...Ma Joad emerges as the "mainstay" of the Joad family throughout John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Throughout the journey, Ma's motherly instincts and kind nature allow her to provide the best environment for her family. Ma insists on keeping the family together mentally and physically despite all aspects of life appearing grim. She will do anything for her family’s success, as well as other’s, as she becomes the authoritative figure within the family. To begin, she wishes to keep her family together mentally and physically. To do so, she had to think and act positively, so her family would also possess hope, even in their circumstances. For instance, before the family left their home in Oklahoma, Tom discusses how a man who lived in California said that “...too many folks lookin’ for work right there now...live in dirty ol’ camps an’ don’t hardly get...
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...The classic novel “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck depicts the struggles the Joads, an impoverished Oklahoma family, face when attempting to find a better life. When forced to leave their comfortable home, the Joads’ only option is to migrate to California. Striving to keep the family stable the Joads tragically transition from being an average family to being a stressed, decaying family. This deterioration results from being treated like emotionless slaves by the wealthy owners of large corporations. Steinbeck creates events in the literature that parallel the need to improve 1930‘s and 40’s treatment of migrant workers. Three situations that demonstrate the author’s protest for change include the demolishment of the Joad house, Granpa’s...
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...H. Tharp The Unspoken Truth about John Steinbeck’s Legacy in Monterey County John Ernst Jr. Steinbeck is one of the most respected and honored American writers among our society today. In many classrooms around the world, his books are still mandated as reading requirements and there are many museums and centers dedicated to this esteemed author. John Steinbeck has won numerous awards for his books, most notably the Pulitzer Prize for his fictional novel, The Grapes of Wrath in 1940, and the Nobel Prize in literature in 1962 based on his entire body of work. Steinbeck’s other awards, which are typically less known are included in the following chart: WORK | YEAR | AWARD | MEDIUM | “The Murder” | 1934 | O. Henry Award | Print | Tortilla Flat | 1935 | Commonwealth Club of California Gold Medal for Best Novel by a Californian | Print | In Dubious Battle | 1936 | Ibid | Print | Of Mice and Men | 1938 | N.Y Drama Critic’s Circle Award | Play | “The Promise” | 1938 | O. Henry Award | Print | Of Mice and Men | 1939 | American Bookseller’s Award | Print | LifeBoat | 1944 | Academy Award nominee for Best Story | Print | A Medal for Benny | 1945 | Ibid | Print | The Moon is Down | 1946 | King Haakon Liberty Cross | Print | Viva Zapata! | 1952 | Academy Award nominee for Best Original Screenplay | Play | N/A | 1963 | Honorary Consultant in American Literature to the Library of Congress | N/A | N/A | 1964 | U.S Medal of Freedom; Press Medal of Freedom | N/A...
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...Nikki Slomers Mrs. Moser AP English 11 28 March 2014 Steinbeck’s Philosophical Theory and Influences The Grapes of Wrath, a story of the Joads’ journey from Oklahoma to California in search of the American dream during the Great Depression era. Thousands upon thousands of people had to pack up and leave the land that they were born and raised on due to the Dust Bowl and the banks foreclosing on acres and acres of property. Having lived through this time period, John Steinbeck, the author of the novel The Grapes of Wrath is no stranger to the conditions these people lived in. Traveling with migrant farm workers for a few years in Salinas California, John adopted a very specific philosophical theory from the many influences around him. John Steinbeck’s philosophical theory, including transcendentalism and the concept of the oversoul, humanism, earthy democracy, and pragmatism, all play an important role in the development of his characters in The Grapes of Wrath. To begin, one of the most important characters in the novel, Jim Casy, “the preacher”, single-handedly interprets and embodies the philosophy of the author John Steinbeck and the novel itself. Tom Joad and Jim Casy cross paths while Tom was on his way home to find his family after just being released from prison. The two men, having been long time friends, decide to walk together and catch up. Jim vents to Tom, and tells him about not preaching anymore. “I was a preacher,” the man [Jim Casy] said seriously, “but...
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...The Grapes of Wrath is primarily a story about the Joads, an all-American farming family, and their journey westward, but through the use of inter chapters, the novel also depicts the hardships faced by the general population during the Great Depression. These chapters are added to give more detail and history about the economic and familial circumstances simple people must go through. The use of inter-chapters in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath adds to the novel stylistically, thematically, and symbolically by allowing readers to experience the struggles of average American families and relating those situations back to the Joads. Steinbeck’s use of inter-chapters add to the novel stylistically by using them as a foreshadowing technique. In chapter 7, it says “Squirt in a couple quarts of sawdust. Put some in the gears, too. We got to move that lemon for thirty-five dollars” (). Steinbeck is telling the readers about corrupt car salesmen who tamper with cars to take advantage of desperate families for profit. This chapter is foreshadowing the events in chapter 16 when the Wilson family’s car breaks down and the Joads stay back to help them. Another example is chapter 9 foreshadowing the...
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...experiences into their novel to produce a great classic. John Steinbeck epitomises these ideas in his realist novel The Grapes of Wrath by exploring the challenging and stark issues of; the powerlessness and perseverance of Okies, and the power of communities. Steinbeck successfully connects with respondents on a sensory and emotional level, through the utilization of various language techniques to illuminate respondents of the numerous socio-economic hardships the Okies were subjugated to in the late 1930s. Powerlessness comes about when an external force renders one into a state of mind where they feel that have limited control over their wellbeing, personal lives and the culture wherein they live. Steinbeck highlights the Joads powerlessness in “We tried to camp together, an` they drove us, like pigs. Scattered us. Beat the hell outta fellas. Druv us like pigs”. Through the use of simile of “pigs”, it highlights the inhumane mistreatment by the Banks, which have driven them out of their homes. This is further highlighted in the rhetorical question “The kids are hungry all the time. What do you want us to do?” Steinbeck conveys the difficult predicament the tenant farmers are put in by the landowners, who have subordinated the poor tenant farmers for more money. Thus, the farmers are placed in a vulnerable position provoking them to move to out of their houses. Furthermore, another force responsible for the Joads powerlessness is the weather, explicitly the sun. This is...
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...Personalities of the Grapes of Wrath In any good story the author uses the characters to further develop the story. A great example of this is in the novel The Grapes of Wrath. The characters of Tom Joad, Ma Joad and Jim Casey provide different characteristics to expand the plot; Tom provides a sense of practicality to the story, Ma is strong, and Jim Casey shows leadership qualities. These characteristics foreshadow the character’s destiny in the story. In John Steinbeck’s proletarian novel, The Grapes of Wrath, his early descriptions of and dialogue for Tom, Ma and Jim Casey establish their personalities and futures. The main character Tom Joad is best described as practical. When Tom was in prison he learned the valuable lesson of taking one day at a time. Ma Joad explains it best when she says "You can't go thinkin' when you're gonna be out. You'd go nuts. You got to think about that day, an' then the nex' day, about the ball game Sat'dy….Jus' take ever'day." (91). An example of Tom being practical was just before the Joads and Jim Casey left for California and they were trying to figure out a way to get Granpa to go. Tom...
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...John Steinbeck Research Paper: Final Draft John Steinbeck is regarded as the “quintessential American writer.” He created many works of literature that “evoke life in the 20th century with compassion and lyrical precision” (Li). John Steinbeck’s most popular works such as Of Mice and Men (1937) and The Grapes of Wrath (1939) explore the darker side of life in America for farm laborers. Though these works were considered highly controversial, they gained him major recognition. Of Mice and Men was adapted as a play in 1938 and was declared the best play by New York Drama Critics’ Circle. He went on to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1940 for The Grapes of Wrath. In 1962, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature (Schultz & Li). As a child and youth, Steinbeck spent a lot of time working on farms and interacting with other migrant workers. His experiences with migrant farm workers created the foundation for Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath. John Ernst Steinbeck was born on February 27th 1902 in Salinas California to John Ernst Steinbeck Sr. and Olivia Hamilton Steinbeck. Steinbeck Sr. managed a flour mill, and his mother Olivia was a teacher in a school, thus securing the family a middle class income (Bender). His mother Olivia looked to “mold him into a man of broad intellectual capacity” (Kiernan). She read him several books as a child and, by the age of five, he could read. In school he was teased for “his large ears…so he withdrew into books.” His...
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...The Grapes of Wrath a well-known classic by John Steinbeck was published in 1939, and before it was published, migrant workers were living in very harsh conditions in several parts of the United States. The Grapes of Wrath is about an Oklahoma Dust Bowl family, the Joads, who suffer various hardships while migrating to California. The Dust Bowl was a period of time in the 1930s where harsh droughts led to severe dust storms which ruined million acres of prairie land in America. This story tells us the plight of all those migrants during the Great Depression through the perspective of the Joad family. In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck uses intercalary chapters to provide background for the various themes of the novel, as well as to set the tone. Steinbeck’s previous book had bought him much success and Steinbeck did not want his success to weaken his commitment to the intellectual goals of his writing. So later, he embarked upon a trip from Oklahoma to California with a group of migrant workers. He worked and lived alongside them in a work camp in California. His experience was the inspiration for this novel. The story begins just after Tom Joad is released on parole from McAlester prison for homicide. On his journey to his home in Oklahoma, he meets former preacher Jim Casy whom he remembers from his childhood and the two travel together. He finds out his family has been evacuated from their land and are leaving for California. Tom and Casy join them. Going west on Route 66...
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...As some of the paramount examples of early 20th century literature, John Steinbeck's novels not only encompass the epitomes in characteristics of the laboring class, but also demonstrate the resilience of the human spirit. Through stories of the downtrodden, Steinbeck teaches the reader a much-needed lesson about the complexity of the world in which we live and the people's response to that complexity. Of Mice and Men's protagonist, George, convincingly personifies the dispiriting mood that spanned America at the time of the Great Depression. Attempting to find work in California, George is depicted as a capable, yet underprivileged, laborer who begins to form conceptions on the dynamics of society. Through George's journey, Steinbeck paints a picture of a typical American worker in the Depression-ridden country, and in turn shows the reader the unfortunate realization that the main character comes to as he searches for a job: the world is designed for the weak to become weaker and strong to become stronger. In other words, the concept of social Darwinism prevails in this novel as, time and time again, the main characters are forced into an endless cycle of poverty (want to say something along these lines but a different word than poverty). "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place. They come to a ranch an' work up a stake and then go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing...
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...The Grapes of Wrath Summary John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath tells the specific story of the Joad family in order to illustrate the hardship and oppression suffered by migrant laborers during the Great Depression. Tom Joad, a man not yet thirty, approaches a diner dressed in spotless, somewhat formal clothing. He hitches a ride with a truck driver at the diner, who presses Tom for information until Tom finally reveals that he was just released from McAlester prison, where he served four years for murdering a man during a fight. On his travels home, Tom meets his former preacher, Jim Casy, a talkative man gripped by doubts over religious teachings and the presence of sin. He gave up the ministry after realizing that he found little wrong with the sexual liaisons he had with women in his congregation. Casy espouses the view that what is holy in human nature comes not from a distant god, but from the people themselves. When Tom and Casy reach the Joad's house, it has been deserted. Muley Graves, a local elderly man who may not be sane, tells them that the Joads have been evicted, and now stay with Uncle John. Muley's own family has left to find work in California, but Muley decided to stay himself. That night, since they are trespassing on the property now owned by the bank, the three are forced to hide from the police who might arrest them. Tom Joad finds the rest of his family staying with Uncle John, a morose man prone to...
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...The Truth about Migrant workers Behind the Oklahoma dialect of ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ and the telling words contained in article four of ‘The Harvest Gypsies’, it is evident Steinbeck is attesting to the deep struggles and obstacles migrant workers had experienced in the 1930s. John Steinbeck’s main point it seems, is to let the readers know and understand the extent of the migrant worker struggles and how it has taken a toll on simple things such as their dignity, self- confidence and ability to govern themselves. Steinbeck also goes on to give the readers the impression he strongly favors the construction of more Federal Government camps to assist the migrant workers during their current struggles. The struggles of migrant workers as portrayed...
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...In The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, the narrator explains how a social issue affected the Joad family. The realistic novel mimics life and offers social commentary too. It presents many windows on real life in Midwest America in the 1930s. Throughout the 1930s, America was trapped in the worst economic era ever—The Great Depression. The Joad family is struggling to find salvation during this tough time period. Because of this, they must travel from Oklahoma to California in order to start a new life. The Great Depression affected everyone in the United States, some people worse than others. Steinbeck uses several different strategies to interpret the social issue during this time period. By using the literary techniques of setting, tone/mood, and dialogue/language, Steinbeck composes a creative commentary on the Great Depression and how it affected the lives of Americans. One way Steinbeck produces creative commentary is through the use of different settings. The setting is where the story takes place, and in this story, the setting shifts several times as the family travels across the country to California. The story opens with an illustrious description of the setting. Through the description, “A day went by and the wind increased, steady, unbroken by the gusts. The dust from the roads fluffed up and spread out and fell on the weeds beside the fields, and fell into the fields a little way…” (Steinbeck 2), it reveals a horrible event. It sends the Joads and other tenant...
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...help the country during those first years of the Great Depression, if anything he worsened everything. The first hundred days in office were the most vigorous days of his presidential career. FDR affected not only the country and the people who lived during that time; he gave authors of that time something to write about. Many literature pieces were based on the Great Depression; however, FDR was trying to change the direction of the country so everything he did was also put into perspective when authors were creating literature pieces. In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck writes about a family, the Joad family, who experiences all the struggles of the Great Depression. They make their journey to California to fulfill their hope of getting a fruit-picking job there. Steinbeck writes this book as if it were a true story, which in many ways it was considering how many families experienced this hardship during the Great Depression. Ma Joad is the mother of the family who goes on this journey to reach California. Ma is the only thing that holds their family together because she gives them name 2 hope and the support they need to keep moving. In a way, she and FDR are alike by the role they play. Ma is the glue that is keeping her family from breaking, and FDR was the glue that held together the US during the Great Depression. When the family’s hope was dying, Ma brought them together: Rich fellas come up an' they die, an' their kids ain't...
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...the Working Class: John Steinbeck and His Mark on Literature Writing has left influence on millions. Books have transformed lives, given purpose and happiness to those who have read them: literature is one of the most important things to a society, as it not only allows its readers to grow intellectually, but also creatively. John Steinbeck was once just a nine year old with Le Morte d’Arthur by Thomas Malory, who then went on to be someone considered one of the best writers of his time. Steinbeck has been held up next to authors like Edgar Allen Poe, and his writing is taught in most, if not every, high schools in America. Very few people are born famous and even less are born skilled in their field. Steinbeck was born in Salinas,...
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