Grapes of Wrath Analytical Essay

Her leaving to try and make the situation better for herself made the situation worse for her kids. Leaving them with the monster known as Pa and leaving when she did was not the right thing to do. As someone who experienced the abuse, Ma should have realized how this would affect her kids. That seems bad, but it is the truth: she should have found a way to take Kya and Jodie with her. But she didn't, so her mistakes will never be forgiven because she died halfway through the book.

This quote, “her hazel eyes seemed to have experienced all possible tragedy and to have mounted pain and suffering like steps into a high calm and a superhuman understanding.” Shows the way Steinbeck uses his words so that we can understand the relationship between women, being Ma, and pain. At the beginning of the book Ma is strong, but by the end of the book Ma surprisingly, has grown even stronger than before. Steinbeck states “she seemed to know that if she swayed the family shook, and if she ever really deeply wavered or despaired the family would fall, the family will to function would be gone.” This quote foreshadows the events to come and the change in personality of Ma.

The Grapes of Wrath introduces new characters in chapter four. The characters can easily be related to every day lives, including our own. The character that can be connected most with myself is the turtle. Constantly, I feel I am never noticed and I am just kicked around by people every day. Some people notice me, but only get out of my way instead of offering their help. Some people target me as a way to prove they are larger than me. They swerve towards me to injure me or scare me. Steinbeck's ultimate goal is to make the reader sympathize with the turtle. The turtle is a helpless creature who is abandoned on the road, and the most care he gets from any passing drive is just an attempt to not hit the turtle. Tom Joad comes along

Throughout John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath, many concepts appear that were noted in How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster. However, the three chapters of Foster’s how-to guide that most apply to Steinbeck’s novel were “It’s All About Sex…,” “Every Trip is a Quest (Except When It’s Not),” and “It’s More Than Just Rain or Snow.” On more than one occasion these concepts are hidden within the book, and two of them actually seem somewhat linked together. After reading between the lines, The Grapes of Wrath has an extremely intricate plot and many ulterior meanings. Foster’s book helps to solve these meanings and make it so that the novel can be completely understood.

To start with, Ma Joad was gentle, caring and patient. This all changed during the families travels. Her caring attribute lead to her turning into a brave women picking fights with many people to protect those she cared

One would say that on a literal level The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is about the Joad family's journey to California during The Dust Bowl. However, it is also about the unity of a family and the concept of birth and death, both literal and abstract. Along with this, the idea of a family unit is explored through these births and deaths.

The Grapes of Wrath is set in the horrible stage of our American history, the Depression. Economic, social, and historical surroundings separate the common man of America into basically the rich and poor. A basic theme is that man turns against one another in a selfish pride to only protect themselves. For example, the landowners create a system in which migrants are treated like animals and pushed along from one roadside camp to the next. They are denied decent wages and forced to turn against their fellow scramblers to simply survive.

As she grew up she she then realized what she was surrounded by and how it was affecting her in a negative way. Making the choice of depending on herself. Mauri lost her mother when she was young. Lived a long amount of time with her father who was abusive, a drug use and raped her at the age of eight. By the time she was twelve she yet did not have the privacy every young girl

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck uses numerous literary techniques to advocate for change in the social and political attitudes of the Dust Bowl era. Simile, personification, and imagery are among the many devices that add to the novel’s ability to influence the audience’s views. Moreover, through his use of detail, Steinbeck is able to develop a strong bond between the reader and the Joad clan. This bond that is created evokes empathy from the audience towards the Joads as they face numerous challenges along their journey. The chapters go between the Joad’s story and a broad perspective of the Dust Bowl’s effect on the lives of Mid-western farmers in which Steinbeck illustrates dust storms devastating the land, banks evicting tenant

“At the heart of every immigrant’s experience is a dream- a vision of hope that is embodied in his or her destination” (Gladstein 685). In the novel, The Grapes of Wrath the migrants imagined the absolute aspects of living care free to the west. However, everything changed once they traveled to the west, realizing the simple concept turned into hazardous problems. John Steinback emphasized the American dream of economic stability and truculent situations towards the Joads family's point of view. Throughout the immigration, the Joads family goes through constant and unpredictable changes in employment, and their eventual failure to find success in California. The novel has been called by critics "a celebration of the human spirit", in several ways it is true due to the aspects of human nature. Despite the hazardous actions people can do, it is important to realize everything around us.

Speaking of Ma, I found her to be a flat character or even static. We never saw her go through changes throughout the story. The assumption I got from Ma at the beginning of the story was that she was very much a strict parent. Throughout the story, I felt like she never had changed emotion. She seemed to have the stereotypical emotion that a mother would have to the actions that occur with her children.

Through the roughest times in life, we come across crises that reveal the true character in those around us. Those who are strong are divided from the weak and the followers divide from the leaders. In the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, author John Steinbeck presents the character Ma Joad who serves an important role as the rock that keeps the family together. The Joad family, apart from many families in Oklahoma, is forced to leave their homes in search of work and better opportunities; California not only leaves them in poverty but despair. But through it all Ma Joad is the leader of the family that exhibits selflessness in order to protect and secure her family.

Mah was blamed for her mother’s death and she is hated throughout her family with the exception of YeYe, Nai Nai, and Aunt Baba. The rest of Mah’s family believes that Mah is a bane due to the fact that her mother died shortly after giving birth to her. When her father marries Niang, Mah’s nefarious stepmother, Mah and her siblings have been pushed aside and are relegated to a lower class by Niang. During this time, the whole family moves to Shanghai to evade the Japanese during World War II. Mah’s only dream is to be noticed by her befuddled father, who is caught up with all of Niang’s lies.

Sometimes the solution to a problem creates more problems. Robert DeMott wrote that The Grapes of Wrath is a novel that humanizes the treatment of the oppressed by those in power. The story revolves around the Joad family that has been kicked out of their land by the rich landowners and forced to look for work elsewhere after the Dust Bowl ruined the crops. A theme that comes up at many points in the novel is unity more specifically the unity created by a community. The premise that the novel humanizes the treatment of the migrant workers is true given how the bank is portrayed, the source of the problem, and the strength displayed by the migrant workers.

The Grapes of Wrath is a novel which describes the journey of a family who had to migrate to the West because of the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. It follows the Joad family as they move across the United States, and the novel describes the many trials and tribulations that the Joads faced during the journey as well as after they arrive in California. However, John Steinbeck also incorporates a deeper meaning into the novel by using it to comment on the problems in society as well as how they are caused. He writes The Grapes of Wrath to comment on how greed and selfishness are a poison to society, both during the Great Depression as well as during modern times.