Preview

Grapes of Wrath essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
821 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Grapes of Wrath essay
Grapes of Wrath
Book and Film Comparison
John Steinbeck was an American author of twenty-seven books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction books, and numerous short stories. Steinbeck is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men. Born in Salinas, California in 1902, Steinbeck spent most of his life in Monterey County, the setting of much of his fiction such as the novel Cannery Row, a novel depicting the canning Co in Monterey at the time . He attended Stanford University between 1920-1926. Steinbeck did not graduate from Stanford, but instead chose to support himself through manual labor while writing. Being part of the labor force during this time greatly influence many of his novels. Steinbeck's first novel, Cup of Gold, was published in 1929, and was followed by The Pastures of Heaven and, in 1933, To a God Unknown. Steinbeck married Carol Henning in 1930 and lived with her in Pacific Grove, California. He spent much of his time in Monterey. Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1962, and died in New York City in 1968.
The Grapes of Wrath, is written by Steinbeck and published in 1939. Steinbeck does an excellent job in this novel by capturing a significant event in history, the Dust Bowl, which displaced millions of Americans. The agricultural industry changes and bank foreclosures forced tenant farmers of the land they've live on for generations as depicted in the novel with the Joad Family. As the novel opens, Tom has returned home after serving a jail sentence. The Dust Bowl has decimated the region; foreclosures have forced the farmers off the land. Tom and the a retired preacher Jim Casy decide to accompany Tom's family to the promise land of California where work is plentiful and wages are high. Things however are not the way they've been told. The constant inflow of displace tenant farmers has dramatically increased the demand for work while also

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The author, John Steinbeck, of “The Grapes of Wrath,” wrote this masterpiece of a novel in 1939. Steinbeck who utilized his books to write about the lives of the most downtrodden people of society during those times, used “The Grapes of Wrath,” to depict and fixate on the lives of workers migrating from Oklahoma to California during the early part of the 1930s (Steinbeck-Introduction Section). In Steinbeck’s story “The Grapes of Wrath,” he breaks the chapters down into three parts. Chapters one through eleven describes a terrible drought, called the Dust Bowel, which had ravaged an area of land known as the Southern Great Plains located between the western parts of Oklahoma to the panhandle areas of Texas. The area received its name because…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In chapter 30 mans unity, hope, survival is tested along with woman’s strength, individuality Vs. Society and the multiplying effects of selfishness. Times are hard and people are challenged by the force of time. As the Joad family is in California they are hit by a massive rain storm, the storm causes the Joads to lose there car and run for shelter. Not only is there day bad enough but Rose of Sharon loses her baby at birth.…

    • 280 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    preacher stay back to fix the car. Risking the possibility that the scrap yard may not be…

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Dust Bowl that occurred in the 1930’s along with the Great Depression was one of the lowest times in American history. The novel, The Grapes of Wrath written by John Steinbeck, takes place during this time period. The Grapes of Wrath is told from the perspective of the Joads, who are coerced to leave their home and farm in Oklahoma. The novel documents their journey traveling from Oklahoma to California. The protagonist in this novel, Tom Joad, is first introduced in Chapter 2 when he has to hitch a ride with a truck driver in order to return to his family. From the moment Tom was introduced till the last time he occurs in the novel, one should notice a significant change in his actions and behaviors. Tom Joad goes through a journey of self-change, which in the end turns him into a better person than he was before.…

    • 710 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck took an interesting point of view to America’s Dust Bowl and Westward movement. It is extremely hard to differentiate from condemning America and telling it like it is. When it becomes hard to tell that’s when I look at who eyes he wrote the story through, the poor. With this thought alone the tone was set instantly that Steinbeck was condemning America, however he showed the glimpses of light that celebrated the people of America.…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Grapes of Wrath Essay

    • 897 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the novel "The Grapes of Wrath", George Steinbeck portrays Jim Casy as a Christ-like figure in many ways. This allows us the opportunity to see Casy as an overall better person throughout the entirety of the novel.…

    • 897 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Slavery, a horrific period in our pastime, is one of the best examples in history of oppression and dehumanization to one group of human beings. Slaves were treated very poorly as they endured malnutrition, were whipped, sold away from families, treated like animals and property rather than humans. Their owners tried every way to break their spirits and push them down to the point where they had no spirit left to defy their masters or secede from their authority. But the slaves did not succumb to their oppressors, the slaves did the opposite and gave their masters wrath and together they rose up past the hardships, together they rose up from there bondage and captivity, together they rose up from there drudgery and rebelled. As the owners rules on slave life got harsher to scare them from escaping, the slaves got more courage to escape. And escape they did as many slaves flooded north into freedom, but instead of enjoying and prospering in this new found freedom they united together and created the Underground Railroad to help their brethren risking their new lifestyle for their people. This is the same with the Okies and migrant people as John Steinbeck uses them and the land owners in The Grapes of Wrath to show oppression and hard times drive the oppressed to not breakdown, but to unite.…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Dust Bowl Odyssey

    • 921 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Grapes of Wrath recounts the story of the Great Depression in Southwest America. By the mid-1930s, the drought had destroyed multitudes of farm families, and America had fallen into the Great Depression. Unable to pay their mortgages or invest in the kinds of industrial equipment now required, many Dust Bowl farmers were forced to leave their land. Without employment, thousands of families traveled to California in hopes of finding new means of survival. But the farm country of California quickly became overcrowded with the migrant workers.…

    • 921 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The dust bowl was a tragic time in America for so many families and John Steinbeck does a great job at getting up-close and personal with one family to show these tragedies. In the novel, “The Grapes of Wrath”, John Steinbeck employed a variety of rhetorical devices, such as asyndeton, personification and simile, in order to persuade his readers to enact positive change from the turmoil of the Great Depression. Throughout the novel, Steinbeck tells the fictional narrative of Tom Joad and his family, while exploring social issues and the hardships of families who had to endure the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Steinbeck’s purpose was to challenge readers to look at the harsh realities around them for “the purpose of improvement”. The rhetorical strategies used in the “Grapes of Wrath” elicit a deeper understanding from its readers for the hardships these migrants faced and helped them to fight for a better way. (John Steinbeck, "Banquet Speech," Nobel Foundation, http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1962/steinbeck-speech.html, Accessed 30 August 2013.)…

    • 1767 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The year of 1902 in Salinas, California, John Steinbeck was born. At the time many did not and would not think much of him for several years; however, he would eventually grow to become one of the most influential authors of his and our time. The works Of MIce and Men and The Grapes of Wrath are still read in schools today, forever immortalizing his work and his thoughts on how life was during the Great Depression and the dust bowl. Seeing how long his works have survived for truly shows his skills and how well done his books are.…

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Grapes Of Wrath

    • 962 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Grapes of Wrath, describes the difficulty of migrant labors during the Great Depression. Written by, John Steinbeck, this novel went on to receive many awards. Generally viewed as Steinbeck's best and most striving novel, The Grapes of Wrath was published in 1939. Stating the story of an expelled Oklahoma family and their fight to form a reestablished life in California at the peak of the Great Depression, the book captures the sorrow and anguish of the land throughout this time-period. The bank forecloses on the Joads land, so they decide to move west in search of new jobs. Though the Joads travel west in expectations of creating a restored life, the American Dream avoids them, their journey to California proves to be sorrowful and disappointing.…

    • 962 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Grapes Of Wrath Argument

    • 1528 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Throughout life are untold dangers and unnumbered hardships. With every new day comes change, and with every change, big or small, there is a new obstacle to be conquered. Sure, some obstacles are petty pebbles on the road, but some are boulders blocking the path to your destination. In these particular situations, you bond with others sharing your experience and begin to realize, you cannot move forward by yourself. Around you, families pile up and gather around. What you lack, another may have and vice-versa. Suddenly what was his is yours and what was yours…

    • 1528 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Most people go on a pilgrimage to have a better life. They search for happiness, success, a new life. They want to set these new plans and goals to reach what they yearn for. They have dreams. Part of having a better life is pursuing the dreams you have. The "Grapes of Wrath" , "Into the Wild", and my family were all trying to pursue a dream that they lounged for while on a pilgrimage to someplace new.…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Steinbeck was born in 1902 in Salinas, California. The region of Salinas later became the setting of many of his stories, including Of Mice and Men. When he was a teenager he spent many summers workings as a ranch-hand on neighboring ranches. He went to Stanford University in 1919 and left without earning his degree. He later finished his first novel, Cup of Gold which was an adventurous story that was published in 1926. Success came to Steinbeck when he wrote his novel Tortilla Flat which was published in 1935. Most of Steinbeck’s work deals with the journey of the desperately poor California wanders. He wrote three more novels that dealt with the California wanders, Dubious Battle in 1936,…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    John Steinbeck lead a life filled with words, from his award winning novels to the hundreds letters he wrote to friends during his career. He was born in Salinas, California on February 27, 1902, and lived there for the first sixteen years of his life until he graduated from Salinas High School in 1918. He took classes at Stanford, but spent more of his college years working to pay tuition than then he spent in the classroom. 1924 brought his first publication, two short stories in the Standford Spectator, but in 1925 he left his schooling and went to New York for a time. By 1926, he was back in California and his first book, Cup of Gold, was published the year the of great stock market crash, but had little success. In 1930, he married Carol Henning, and the two lived in Pacific Grove, CA for the next several years. These years were lean; Steinbeck was having trouble selling his work, even with the help of his literary agents, McIntosh and Otis. Often, selling a short story for 50$ or so was the difference between eating or not.…

    • 3648 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays