New Historicism and The Grapes of Wrath The sun disappeared, next crops disappeared, then the people disappeared. Consequently, cause of everything disappearing, is because of the Dust Bowl which occurred in the 1930s caused people to flee from their homes to a state which they were not familiar with. In addition to, the Dust Bowl affected 75% of families due to the drought. For the most part; the Dust Bowl hit the farmers, due to a little rainfall and high winds the farmers could not grow any crops. Furthermore, they could not grow any crops which meant could not afford to pay their rent; as a result, they had to flee from their land to give their families and themselves a better living conditions. Seeing this conditions, about 200,000 families fled to California to provide for their families. In The Grapes of Wrath; which was published in 1939, John Steinbeck is clearly influenced by the historical events that were occurring around him. This dust filled experience inspired Steinbeck, to …show more content…
To sum up my thoughts, Steinbeck based his fictional novel on the historical events that were occurring around him. This why the first, edition of the Grapes of Wrath sold 50,000 printed copies and it became the bestselling novel in America in 1939. As a result, by February 1940 the novel was already in its eleventh printing, and had 428,900 copies that were sold. Assuredly, this was all too due to the fact the people saw the inside of the Dust Bowl Migration and the Dust Bowl from a third person omniscient. Undoubtedly, they were curious about what was going on in, the regions that were affected by the Dust Bowl. So, what a better way to solve their curiosity then, to read a novel written by a person that was in the front lines of course because of this reasons people read this historical novel. As you can see, Steinbeck used his striking knowledge and his magnificent experience to write a novel based on the historical events that occurred during