Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - 655 Words

The novel The Grapes of Wrath is set in the 1930’s, during the dust bowl. The book is centered on the Joad family traveling to California. Throughout the book the Joad family experiences many trials that take a toll on them. Around this time period women did not have many rights. John Steinbeck uses third person to portray women as powerless and reliant on men. This is shown by actions of the characters and the time period during which the story takes place. Women in the book are silent observers, made to feel powerless. The book begins with families during the dust bowl and how â€Å"the women and children knew deep in themselves that no misfortune was too great to bear if their men were whole† (Steinbeck 7). Being â€Å"whole† meant that the men felt safe and were at peace. This quote means that if the women saw that their husbands were peaceful and pleased then everything was going to be fine. Gender is used here by the women not knowing what to feel until the y see how the men feel. This theme continues with the Joad family throughout the book. Ruthie is used to symbolize how women obey men in the book. Tom instructs Ruthie to â€Å"Tell Ma I et breakfas’ with some neighbors. You hear that? Ruthie nodded and turned her head away†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Steinbeck 398). Ruthie did not have an option of telling Ma where Tom was going. She looks to Tom for guidance. If Tom tells her to do something she does it because she trusts his opinion since he is a male. Tom uses the fact that he is male to get RuthieShow MoreRelatedThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck Essay1622 Words   |  7 Pages The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck, widely viewed as one of the most finest and powerful American writer, born to a middle-class family in 1902 in the Salinas Valley of California. Steinbeck is a writer who often spoke for the people. The Grapes of Wrath is a great movie, published in 1939, filled with many universal truths and views on human nature and society, especially where class is concerned. In the article, John Steinbeck The Grapes a wrath: A Call to Action says, â€Å"Steinbeck’s novel showcasedRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck1075 Words   |  5 PagesKirsten Lloyd Mr. Eldridge AP Junior English 21 August 2014 Grapes of Wrath â€Å"Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.† (Seneca), In the 1939 novel, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, the reader accompanies the Joad family as they struggle to escape the crippling Dust Bowl of the mid- 1930’s. In hopes of establishing a new life for themselves after being forced off their land the family embark on a journey from Oklahoma to California in search of fruitful crops and steady work alongRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck1563 Words   |  7 Pages John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, depicts a migrant farming family in the 1930s. During this time, life revolved around the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, making circumstances difficult for almost everyone involved, especially those who had little. This time of drought and despair caused people to lose hope in everything they’ve ever known, even themselves, but those who did not, put their hope in the â€Å"promised land† of California. Here, the grass was thought to be truly greenerRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck1189 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"The Grapes of Wrath† Shortly after being released John Steinbeck’s book â€Å"The Grapes of Wrath† was banned because many critics viewed the novel as promoting communist propaganda, or socialist ideas. The ideas that many of these critics point to is Steinbeck’s depiction of the Big Banks/ Businesses as monsters, the comparison of Government camps to a utopia in contrast of the makeshift â€Å"Hoovervilles,† and the theme of the community before the individual, In his novel â€Å"The Grapes of Wrath† John SteinbeckRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck1093 Words   |  5 Pages In John Steinbeck s The Grapes of Wrath, Tom Joad and his family are forced from their home during the 1930’s Oklahoma Dust Bowl and set out for California along with thousands of others in search of jobs, land, and hope for a brighter future. The Grapes of Wrath is Steinbeck’s way to expound about the injustice and hardship of real migrants during the Depression-era. H e utilizes accurate factual information, somber imagery, and creates pathos, allowing readers connections to the Joad’s plightRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck1190 Words   |  5 PagesThe Grapes of Wrath April 14th, 1939, John Steinbeck published the novel, The Grapes of Wrath. The novel became an immediate best seller, with selling over 428,900 copies. Steinbeck, who lived through both the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, sought to bring attention to how families of Oklahoma outdid these disasters. Steinbeck focuses on families of Oklahoma, including the Joads family, who reside on a farm. The Joad family is tested with hardship when life for them on their farm takesRead MoreThe Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck702 Words   |  3 PagesJohn Steinbeck’s use of the intercalary chapters in The Grapes of Wrath helps weave the reader’s sympathy of the Joad family into a more broad sympathy for the migrant farmers as a whole, in the hopes that the readers would then be compelled to act upon what they have read. During the Great Depression, people had a big disconnect about what was happening in various parts of the country. People often struggle to find sympathy for events when they can’t even visualize a person who is suffering throughRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck2144 Words   |  9 PagesThe Grapes of Wrath is a well-known beloved novel of American Literature, written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. Whoever said a road is just a road has not read The Grapes of Wrath. From the time we read when Tom Joad, novel’s protagonist, returns home after four years in prison; the meaning of roads changed. Route 66, also known as the mother road the road of flight, was a lifeline road, which allowed thousands of families to pursue their hopes and dreams. This road is also the road thatRead MoreThe Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck1014 Words   |  5 PagesJohn Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, was first written and later published in the 1939. Fr om the time of its publication to date, the exemplary yet a simple book has seen Steinbeck win a number of highly coveted awards including Pulitzer Prize in 1940 and later on Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. Set at the time of the Great Depression, the book most remarkably gives a descriptive account of the Oklahoma based sharecropper Joad’ poor family in the light of economic hardship, homelessnessRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck1064 Words   |  5 PagesThe Grapes of Wrath, originated from a John Steinbeck’s book, a legendary film that focus on a major point of American history. The story follows the Joad family on their journey to California trying to survive the hardships. This film, focus on the social problems of America like the Dust bowl, The Great Depression, and industrialism. The Grapes of Wrath was filmed in a journalistic-documentary style, which displayed the realism of the epidemic in the thirties. The thirties the period The Grapes