The novels “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck and “Under the Feet of Jesus” by Helena Maria Viramontes both explore the plight of migrant farmers in California. Steinbeck tells the story of white migrant workers during the Great Depression and Viramontes tells the story of Mexican migrant workers. The novels deconstruct the perceived California dream in which great wealth can be achieved through hard work by recounting the plights of migrant workers who recognize the illusion and take action
The Grapes of Wrath gives an in-depth reality to how life should be lived even with the obstacles you overcome. This is explained in the novel through the Joad family. The Joad family consists of a weak family that is about to lose their land in Oklahoma. There was no work for them in their home state due to the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. This leads them to take a chance and journey to California for work. Although, they overcome many obstacles they learn new skills and strengthen their family
Themes in The Grapes of Wrath The Joads are on their way to California. The land which seems to be a heaven with great work, little white houses, and many acres of land. But the Joads soon find out that California may not be the paradise they dreamed of. Their journey to California will be full of hope and despair along with keeping their dignity in the midst of all the wrath. One of the biggest problems they will face is how poorly they will be treated. The one thing that made the Joads successful
or in history books. We have seen the pain and struggle that these people must go through in order to survive. This novel, The Grapes of Wrath, relates to some of the many times of violence and cruelty that this America has seen. During the Dust Bowl, hundreds of thousands of southerners faced many hardships, which is the basis of the novel called The Grapes of Wrath. It was written to portray the harsh conditions during the Dust Bowl. When one considers the merit of this novel, one thinks, how
The Grapes of Wrath are set around the Great Depression in Oklahoma during in the timeline of the Dust Bowl. The story tells about Tom Joad hitchhiking home with a childhood friend named Jim Casy then travel to California to find work. Tom and Jim return to the Joad farm to find it abandoned; Tom learns their neighbor tells them about how the rest of the Joad family is with Uncle John. The family prepares to leave for California. Tom and Jim stayed the night at the farm to travel in the morning to
the story. However, in the historical fiction The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck in 1939, the Joad family travels west to California in search of “a better life”, only to face the true fury of the Great Depression countless times. Steinbeck ends the story on an abruptly stunning note to prove the truth: poor American families were left to survive like animals as the result of a neglectful society. The conclusion of The Grapes of Wrath rattled readers and media across America. The final
The Grapes of Wrath written by John Steinbeck focus on the causes of the dust bowl and the people in it. Within the book chapter five clearly shows how the author displays his views of the banks and the tenant farmers. Steinbeck does this by using point of view, and selection of detail Within the chapter steinbeck focuses on the description of the tractor drivers hired by the new caretakers of the farm. He states how the drivers loved the machines in a completely different way then they loved the
In John Ford’s Grapes of Wrath, the audience is introduced to an American allegory of the suffering people endured during a rough period in history brought on by the greed of the banking industry and the dust bowl Migration. A man named Tom Joad returns to his homeland after being incarcerated for the last four years for manslaughter. As a surprise, when Tom arrives home, he finds out that his family is no longer on their land that they have been on for many years. Tom then finds out that his family
In The Grapes of Wrath, the main source of their hardship is the being kicked off of their land; however, the antagonistic force is the selfishness of the human race. John Steinbeck portrayed the hardships of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression for families like the Joads through this book, and it all started off with families getting forced off of their property. That was the root of all the hardships that would come later in the book. The “Bad Guy” in The Grapes of Wrath was not the banks, the
of thousands in the 1930s, forcing many families off the only home they have had for generations. Both aspects of the migrant families’ lives, their humanity and their suffering due to businesses, are aspects of modernist literature and of The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. These components of the literary time period can be seen throughout the novel, like when Rose of Sharon breastfeeds the dying father, or when the migrant workers are manipulated by capitalism. In the novel, Steinbeck displays