John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, depicts a migrant farming family in the 1930s. During this time, life revolved around the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, making circumstances difficult for almost everyone involved, especially those who had little. This time of drought and despair caused people to lose hope in everything they’ve ever known, even themselves, but those who did not, put their hope in the “promised land” of California. Here, the grass was thought to be truly greener on the other side. The Joad’s did not get so lucky, however, as Steinbeck’s novel describes the family’s pilgrimage and the hardships faced on their journey. The novel, a romantic gospel and naturalistic epic, presents an Exodus by the family, going from “I” to “we”, home to homeless, and selfish to loving. Steinbeck uses biblical allusion and imagery to bestow powerful message and literary artistry to his audience. The novel, The Grapes of Wrath, utilizes biblical references shown through the title and the religious characters and their journey, to establish the author’s main message. One of the most meaningful elements of any novel is the title, which Steinbeck utilizes imperatively. The title of the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, was primitively acquired from the song, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”, also known as “Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory” outside of the United States. This war song, written by Julia Ward Howe in 1861, links judgment of the wicked at the end of time,
So maybe it is “just a story”. Maybe I am making too big of a deal. The truth is though that Steinbeck truly got his motivation from real-world occurrences. “The Grapes of Wrath” is a novel based on the time period just following the Jazz Age. This is what we all know to be the Great Depression of 1932. This was the time when the economy really did fall apart. This is the time when families really were starving. This is the time that we can’t forget in order to keep it from happening again. On that note, I am going to have to respectfully disagree with that “one” who could argue. Yes this may be a story we are reading but that doesn’t change what has really happened. “The Grapes of Wrath is based true events. I cannot deny the truth. The art of this novel is that Steinbeck takes what really happened and is able to make us feel the situation in our own way. Steinbeck makes a story out of The Great Depression y putting the reader into the places of those who really lived through this point in our
In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck uses both obvious references and subtle contrasts to emphasize the main theme of the novel: the sanctity of man's relationship to the natural world and to each other.
The classic American book, The Grapes of Wrath, was written by John Steinbeck in 1939. Steinbeck’s purpose was not to write a popular book but instead to accurately portray the lives of southern families during the Dust Bowl. To do this, Steinbeck used rhetorical devices such as colloquialism, juxtaposition, logos, and pathos. Steinbeck’s use of colloquialism is prominent throughout the book. He used Oklahoma dialect to further enhance the reader’s experience while reading and by using this, the reader gets a sense of how people in the south talked and interacted.
In his novel Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck integrated many biblical references and values throughout the book. This provided a more intriguing and complex style of writing that he used to tell about the Dust Bowl of the early 1900’s and the arduous journey the Joad family and many others took to reach California.
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.
California and the flood at the end of the novel, and teachings throughout the novel.
April 14th, 1939, John Steinbeck published the novel, The Grapes of Wrath. The novel became an immediate best seller, with selling over 428,900 copies. Steinbeck, who lived through both the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, sought to bring attention to how families of Oklahoma outdid these disasters. Steinbeck focuses on families of Oklahoma, including the Joads family, who reside on a farm. The Joad family is tested with hardship when life for them on their farm takes a corrupt turn. Steinbeck symbolizes the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, as the monster, by focusing on bringing attention to how the families in Oklahoma bypass the disastorous weather, greedy bankers, and also the unreceptive greeting by the
John Steinbeck wrote the The Grapes of Wrath in 1939 to rouse its readers against those who were responsible for keeping the American people in poverty. The Grapes of Wrath tells the story of the Joad family, migrant farmers from Oklahoma traveling to California in search of an illusion of prosperity. The novel's strong stance stirred up much controversy, as it was often called Communist propaganda, and banned from schools due to its vulgar language. However, Steinbeck's novel is considered to be his greatest work. It won the Pulitzer Prize, and later became an Academy Award winning movie in 1940. The novel and the movie are both considered to be wonderful
When Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath, our country was just starting to recover from The Great Depression. The novel he wrote, though fiction, was not an uncommon tale in many lives. When this book was first published, the majority of those reading it understood where it was coming from-they had lived it. But now very few people understand the horrors of what went on in that time. The style in which Steinbeck chose to write The Grapes of Wrath helps get across the book's message.
The Grapes Of Wrath introduces many real life topics, and difficulties relevant to the people in the 1930s and some still relevant to today. Throughout the book topics like migration, corporate profit, and even environmental impacts of human choices are all present in the book. Steinbeck is shown to makes many claims about each of these topics, but the topic that stands out the most are the issues with the criminal justice system. Steinbeck believes that the police and the criminal justice system are corrupt and generally police have a tendency to abuse their authority against poor people and migrants.
In Steinbeck's novel, The Grapes of Wrath, he describes the struggle of the small farmer and farmworker. The principal characters define quiet dignity and courage in their struggle to survive and in the caring for their loved ones. Through this novel, Steinbeck displays his respect for all the poor and oppressed of our world.
John Steinbeck’s, The Grapes of Wrath has been hailed as one of America’s most influential and controversial novels. In fact, it still resides on the banned book list. Written in a time of great despair and hardship throughout America, the novel serves as a political and social commentary on the time period. However, the most prominent and symbolic aspects of the book are religious. Specifically, symbols of Christianity and important events from the Bible. Throughout the novel, there are different events that allude to religious stories such as the Exodus from Egypt and the sending of Moses down the Nile. Many of the characters show allusions to biblical characters such as Moses, John the Baptist, Noah, Mary, and Jesus Christ. The religious allegories are very prominent in the novel through the exodus and journey to the promised land, the title of the novel, and the character as their biblical counterparts. All of these things and more make the religious allegories the most prominent symbols within The Grapes of Wrath.
Critical Essays on Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, Ed. John Ditsky, G.K. Hall. 1989, 97-10
The story The Grapes of Wrath written by John Steinbeck has
The novel, The Grapes of Wrath, is a story that construes the journey of the Joad family through the brutal migration from Oklahoma 's destroying Dust Bowl to California corrupt promised land. Through the depiction of events and portrayal of characters, the bible takes part in the novel as one whole allusion. The anecdote of the struggle for survival in the fallen state of Oklahoma and in the “promised land” of California, reveals the same ideas shown as we explore in the bible. In The Grapes of Wrath, author John Steinbeck integrates the allegory of biblical references and values to create the image of a family’s journey to California during the Dust Bowl of the early 1900s.