FREE ESSAY ON GRAPES OF WRATH

GRAPES OF WRATH

Grapes of Wrath 
The Grapes of Wrath is a novel by John Steinbeck that exposes the desperate conditions
under which the migratory farm families of America during the 1930's lived. The novel
tells of one family's migration west to California through the great economic depression
of the 1930's. The bank took possession of their land because the owners could not pay
off their loan. The novel shows how the Joad family deals with moving to California, and
how they survive the cruelty of the landowners that took advantage of them, their
poverty, and willingness to work. The Grapes of Wrath combines Steinbeck adoration of the
land, his simple hatred of corruption; resulting from materialism (money), and his
abiding faith in the common people to overcome the hostile environment. The novel opens
with a retaining picture of nature on rampage. The novel shows the men and women that are
unbroken by nature. The theme is one of man verses a hostile environment. His body
destroyed but his spirit is not broken. The method used to develop the theme of the novel
is through the use of symbolism. There are several uses of symbols in the novel from the
turtle at the beginning to the rain at the end. As each symbol is presented through the
novel they show examples of the good and the bad things that exist within the novel. The
opening chapter paints a vivid picture of the situation facing the drought-stricken
farmers of Oklahoma. Dust is described as covering everything, smothering the life out of
anything that wants to grow. The dust is symbolic of the erosion of the lives of the
people. The dust is synonymous with deadness. The land is a ruined way of life (farming),
people uprooted and forced to leave. Secondly, the dust stands for profiteering banks in
the background that squeeze the life out the land by forcing the people off the land. The
soil, the people (farmers), have been drained of life and are exploited: The last rain
fell on the red and gray country of Oklahoma in early May. The weeds became a dark green
to protect themselves from the sun's unyielding rays... The wind grew stronger, uprooting
the weakened corn, and the air became so filled with dust that the stars were not visible
at night. As the book continues a turtle, which appears and reappears several times early
in the novel, can be seen as standing for survival, a driving life force in all of
mankind that cannot be beaten by nature or man. The turtle represents a hope that the
trip to the west is survivable by the Joad family. The turtle further represents the
migrants struggles against nature/man by overcoming every obstacle he encounters: the red
ant in his path, the truck driver who tries to run over him, being captured in Tom Joad's
jacket: And now a light truck approached, and as it came near, the driver saw the turtle
and swerved to hit it. The driver of the truck works for a large company, who try to stop
the migrants from going west, when the driver attempts to hit the turtle it is another
example of the big powerful guy trying to flatten or kill the little guy. Steadily the
turtle advances on, ironically to the southwest, the direction of the migration of
people. The turtle is described as being lasting, ancient, old and wise: horny head,
yellowed toenails, indestructible high dome of a shell, humorous old eyes. The driver of
the truck, red ant, and Tom Joad's jacket are all symbolic of nature and man trying to
stop the turtle from continuing his journey westward to the promise land. The turtle
helps to develop the theme by showing its struggle against life comparing it with the
Joad struggle against man. The grapes seem to symbolize both bitterness and copiousness.
Grandpa, the oldest member of the Joad family, talks of the grapes as symbols of plenty;
all his descriptions of what he is going to do with the grapes in California suggest
contentment, freedom, the goal for which the Joad family strive for. The grapes that are
talked about by Grandpa help to elaborate the theme by showing that no matter how nice
everything seems in California, the truth is that their beauty is only skin deep, in
their souls they are rotten. The willow tree that is located on the Joad's farm
represents the Joad family. The willow is described as being unmovable and never bending
to the wind or dust. The Joad family does not want to move, they prefer to stay on the
land they grew up on, much the same as the willow does. The willow contributes to the
theme by showing the unwillingness of the people to be removed from their land by the
banks. The latter represents the force making them leave their homes. Both of these
symbols help contribute to the theme by showing a struggle between each other. The tree
struggles against nature in much the same way that the Joad family struggles against the
Bank and large companies. The rains that come at the end of the novel symbolize several
things. Rain in that is excessive, in a certain way fulfills a cycle of the dust which is
also excessive- In a way nature has restored a balance and has initiated a new growth
cycle. This ties in with other examples of the rebirth idea in the ending, much in the
way the Joad family will grow again. The rain contributes to the theme by showing the
cycle of nature that gives a conclusion to the novel by showing that life is a pattern of
birth and death. The rain is another example of nature against man, the rain comes and
floods the living quarters of the Joads. In opposite ways rain can be helpful to give
life to plants that need it to live. Depending on which extreme the rain is in, it can be
harmful or helpful. This is true for man, man can become either extremes bad or good
depending on his choosing. Throughout the novel there are several symbols used to develop
the theme man verses a hostile environment. Each symbol used in the novel show examples
of both extremes. Some represent man that struggles against the environment, others paint
a clear picture of the feelings of the migrants. As each symbol is presented
chronologically through the novel, they come together at the end to paint a clear picture
of the conditions, treatment and feelings the Joads' as they make there journey through
the novel to the West. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the
history of our country and the Great Depression. It was a long novel, but you could feel
the story because Steinbeck was writing about his own time period, not his ancestors or
his children, but something he actually lived through.