who presses him for information until he finally reveals that he was just released from prison, where he served four years for murdering a man during a fight. Steinbeck follows this with an interlude describing a turtle crossing the road, which he uses as a metaphor for the struggles of the working class. On his travels home, Tom meets his former preacher, Jim Casy, a man full of doubts over religious teachings and the presence of sin. When Tom and Casy reach the Joad's house, it has been deserted. Muley

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d wrests away the weapon. He, in turn, kills the man who murdered Casy, and barely escapes capture by the police.

The effects of indescribable suffering and abject poverty give Ma Joad the steel to evolve from her traditional role as a silent, obedient wife to become the true leader of the family. Once they leave the farm a shifting in the family structure will weaken the power of the traditional gender roles. Without the inherent responsibilities dictated by their farm bound roles the Joads loose their family stability. With each strike against the family, Ma's strength is doubled. Ma fights against destruction, defending her clan against mounting intrusions and circumstances. Pa Joad's traditional role seems to diminish as he recognizes his wifes place, and, after only brief resistance, he defers to his wife's new role. Ma, Pa and Tom are 3 of many characters that changed throughout the book. I think that these changes are used to reflect the evolving world around them.

That shift in thinking is also accompanied with the replacement of the individual family by the world family. The thing that started the breakup of the individual family was the loss of their land. The family had lived there for many generations and had strong ties to the land. Getting thrown off the land was sort of like losing their family history. This is shown by the things that Ma Joad burns before they left. Next Grampa Joad died because he couldn't take leaving his home. At the same time though, the joining with the Wilsons shows that the individual family is being replaced by the larger world family of the migrant society. The growth of the world family is shown when Ma shares her food with the other people's children. When they get to the government camp, there is a brief respite from the breakup of the family. They are finally getting treated like humans again. Towards the end of the novel the family disintergrates more with the loss of Tom and engagement of Al. Now !

To make his novel effective Steinbeck has two different basic stories, one of the individual journey of the Joad family, and one for telling the general plight of the migrants. He shows the individual family to show that the migrants are really people and to bring their plight home to the reader. He tells the general story to show how it is affecting large numbers of people. He trades off each chapter, having one chapter telling the story of the Joads, and then the next talking about the migrants.

Another literary technique I found added to the novel was Steinbeck's use of symbolism. Steinbeck's writing is filled with symbols in order to clearly show the importance of the ideas and main themes of the novel. Possibly the most important symbol in The Grapes of Wrath are the grapes. The actual grapes are not the symbol in the novel, but the idea of grapes represents hope in the beginning of the book. When Granpa tells his wonderful story about sitting in a tub of grapes, this shows his and his families hopes of prosperity once they reach California. Although the Joads start out as an optimistic family, the wonderful grapes that they dream of soon will turn into grapes of wrath. The wrath is shown through the many deaths and obstacles they have to face on their journey. A symbol of nature in the novel is the dust that settles over the crops. The dust is a sign of death. This harsh dust symbolizes the harshness that fell over many farms. Because of the dust filled air, the c!

ying to organize them into striking.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Rose Sharon, Ma Joad, Grapes Wrath, Tom Joad, California Joads, Grampa Joad, Tom Casy, Hooper Ranch, John Steinbeck, Ruthie Winfield, rose sharon, grapes wrath, individual family, steinbeck follows, world family, joad family, police officers, dust bowl, tom joad, government camp, journey joad family, replaced larger world, steinbeck follows description, world family migrant, larger world family,
Approximate Word count = 2487
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)