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Industrialism In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

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Steinbeck’s involvement in watching and living in the vagrant camps stimulated his interest and gave content for The Grapes of Wrath. It also reveals Steinbeck’s sensitivity for the migrant workers who continued through hardships and separation on account of big business and the industrialist framework. “And now they were weary and frightened because they had gone against a system they did not understand and it had beaten them. They knew the team and the wagon were worth much more. They knew the buyer man would get much more, but they didn't know how to do it. Merchandizing was a secret to them.” (50) It was sought out to represent a social awareness with homeless individuals who were pounded by drought and gloom. The Grapes of Wrath was a plea for the area land owners of California to be more tolerant and the novel itself is told from the perspective of a vagrant family. Steinbeck was careful not to sentimentalize his characters, and condemns the capitalist mode of production. It turned a blind eye to all the nonwhite victims of the landowners and industrialism. The worker's part and reception of corporate values frequently override personal morality, as depicted by the tractor men in The Grapes of Wrath. "Three dollars a day. I got damn …show more content…

His novel In Dubious Battle (1936) brought attention to California migrants as did his articles for the San Francisco News. Each set of publications depicted the miserable conditions of the migrant camps. “"I never had my house pushed over," she said. "I never had my fambly stuck out on the road. I never had to sell – ever'thing – Here they come now." (77) To be able to completely understand the situation of the migrant workers, Steinbeck drove to Oklahoma to join the workers. He traveled with them, camped alongside the rode with them and accompanied them on the road to

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The author of The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck, wrote his American realist novel to allow readers to understand the experiences of the migrants from the Dust Bowl era. Not many people

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John Steinbeck has a style of writing unparalleled in history and in the modern world. In the same way, his philosophies are also unparalleled, with his focus in socialism not extending to communism or abnegation of spiritualism. His ideal world is utopian, holding the dust bowl migrant at the same level as the yeoman farmer was held in Jeffersonian times. In The Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck Steinbeck, who posses impregnable technique, conveys his message of a group working tirelessly for the betterment of the community.

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During the 1930’s thousands of Dust Bowl migrant workers made their way from the central plain into California seeking work. In their search for work and some form of income many of the migrants and their families ended up in Hoovervilles, which were makeshift roadside camps that were greatly impoverished. Steinbeck was able to travel through the labor camps and recorded the horrible living conditions of the migrant workers. The collection of these recordings was published as Harvest Gypsies. During the tours of the labor camps he saw the oppression of the workers first hand in addition to workers being demoralized by wealthy land owners.

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John Steinbeck’s classic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, explains the story of the Joad family while simultaneously dealing with eternal human issues. We open on Tom Joad, fresh out of prison, hitchhiking his way back home after killing a man with a shovel. From there we travel through ideas of religion, capitalism, xenophobia, and determination. As Tom begins walking home from where he was dropped off, he runs across his childhood preacher, alone and barefoot, and discusses ideas of human desire and sin within the church after learning that Casy is no longer a member. Continuing on his way home, Tom finds his family’s barn abandoned and his neighbors gone.

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