Realism In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

The dust bowl and the Great Depression devastated the American people, although the pain and suffering endured by the affected is far beyond that of which words can describe, John Steinbeck provided us with the closest thing we can get. The novel, The Grapes of Wrath, was written in an attempt to provide a realistic description of the people in the time period following the roaring twenties. Realism played a huge role in The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck studied these people in hoovervilles and he just wanted to tell their stories. In The Grapes of Wrath realism is used consistently and effectively especially throughout the chapters one through fifteen. The Grapes of Wrath follows the Joad family through their journey west to california for jobs and a better life, but as the story goes on the life they dream of slowly grows farther and farther from reality, however even though

“To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma” (Steinbeck 1). In the beginning of the novel the land is dying and this is known from page one with the color red (symbolizing blood) falls into being gray and it being drained from the land, which in turn is killing it. This is a form of realism because during the time of the great depression there was also the dust bowl going on which completely devastated the farming communities and caused them to want to leave to california, which is exactly what the Joad family did to try and avoid their demise. During this time period hundreds of farmers were losing their farms to the banks but the people had no one to confront about the changes happening to their lives. “The Bank- or the Company - needs -