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Grapes Of Wrath Summary

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The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck The setting originates near Sallisaw, Oklahoma in the late 1930’s and throughout the novel passes through the southern states of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before concluding in Weedpatch, California. After the devastation of the Dust Bowl, Tom Joad hitches a ride to his hometown. Tom reveals to his company that he had killed a man in self-defense causing him to be imprisoned, but due to good behavior he has fortunately been provided parole.Tom reunites with a childhood acquaintance, Jim Casy. Casy reveals he no longer works as a preacher. Tom urges Casy to visit the family for his arrival and they discover that Tom’s home is abandoned and ravaged. Tom learns from another childhood acquaintance, Muley, …show more content…

Upon hearing about a government run facility, the Joads move to Weedpatch leaving behind Connie, who ran away, and Casy, who was arrested for Tom’s assault of a police officer harassing the migrants. Although Weedpatch does have accommodations such as toiletries and dances, they are unable to find work and the family dwindles down on the money and food they contain. The Joads move to a peach farm and begin to come to terms that their expectations were not realistic. Tom journeyed to the outer perimeter to be reunited with Casy, who was leading picketers against the peach farm. Casy urged Tom to relocate him and his family away from the farm because of the lowering wages. Casy suffers a blow to the cranium and is murdered by men who think he’s a communist. The incident triggers Tom to hit the attacker with a hard blow. Now unsafe for the family to stay in the peach farm, the Joads move to a cotton field where Tom hides and the rest live within a boxcar with the Wainwrights family who also works within the cotton fields. Tom’s sister Ruthie accidentally tells someone that he killed a man, and Tom decides that he desires to carry on Casy’s work as a representative for the working class. Al Joad marries Aggie Wainwright and decides to stay with her family.

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During the great depression, the midwest underwent a long drought. Exposed dry earth swept away with the wind and caused huge dust storms that prolonged the dry weather. With the lowered selling prices and the lack of crops the farmers had some major economic trouble. In Black Blizzard and John Steinbeck 's Grapes of Wrath, the literature develops the ideas of the poor distribution of wealth within the populations and the social aspects of people of different economic class. Social differences arise in the wealthy, the employed, and the unemployed throughout this period of hardship.

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In this chapter, you are introduced to Floyd Knowles, a man the Joads meet while setting up tents for shelter, a Hooverville, as they are on the move along with many other families. Knowles warns them of how the police are treating certain groups with harassment. Casy decides to leave the Joads’ group because he insists that he is a burden to them, but decides to stay an extra day. Later, two men, one is a deputy, show up in a car to the tent settlement to offer fruit-picking jobs, but Knowles refuses which provokes the men. They try to falsely accuse him of breaking into a car lot so they can arrest him.

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The tone of chapter 11 in John Steinbeck's, “The Grapes of Wrath,” is sympathetic, sad and hopeless. His word choice and syntax show how the sad houses were left to decay in the weather. His use of descriptive words paints a picture in the reader's mind. As each paragraph unfolds, new details come to life and adds to the imagery. While it may seem unimportant, this intercalary chapter shows how the effects of the great depression affected common households.

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Hoss sees Sam chopping wood and offers him a job. During the journey the Cartwright discover that Sam is actually Johnny Logan, the son of the sheriff and that he’s mission in life is to kill his father. Sam meets a girl he is very interested in, but keeps breaking the sheriff’s rules. When the girl finds out about Sam’s plan, she leaves very upset. When Sam finally gets a chance to kill is father,

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Tilly goes on a journey of character development and uncovers the truth of the town's secrets, lies and deception. Tilly arrived as an anti-hero with so much to discover demonstrating this theme then she stepped off the bus in a close-up shot lighting a cigarette “I’m back you bastards” which infers the journey she is about to partake in. Molly and Tilly's relationship was a difficult challenge and the motherly role always changed but they were rekindling their connection by creating clothes although “I can’t sew” illustrates the time that has passed. Molly remembers and tells Tilly that “[her] centrelines off” letting Molly fix it. Through Tilly’s transformation, she has healed and mended herself and her relationships going off to a fresh

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Later in her pregnancy she becomes very ill. Soon after, she dies along with her baby. Suddenly Jurgis comes into realization with what is happening. Matthew Morris writes, “Jurgis comes to see and comprehend the class system that has destroyed everyone he cared about, and to join the fight to change that system” that has made him lose his job and lead to his wife’s death (5). Jurgis decides to join a rebellion to protest the mistreatment of immigrants.

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Out of the many problems we have in the world today, one main problems is poverty. Poverty has been around for thousands of years now, and people began to fight it as early as the 1960s. When Lyndon B. Johnson became president, he took it upon himself to fight poverty by creating the Great Society Plan. In the plan, many new programs and jobs were created to assist Americans living in poverty and to help improve their lifestyles. President Johnson’s Great Society Plan improved many poversed Americans lives by helping them obtain an education, find a job to provide for their families, and helping them with medical funds.

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Next, Janie marries Joe Starks and they go to Eatonville, Florida, a town created entirely by and for blacks. When they first arrive into town they quickly realize the town is in desperate need for leadership. Janie volunteers Joe to become major because of his wealth and his strong personality. Joe also buys a grocery store and has Janie work there. At this point in the novel Janie is content, but soon after the true colors of Joe start to emerge.

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Through out the novel, the character of Jim Casy is vital to providing hope and a new outlook of like to the Joad family. In one sense Jim Casy could be tied to Moses who guided thousands of people out of slavery from Egypt. This could be compared to Jim Casy guiding the Joads by providing them a way out of the famine and hard times and just into California. Once the Joads get a clear picture of what they need to do he disappears, but comes back when they are once again in a dire situation. “Somebody got to take the blame.

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Since the book came out in 1939, everyone has had a opinion on the ending to John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. It has a very controversial ending, that Steinbeck thought would name the last nail into the coffin, so to speak, on how bad the dust bowl and moving west really was. The ending starts when the Joad family is threatened with a flood, so they make their way to a old barn where they find a boy and his old father. The boy says his father is starving, and that he can’t keep anything solid down. He needs something like soup or milk.

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As a result, Tom suggested that he’ll stay behind with Casy to fix the car while the rest of the people continue towards California. All of the men including Pa Joad, Uncle John, Mr.Wilson, and Al Joad agreed with Tom’s plan. For a minute it seemed as though the family would split up when all of the sudden Ma Joad steps in. She proclaims, “I ain’t a-gonna go.”, telling the everyone that she simply won’t allow for the Joad family to split up. Especially Tom who has already been gone for a while due to prison.

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Thankfully, Papaw had a steady job at a steel mill which employed a lot of men from Middletown at the time. Through hard work, Papaw and Mamaw became financially stable and were able to provide for their kids. After JD was born the town of Middletown started to fall in the wrong direction both socially and economically. The generation with a strong work ethic that once filled the town was now lost. After Papaw’s death, Bev’s mental health and physical behavior went downhill fast.

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Intercalary Chapter Literary Analysis During the Great Depression, the nation as a whole was stripped of financial security and forced into a survivalist way of living. This changed the ways that people interacted with one another and the overall mentality of society. In the Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family is torn from their land and find themselves with nothing, a common story for migrant farmers of that time, derogatorily called “Okies” by Californians. But this is not the only group that is struggling, the entire county was in a state of panic and bruteness, no matter how “well off” they seemed to be.

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The farmers acknowledge that God cursed them with tragedies. This could be tied to Casy’s turmoil with his

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This appeared to be their way of life since the community did not offer any employment opportunities after the plantations were closed. People started to engage in criminal activities which lead to their incarceration. In Lalee’s household alone, three men were in jail. Redman and Granny’s fathers were serving time and Lalee’ son was in and out of jail. They often talked about the criminal justice system because their love ones were within that system.

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