In the novel The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, the animals face many acts of cruelty at the hands of others. Steinbeck uses the animals to represent the Joad family who are on a journey to California in hopes of a better life. As the Joads are on their journey to California, they experience many hardships and challenges that disrupt their way of life. This is similar to how the animals were treated by other people. Steinbeck utilizes the animals as symbols to show us that we must persevere through our struggles and hardships.
The turtle is one of the first animals that was introduced to represent the cruelty the Joads would come to experience. The narrator states, “And now a light truck approached, and as it came near, the driver saw
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In the novel it states, “A snake wriggled across the warm highway. Al zipped over and ran it down and came back to his own lane. ‘Gopher snake,’ said Tom. ‘You oughtn’t to done that’ ‘I hate ‘em,’ said Al gaily. ‘Hate all kinds. Give me the stomachquake”(365). As Al runs over a gopher snake Tom questions his actions in which he replies that he hates all types of snakes. This snake represents not only the Joads but other migrant families as well. Just like how the snake has done nothing wrong to accumulate the hate that is directed towards it, migrant families have also done nothing wrong to gather the hate from the people of California. Al’s hate is similar to those of the wealthy people and landowners of California that hate migrants for no reason. Just as how Al states “I hate em all”, the landowners feel the same about migrants. Steinbeck uses the snake to symbolize all migrant families and workers such as the Joads who have done nothing wrong to gather the hate of people in California. Steinbeck wants us to know that we should not be like the people who intentionally hurt others for who they are but to help them instead. He also wants us to know that we should always stay strong and persevere through our difficult