Preview

Themes in the Grapes of Wrath

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2277 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Themes in the Grapes of Wrath
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 is that they stuck together as a family and supported each other. . These things mentioned above reoccur throughout the novel. These are some of themes in the Grapes of Wrath. In the novel The Grapes of Wrath the themes of hope and despair become evident. In the beginning of the book Tom was in jail and that was sad for the family. Fortunately Tom was released on parole and when he finally returned home the family was extremely happy. But not long after his great return the family had to pack up and leave for California. Of course they wanted to stay but they just could not, the banks had taken the Joad's land. Leaving was their only option the drought had ruined all their crops and without crops they were not making money. They heard about the wonderful job opportunities in California so it sounded like a great idea to go. They can start their life anew, have a nice house, and a great job that sounds absolutely wonderful. At the same time the Joad's were sad that they were leaving because this was their home land and the land they were born and raised on. Now they have to leave everything they have ever known. The Joad's had so much hope when they left for California but the hope would soon fade to despair. Grandpa had gotten sick and he ends up dying in the Wilson's tent on the side of the road. His death was very sad for them but it was even sadder because they could not give him a real funeral because they could not afford it. They had to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Bryon and Mark start this chapter in a pool hall where they are planning to make some money hustling pool. They are only sixteen years old, so it is illegal for them to be in a pool hall with a bar in it but they are usually successful at hustling because they look so innocent. After checking for an undercover cop and not finding one, Bryon asks Charlie, the bartender for a CCoke. Charlie reminded him that he and Mark already owed for three dollars worth of CokeCokes and refused to give him another until he paid on his debt. Mark joined Bryon at the counter and asked for a Coke. Bryon told him their credit was no good, but Charlie gave in to Mark and gave them Cokes after all when Mark promised to bring the money in the next day. Bryon says that talking people into things is...…

    • 1701 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the 1930s, America’s Great Plains experienced a disastrous drought causing thousands of people to migrate west. As their land was devastated by the Dust Bowl, deprived farmers were left with few options but to leave. The Grapes of Wrath depicts the journey of the Joads, an Oklahoma based family which decides to move to California in search of better conditions. Coming together as thirteen people at the start, the Joads will undertake what represents both a challenge and their only hope. Among them are only four women embodying every ages: the Grandma, the Mother and her two daughters, the pregnant Rose of Sharon and the young Ruthie. Appearing in Chapter Eight the mother, who is referred to as “Ma”, holds a decisive role in Steinbeck’s novel. She is, along with her son Tom (the main character of the book), present from the early stage of the story until its very end. We will attempt to trace back her emotional journey (I) as well as to analyze its universal aspects and to deliver an overall impression on the book (II).…

    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout The Grapes of Wrath, many of the characters experience growth or decay. Each member of the Joad family is affected differently by the decisions and changes they have to make in their lives. One character that changes for the worse is Pa Joad. By the end of the novel, the reader sees that Pa Joad had lost respect from his family and his status as head of household. By including Pa and his character decay in the novel, Steinbeck contributes to his theme of loss of dignity. It is important to recognize Pa Joad’s transformation in all respects of the book.…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Grapes of Wrath remains one of the greatest angry books. Its dominating idea is that of imminent, overwhelming anger. Steinbeck, as a responsible writer, was concerned with exposing a problem in all its complexity instead of arguing a single solution. In writing his novel, he decided to depict for the readers the insult and deprivation suffered by people like the Joads. To present the story of simple human beings while providing at the same time the social documentation. Steibeck's anger of the whole situation turns into a book to show an example of the fate of Joads and their problems while moving with the mass to…

    • 108 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    I think that the chief reasons for the mass migration to California where based on a few different reasons. The first reason was because everyone was poor. They didn't have enough money to have the most basic necessities in life. They would even go to such lengths as to steal a neighbors house. No body was happy living in Oklahoma. They all had such hard lives that no one had time to do what they wanted to do. It was farm from sun up to sun down. That is what everyone did, and they didn't even get that much compensation for all the devotion that they put into their work day, after day, after day. If I worked at something for twelve hours a day, and just made hardly enough money to keep living, I would get quite frustrated and not be very happy at all.…

    • 1291 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Dust Bowl that occurred in the 1930’s along with the Great Depression was one of the lowest times in American history. The novel, The Grapes of Wrath written by John Steinbeck, takes place during this time period. The Grapes of Wrath is told from the perspective of the Joads, who are coerced to leave their home and farm in Oklahoma. The novel documents their journey traveling from Oklahoma to California. The protagonist in this novel, Tom Joad, is first introduced in Chapter 2 when he has to hitch a ride with a truck driver in order to return to his family. From the moment Tom was introduced till the last time he occurs in the novel, one should notice a significant change in his actions and behaviors. Tom Joad goes through a journey of self-change, which in the end turns him into a better person than he was before.…

    • 710 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    As history has shown many individuals have traveled a far distance. During the journey citizens often find out that they come across tough decisions in order for them to survive. In this situation they had to overcome difficult odds, traits like coverage, bravery, endurance, and spirit were needed during their adventure. The reason for their choices and the result following their actions affect the opinions of others. The novel Grapes of Wrath, was by John Steinbeck emphasizing the Joad’s endurance in intercalary chapters to give background for many of the events in the story. Steinbeck completely foreshadows the occurring events of society in the chapters of the novel. He narrows down the characters in the Joad’s family. Showing how their decisions affect the choices being made during their travels. Family in this novel means survival, without them being there for each other. The Joads would have never been able to deal with the amount of problems that occur within their travels. They found out that when reaching out to other migrant families there stronger together.…

    • 1206 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    America is eminence for being an area opportunity; be that as it may, there were crossroads in the nation's history where opportunity was not generally accessible. America's poor frequently played the session of survival of the fittest. This diversion highlighted settlers coming to America bearing in mind the end goal to experience the American Dream and ranchers moving starting with one rural scene then onto the next amid cruel developing seasons. Couple of mediums have possessed the capacity to catch the sum of the fatigued worker and the modest rancher's experience like the books The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. These books contain an irrefutable similitude in its tragedies and shameful acts, which…

    • 604 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Dust Bowl Odyssey

    • 921 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Grapes of Wrath recounts the story of the Great Depression in Southwest America. By the mid-1930s, the drought had destroyed multitudes of farm families, and America had fallen into the Great Depression. Unable to pay their mortgages or invest in the kinds of industrial equipment now required, many Dust Bowl farmers were forced to leave their land. Without employment, thousands of families traveled to California in hopes of finding new means of survival. But the farm country of California quickly became overcrowded with the migrant workers.…

    • 921 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Joad family, Gatsby, and Invisible Man all have a false sense of reality as a result of their blind hope. Gatsby was under the impression that he would spend the rest of his life with Daisy. Even after she leaves him, Gatsby expects her to call. His blind hope of their unconditional love leads him to go for a swim and wait for her call there. Also, Gatsby is a wanted man during this time and is suspected of killing Myrtle. There is no logic in his decision to go for a swim out in the open when Myrtle’s husband, Wilson, is on a manhunt for him. Gatsby’s love for Daisy was so strong that he was unable to realize his poor decision. Similarly, in Grapes of Wrath, when the Joad family is taking shelter in a barn, they encounter a dying…

    • 910 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The dust bowl was a tragic time in America for so many families and John Steinbeck does a great job at getting up-close and personal with one family to show these tragedies. In the novel, “The Grapes of Wrath”, John Steinbeck employed a variety of rhetorical devices, such as asyndeton, personification and simile, in order to persuade his readers to enact positive change from the turmoil of the Great Depression. Throughout the novel, Steinbeck tells the fictional narrative of Tom Joad and his family, while exploring social issues and the hardships of families who had to endure the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Steinbeck’s purpose was to challenge readers to look at the harsh realities around them for “the purpose of improvement”. The rhetorical strategies used in the “Grapes of Wrath” elicit a deeper understanding from its readers for the hardships these migrants faced and helped them to fight for a better way. (John Steinbeck, "Banquet Speech," Nobel Foundation, http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1962/steinbeck-speech.html, Accessed 30 August 2013.)…

    • 1767 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Image a place where everyone is in need, but no one cares enough to help one another. This was America in the 1930’s, the dust bowl era. This also was the everyday life for the joads on their journey to california. In the novel The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck narrates to the audience the journey of the Joads; This family encounters struggles from things like police brutality, death after death and much more. Tom Joad one of the main characters expresses himself when he encounters inhumanity in Hooverville and when on countless times he definitely resist…

    • 98 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Do you know what is really going on in our world? Behind the safety of your closed doors there is social injustice. Our past and present is a world full of unfairness. For example how the “Okies” were treated in The Grapes of Wrath, or how of the rich get richer and go to private boarding schools to get the best education in The Catcher in the Rye. Social Injustice arises when equals are treated unequally and unequals are treated equally…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Problems are inevitable in life, and a great deal can deter people from their natural hopes and traditional faith. The depression that the Joads go through creates questions about beliefs and religion, and shows how it truly affects their lives. Steinbeck communicates how it is difficult to maintain a strong sense of faith through continual hardships without renewing traditional beliefs in The Grapes of Wrath.…

    • 1135 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In "Grapes of Wrath" they had dreams of moving to California to get job that could set up a new life for them and help support having a home. They did everything that they could do to push themselves no matter how hard it would get. They knew that getting to California would be a struggle. They got as much as money that they could loaded…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics