Turtle In The Grapes Of Wrath

Introduced in chapter six of Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Muley Graves is a multi-faceted character who remains as the sole, original farmer in the area that Joad’s family lived. The name Muley Graves is carefully chosen by Steinbeck for it embodies the persona and thematic messages Merely presents to the reader. Instead of leaving with the rest of the town, Muley remains and he thinks of himself as a “damn ol’ graveyard ghos’”(51) who wanders the vacated premises. Hence, this is metaphorical to the abandoned homes and lives of the farmers when they left, which essentially caused a graveyard to form. When Muely goes “to neighbors’ houses in the night,”(52) he considers himself a ghosts patrolling the graveyard of the farmers-- their

One more theme in the novel is religion. “Rays of sunlight streamed from between the clouds, like the Holy Ghost…” (162). The Holy Ghost is meant to signify God. The plant theme is also involved because sunlight is a key factor in the growth of plants. This means that God/ spirituality is a key ingredient in the growth of both Turtle and

Can you imagine you and a turtle having similar characteristics? In the Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck uses a turtle to foreshadow future events and problems that the Joad family will come to face. The turtle exemplifies fear, determination, and overcoming a situation. The turtle also forebodes the theme of hope and determination. The drivers’ reactions not only help predict the outcome of future events, but also help establish a theme in accordance with what the turtle exemplifies.

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

Strength comes in numbers and through unification. In John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, the Dust Bowl forces the Joad family off their land and they move west to California to start a new life. During their journey, they experienced great hardships, transcending their own needs for those of other migrants, and eventually realizing that survival is made possible by unification. Tom represents the transition from “I” to “We” and the eventual unification of the migrants. Tom is the symbol for all the migrants, and his development from the beginning of the book to the end represents the transition of all the migrants too.

One of Steinback 's metaphor is the sand turtle. He uses an entire chapter to symbolize the sand turtle as the Joads. The sand turtle attempts to cross the road in chapter three. The turtle slowly crosses the highway, attempting to reach his goal, the other side, to find a new place. As the turtle crosses, it faces obstacles. Such as passing cars and even starting off in the first place. It slowly but surely crosses the road, and eventually reaches his goal. This is just like the Joads predicament. The Joads are in need of a new place to go. A new home, due to the failing crops and the corrupt greedy banks. They head out on a long and vigorous journey, but even starting it was hard. Grampa joad threw a fit about leaving. He told Papa Joad, " I tell ya I ain 't goin ', an ' ya can lump it." So they had to slip him cough medicine in order to get him to go. This prolonged the trip and was an obstacle to overcome. The trip itself was difficult. There were many times where they were hungry, desperate, and out of faith. But, they kept pushing on. Just like the sand turtle, the Joads were tough, and would not be held from their ultimate goal.

When examining John Steinbeck’s, Grapes of Wrath’” he details the story of the Joads an Oklahoma family on their way to California in the midsts of the Dust Bowl. As he discusses their journey towards the american dream he inserts several intercalary chapters that break up the discussion of the Joads and shifts the focus towards the things that symbolizes them. In the novel there are several intercalary chapters that are used to depict the lies and deceit that occurs to the Joads right under their nose.

The Grapes of Wrath incorporates parallels between both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Steinbeck uses biblical symbols from the book Exodus to tell the story of the Joad family’s journey to California. The Dust Bowl, which is the reason they are leaving Oklahoma, is a representation of the plague. Another symbol used in this novel is Noah’s Ark. This represents the truck they used

It had one direction that it was set on going towards and despite numerous obstacles that were put in its way, and even after it was taken off its course several times, it always managed to find its way back to its original path and keep moving forward. The turtle also provides a perfect example of why The Grapes of Wrath can be related to even today. There may be someone going through a tough situation that might feel as if they can’t relate with victims of the dust bowl, but a persevering turtle can be seen as a timeless symbol of slow and steady and always moving. “Its front foot caught a piece of quartz and little by little the shell pulled over and flopped upright”(Steinbeck 15-16). This quote is just one reason why the turtle is the perfect symbol to represent moving forward; it got knocked on its back, the most vulnerable position for a turtle, but it was able to right itself and get back on its feet before it just kept moving down its original path.

For example, in the passage, the turtle’s “. . . hind feet kicked his shell along, and it scraped on the grass, and on the gravel” (Steinbeck 15). This description inflicts a mood of sadness as well as compassion for the turtle, as it highlights sadness felt by the turtle in having once again failed to achieve his goal. The turtle’s journey can be compared to The Little Engine That Could. Both the turtle as well as the train faced difficulties, but kept moving on to the best of their abilities. Additionally, the turtle can also be described as a metaphor for the Joad family. No matter what the turtle tried to do, he was faced with new obstacles. The Joads faced similar obstacles as the turtle. When the bank foreclosed the Joad’s home, for instance, they were forced to keep moving on. In drawing similarities between the two, Steinbeck ultimately forces the audience to associate the turtle with the relatable and familiar plight of the Joads, thus making the turtle a sympathetic characters in the audience mind. While encouraging sympathy for both Tom and the turtle, Steinbeck wanted his audience to feel malice toward Jim

The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, has many valuable life lessons to take away and use in your own life. There are many key points in life that anyone may face and can learn from. John Steinbeck intelligently assimilates these into his writing. One of the most important lessons to learn is that determination can get you through many of lifes controversies. In the novel, the Joad family demonstrates determination in many scenarios. This shows itself various times over the course of the book; therefore, it is to be considered a theme. Although the Joad family comes across a large number of problems, they manage to find a way to solve them through the use of determination. Due to the Joad family’s strong belief in kindness and compassion throughout the novel, Steinbeck illustrates the theme of determination in The Grapes of Wrath very well as we see the family faces and conquers their issues on their travel to California.

In addition, John Steinbeck displays a hopeful tone in his novel. For instance, a chapter exists where it solely talks about a turtle attempting to walk across the road. However, the turtle is slow, so the turtle faces and accepts the life-threatening obstacles the journey provides. Eventually, the turtle intentionally gets hit by a light truck to knocked towards the side of the highway. The turtle continues to crawl away from the road after encountering the truck; “As the turtle crawled on down the embankment, its shell dragged dirt over the seeds. The turtle entered a dust road and jerked itself along, drawing a wavy shallow trench in the dust with its shell” (Steinbeck 16). The turtle crossing the road symbolizes the arduous journey that the Joads will take to California. The turtle originally wanted to cross the highway to get to the other side. However, after the truck hits the turtle, the turtle does not proceed towards the highway, so the turtle successfully crossed the road. The successful turtle crossing symbolizes how the Joads will successfully finish their journey despite facing life-threatening obstacles like the turtle did. The tone shifts from a negative tone to a hopeful tone as we realize that the Joads could potentially have financial success when they arrive to California. Therefore, a hopeful tone becomes evident through the symbolism of the turtle

In The Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family experiences many hardships on the journey to and in California, ranging from dying family members to a lack of sufficient food. In the third chapter of the novel, author John Steinbeck introduces a determined turtle who attempts to make its journey across a highway. The turtle is apparently nearly run over multiple times, and is actually hit by a car. This causes the turtle to be flipped on its shell, until it catches its footing and “little by little the shell [pulls] over and [is] flopped upright”(16). The turtle then continues its journey and successfully crosses the highway. Although this chapter may have seemed out of place, as the turtle seems to have nothing to do with the novel, Steinbeck’s use of symbolism is apparent. The turtle itself is supposed to symbolize the Joad family and the struggles they face trying to find a better life. Like the turtle, the family is knocked down many times, and like the turtle the family is still able to find its footing and stay determined. The Joad family’s goal is to make a living in California, and although they will face many challenges, they still have their eyes set on crossing their own personal and hazardous turtle highway.

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.

Before the Joads are introduced, the plight of another being is highlighted. In Chapter 3, Steinbeck introduces the turtle on the side of the road struggling through obstacles. The turtle itself is a symbol of the Joad family and other migrant workers, while its journey is an allegory of the struggles and obstacles they will face along the way. The turtle comes upon an embankment along the highway and stops to size up the wall in front of it (Steinbeck 14). At several points in the novel, the men face decisions and hunker down together on their hams to discuss their