The Grapes of Wrath response

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck takes place during the 1930’s Dust Bowl migration and follows the Joad family from the barren farmlands of Oklahoma to what they believe to be the Californian promise land. The novel is both interesting and unique in the way the story of the Joads and background information about their lifestyle is portrayed. Every other chapter gives the reader historical information with which to better understand the Joads and their journey. These chapters are pleasing in that they allow the reader to fully understand the plight of the Joad family, but they often distract the reader from the developing story. These background chapters give relevant and often necessary information but they are sometimes a nuisance by foreshadowing events to come.
The vivid imagery which Steinbeck uses to describe the settings of the book are one of the novel’s best qualities, but the description were occasionally wordy and again the reader was distracted from the main focus of the novel, the Joad family and their journey.
The heart of the novel, the Joad family, is very solid and their story is both informative and enjoyable. The reader is able to become acquainted with the Joads and care about the family in such a way that they have to continue reading the book in order to discover what will happen to the family. The Joads are a dynamic family with several different story lines to keep the book active and interesting.
Despite the obvious symbolism of the book and the many things which Steinbeck is conveying, the story line is one in which the reader becomes engaged. The book addresses many aspects of everyday life, morals, finances, love, family and desires. The reader may not be able to relate to every aspect of the Joad’s life but they are able to recognize that the Joads are a family that is trying to get by like every other family, whether it be in the 1930’s or the 21st century.
The Grapes of Wrath may have a simple base with the story of a family like millions of others, but it is certainly an epic. Steinbeck tells of the journey of the Joad family away from one home and in search of another. The novel has immense historical significance, documenting the journey millions of families were forced to undergo during the dustbowl migration. The novel shows how those families were changed and how they helped to change the entire nation. The Joad family is forced to confront their own lives and how they must interact with the world around them. During the course of the novel the characters must change as the environment around them changes, this growth of an individual is a central theme in most literature and helps to qualify The Grapes of Wrath as a book worth reading. The Joads are faced with many obstacles over which they have no control and must adapt to in order to survive. The book shows how society impacts the individual and the family, as well as how the individual and the family can influence society, another theme of literature.
John Steinbeck is able to take an entertaining story and turn it into a classic novel using many of the techniques which literary scholars study. He made an unforgettable impact by describing the inhumane conditions and the family strength which was a result of circumstances the families in his novel had no control over.
The Grapes of Wrath is also worth reading because it puts several things into perspective. Readers today do not always consider the background of a novel of the significance it had at the time of its release, but The Grapes of Wrath forces the reader to do just this. The historical information located within the novel make the reader focus on the environment at the time of the story and the well publicized controversy at the time of the novel’s release also gives the reader perspective. It shows how important the novel was when it was published and how sensitive the subject matter was. Critics called Steinbeck a Communist, a liar and a fascist in order to discredit him and keep readers from believing the harsh realities of the American west.
Because of its breadth and diversity The Grapes of Wrath connects to a variety of different media, from propaganda about the 1930’s to Homer’s epic poems. When a typical reader thinks of the 1930’s they picture a failing economy and starving Americans, exactly what Steinbeck portrays in his novel. What they may not picture and what Steinbeck is able to show is that many people were taking advantage of these struggling Americans. Big companies came into the west and took control of many of the truly American aspects of it. The west was no longer a haven for the small farmer; Steinbeck’s novel helps to show this transition from the “American dream” to the nightmare of the Great Depression.
A very significant connection which is made is the one from The Grapes of Wrath to Homer’s epic poems. In The Odyssey, Homer tells the story of Odysseus’ journey home and the obstacles he faces trying to get there. Steinbeck does a very similar thing with the Joads by showing their journey away fro the world they have always known to a world which they can only hope will be better than the one they left behind.