Grapes Of Wrath Realism Analysis

While all ROM/NAT/Real exist within Grapes of Wrath, the most profound is realism because of its focus on character over plot and the downplay of sensation throughout the book.

Realism becomes more profound in the novel through the downplay of sensation and focus of character over plot during Casy’s death. During chapter 26, Casy suffers a vicious, cruel death because he believed the starving children should be fed. However, instead of dramatically writing out the gory details of his death, Steinbeck simply explains that Casy is dead by writing, “The flashlight beam dropped, searched and found Casy’s crushed head” (386). This simplistic, blunt description of Casy’s death may, at first, seem like Steinbeck lacks care for Casy. However, the

In chapter 18, Granma passed away in the car, but her death was hidden from everybody, except Ma. When Ma finally tells them of Granma’s death, she simply says “Granma’s dead” (288). She leaves out any details of how Granma died, and there is no dramatized grieving of her death. The Joad family simply continues on their journey to California. By sparing the dramatics of Granma’s death, Steinbeck again reinforces the idea that he does not want us to concentrate and analyze Granma’s death; rather, he wants us to direct our focus to how Ma grows as a character from Granma’s death. Ma was always depicted as a strong, family-driven woman, but her strength and love for her family is confirmed after Granma’s death. Granma died in the car, and the only person who knew was Ma. Instead of telling them, Ma kept it to herself and was left to grieve and suffer alone because she wanted her family to continue on their journey to California free of any distractions. Thus, her incredible strength and determination for her family to succeed is reiterated. While Granma’s death is heartbreaking, Steinbeck really wanted us to acknowledge and understand Ma’s true character after this event. This event stresses the presence of realism within the novel through the downplaying of sensation during Granma’s death and the focus on Ma’s character growth, rather than the death