Grapes Of Wrath Response Essay

Published in 1939, The Grapes of Wrath won the annual National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize; I would say it contributed towards John Steinbeck’s Nobel Prize in 1962. There are clear similarities between The Grapes of Wrath and his earlier, and perhaps most famous, novel, Of Mice and Men, both of which carry a social context and include themes of the American Dream, and a struggle against the odds. When John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath was published, it caused an uproar in this nation. The inside cover of the novel states, “It electrified an America still convalescing ideas that many people, at the least , uncomfortable with” this electricity caused the Kern County Board of Supervision to ban the book in public schools and libraries in

Personally, I feel that books and most recently movies can effect real social change since it takes people out of their worlds and puts them right in the middle of whatever situation the characters are facing. To me timing of Grapes of Wrath is perfect. A true reflection of peoples lives at the time. Throughout the chapters you see the family's progress in their quest for better living as the chapters provide a more general view of the situation of those times. As someone who enjoys detailing and seeing the way things complete. I liked the way Steinbeck described some situations and characters. As much as I enjoyed this, I simply didn’t enjoy The Grapes of Wrath. While I see that it is historically significant and an important work part of the past, I could not relate with the Joad family. Yes, I felt sympathetic towards their poverty. However, the characters seemed extremely one dimensional, and there were so many characters in the family. That were all introduced around the same time that it was difficult for me to form an attachment to any of them. I didn’t feel that the characters experienced much growth, or what growth they did achieve happened inorganically. Rose, in particular, drove me crazy although I understand that Steinbeck was showing the crippling effects of poverty, especially on a young, pregnant woman, I found her to be an bad