Analyzing The Joad In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

Oppress: to dominate harshly; to subject a person or a group of people to a harsh or cruel form of domination. In John Steinbeck 's masterpiece "The Grapes of Wrath", the Joads are oppressed in many ways. The bank, the "monster", and big business owners are all seen as oppressors. But through this, the Joads remain resolute, in a way; oppression even strengthens the bonds between them, as they continue their exodus to the "promised land". While the maxim is that oppression always has an adverse effect on people, in Steinbeck 's "The Grapes of Wrath", oppression and hardship actually benefit the Joads and those around them.

In Chapter sixteen, the Joad 's truck breaks down, so Tom, Casy and Al stay behind to try to fix it while the rest of
Inside the barn, they find a boy and his father, who are in quite a predicament. "Las ' night I went an ' bust a winda an ' stoled some bread. Made 'im chew 'er down. But he puked it all up, an ' then he was weaker. Got to have soup or milk. You folks got money to git milk?" (Page 580) The Joads have no money, but ma and Rose of Sharon come up with a solution. "…Rose of Sharon loosened one side of the blanket and bared her breast…" (Page 581). Before everything that had happened, Rose of Sharon would never have breast fed someone she didn 't know, even someone she did know for that matter. But hardship and oppression have changed her. She now has empathy for those who have
In some rare cases, the use of oppression is followed by a period of harmony and happiness; as in ancient China, when the emperors "oppression" brought about the creation of the Great Wall, which helped protect China greatly. But, as in the case of Steinbeck 's "The Grapes of Wrath", oppression mostly causes anger and discord. "The fields were fruitful, and starving men moved on the fields…the great companies did not know that the line between hunger and anger is a thin line…On the highways the people moved like ants and searched for work, for food. And the anger began to ferment." (Page 365) The business owners and the great tycoons of the Great Depression used oppression not to better the country, but only to reap more profits. But in fact, oppression did not only result in disharmony. The oppression by the owners led the oppressed to band together and in order to defeat hardship and oppression. Where before it was "everyone for himself" everyone started working in