Analysis Of John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

In the history of America, Americans have had to drastically change their livelihood several times. In the 1930s, John Steinbeck became a writer of the struggles Americans faced at the time. Steinbeck’s writing style was quite particular, detailing many aspects of the times and what people were going through. He focused on the lives of average American families and their struggle to make it through the times. The Grapes of Wrath is one of several novels he wrote to express this. The 1930s and the beginning of the Great Depression was a time of major change from the happiness and well-being found in the 1920s.
As the 1920s were a time of prosperity and wealth for many Americans, the 1930s brought about the Great Depression. As the Great Depression

Once President Roosevelt came into office, reform programs were made to support the people during the 1930s’ Great Depression. President Roosevelt began relief programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps and the National Youth Administration in the hopes of changing the economy of America and bringing Americans back to a time of peace and prosperity (Roosevelt, Roosevelt’s Campaign Speech 1). The Civilian Conservation Corps provided work to men on conservation projects throughout the country while the National Youth Administration created employment primarily for students in search of work. In the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, many migrant farmers seek relief from government camps. Several of the migrant people, “scuttling for work, scrabbling to live, looked always for pleasure, dug for pleasure, manufactured pleasure, and they were hungry for amusement” (Steinbeck 325). While some migrant farmers did want the relief that came with living in a government camp, others aimed to continue traveling for work simply seeking self-amusement. The Joads, however, aimed to live in a government camp until they were once again financially stable. In their search for a government relief camp, “Tom Joad drove along a country road looking for the Weedpatch camp” (Steinbeck 286). The accommodations provided by the government-funded camps allows the Joads to start anew and begin their economic climb back to their old way of living. With the running water and the ability for the Joads to remain in one place and find work, the Weedpatch camp is an ideal place for their current economic