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Suffering In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

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John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath was published just as the Great Depression ended. His novel is set during the 1930’s, specifically in the dust bowl of the Midwest. In The Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family makes the perilous journey out West to find new jobs after their family farm was shut down by the company that owned their land. When they reach California, they realize it was not the oasis they had once imagined it to be, as they were met with no jobs left in the state, poor living conditions, brutal police, and low amounts of food. However, the obstacles they face all hold one thing in common: they are the product of man’s cruelty. Each of these hurdles were also faced by every other family that moved out West during the early 1930’s, and their mentality was merely to survive. Therefore, true human nature was …show more content…

There are many different reasons as to Steinbeck chose this to be his major theme to prevail throughout the book, but the main reason is to make the readers feel what he felt while researching for the novel. The theme is apparent due to the constant nature migrants who are constantly on the receiving end of cruelty from the native California people. One point that shows this is in chapter twenty-two when a native told Rose of Sharon, “I can see your black soul a-burnin'. I see that innocent child in that there girl's belly a-burnin'” (Stienbeck 409). In this quote a native is telling Rose of Sharon all the things she does, not even completely sinful, is ruining her innocent baby. There are instances like this in every chapter at least once, if not normally

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John Steinbeck has been a pillar of American literature for decades. His work, especially Grapes of Wrath and The Harvest Gypsies, helped to shed light on some of the issues that plagued California, and the rest of the United States during the Great Depression. His works accentuate the theme of the importance of community, especially when those with the power to help don 't. These novels take place during the Great Depression, a time when there were very few jobs, little stability, widespread poverty, and diminished hopes for the future. This era sets the stage on which these stories take place. During these harsh times, many people turned to the government or banks for help, but they were turned down by the banks because they wanted a profit, or they bankrupted, and the government 's resources were stretched so low they could only help few people.

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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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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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In the book, American Exodus: The Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in California, James N. Gregory attempts to change readers perspective of stereotypes created by artist during the Great Depression, such as those created by John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath and Dorthea Lange’s photograph of the “Migrant Mother”. In his book, Gregory “takes us back to the dust bowl migration” to reveal that there is more to Oklahoman, Arkansan, Texan, and Missourian immigrants than economic hardship. He focuses on regionalism, and an “Okie” subculture that was created due to the high rate of migration to California. Gregory sets out to prove that they also had a mass effect on Californian culture and social patterns. Using extremely efficient primary

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“The Grapes of Wrath” takes place during the great depression: which was a substantial economic downside in United States history. At the same time, racism continues in the United States. The Okies are very talented farmers and most of them travel along route 66 to hope for a better life, but something was waiting for them that was unexpected to these people. They did not receive any governmental supports they were ignorant, and this makes native people easier to realize Okies as an outsider also they found menial and low paying jobs. Steinbeck implies that man turns against another human for the survival of the fittest; therefore, they do not mind to put another human in a situation that is challenging to survive.

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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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1)The American Dream, the idea that lures in thousands of foreigners into the United States yearly. The hopes of second chances, profound prosperity, success by hard work and new beginnings. In the Grapes of Wrath by John Stainflied and The Jungle by Uptown Sinclair, both families in this book are not exception. Soon, these inspired immigrants learn the disastrous effects of being the “lower class” under the control of the rich, the government and the landowners. Both of the book’s themes___ the idea that the most damage both families in these two novels endured was not a direct *result* by those of authority, but in reality *( direct result by their own inclination,,,,)

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Grapes of Wrath show the unfair working situations that migrants face when they arrive in California. Land Owners are the most wealthy and powerful having the ability to pay their workers a poor wage. In the Grapes of Wrath, many Americans lose their homes, jobs and life savings, forcing them to move and leave behind their land in hopes of finding a prosperous place to live. The Great Depression (1929-1939) was the worst, deepest and longest lasting economic collapses in the industrialized western world. The Joad family is planning to move to California, but some of them have doubts and attachments that make them contemplate whether or not it is the right choice.

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In The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck follows the Joad family as they suffer the hardships caused by the Dust Bowl in the 1930’s. The most important lesson people can learn from the novel is the value of a human life. Although the 1930’s was a low point in American society, the ill-treatment of human beings is still relevant today. Just like Jim Casy’s philosophy, it is important to fight for the rights of the people and their dignity. There are several examples of oppression in The Grapes of wrath.

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After World War Two, the United States of America and the Soviet Union found themselves at the top of the table of countries as being the two strongest countries in terms of money, resources and in an overall general sense. They were called Superpowers. Due to both of them competing for the top position they had different conflicting ideas about economics and the governing of a country. This resulted in them fighting a war that made use of idea instead of actual artillery, machinery and large scale fighting which is why it was called the Cold War. Although they didn’t physically fight each other they participated frequently in "proxy wars" by supporting allied nations in numerous "hot" wars in places like Korean, Vietnam and Angola.

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Prompt #6 The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, is a story of the Joad family and their travels west. The setting of Steinbeck 's novel is the Great Depression in Oklahoma. During this time, a long period of drought and high winds affected large parts of the Midwest, including much of Oklahoma, creating what was called the Dust Bowl. Steinbeck uses different elements and narrative styles to endow his novel with a powerful sense of realism and authenticity.

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In John Steinbeck’s movie and novel “The Grapes of Wrath,” he presented the ecological, sociological, and economic disaster that the United States suffered during the 1930s. The movie is set during the Great Depression, “Dust Bowl,” and it focuses on the Joad’s family. It is a poor family of farmers who resides in Oklahoma, a home fulfilled by scarcity, economic hardship, agricultural changes, and job losses. Unexpectedly, affected by their hopeless situation, as well as they are trapped in an ecological madness, the Joad’s decided to move out to California; Beside with other people whom were affected by the same conditions, those seeking for jobs, land, a better life, and dignity.

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The Grapes of Wrath, one of his most well-known works is exemplary of Steinbeck’s pursuit to bring attention to the lower class and their struggles during the Great Depression, and to hold those who caused the Depression accountable, as seen in his quote “I want to put a tag of shame on the greedy bastards who are responsible for this [the Great Depression and its effects]. I’ve done my damnedest to rip a reader’s nerves to rags” (“The Grapes of Wrath”]. Published in 1939, the novel follows a family of tenant farmers who are forced to turn their land over to the banks and journey across the Dust Bowl to the ‘promised land’ of California (“John Ernst Steinbeck”). The Grapes of Wrath became highly debated and criticized, and many accused Steinbeck of dramatizing the conditions portrayed in the novel to prove a point; however, he had actually underplayed the conditions, feeling that “exact descriptions would have gotten in the way of his story.” Though embraced by the working class, critics condemned the novel as a ‘pack of lies’ and ‘Communist propaganda,’ and the book was banned from 1939 to 1941.

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A Sacrificial Breastfeeder: John Steinbeck’s New Historicism perspective in the 20th Century John Steinbeck’s most interesting ending is illustrated in the 1939 classic Grapes of Wrath. “She moved slowly into the corner and stood looking down at the wasted face, into the wide, frightened eyes. Then slowly she lay down beside him. He shook his head slowly from side to side. Rose of Sharon loosened one side of the blanket and bared her chest” (Steinbeck 455).

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