Struggle for Survival in the Grapes of Wrath
Struggle for Survival in The Grapes of Wrath
The 1930s were a time of hardship for many across the United States. Not only was the Great Depression making it difficult for families to eat every day, but the Dust Bowl swept through the plains states making it nearly impossible to farm the land in which they relied. John Steinbeck saw how the Dust Bowl affected farmers, primarily the tenant farmers, and journeyed to California after droves of families. These families were dispossessed from the farms they had worked for years, if not generations (Mills 388). Steinbeck was guided by Tom Collins, the real-life model for the Weedpatch camp’s manager Jim Rawley, through one of the federal migrant worker camps. He was able to see for himself, from the migrants’ perspective, the living conditions to which they were subjected and later used the information to detail the lives of the Joad family in The Grapes of Wrath (Mills 389). Rebecca Hinton points out in her essay on the novel that “formerly tenant farmers with relative security and independence, they soon become migrant laborers at the mercy of the rich, struggling to maintain their pride” (101). In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck uses realism, allegory, and a change in values to show the intense struggle the common person went through to survive during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression after the rise of corporate and industrial capitalism.
Although The Grapes of Wrath is a work of fiction, Steinbeck writes to inform the public about information gathered from fact. His use of realism and authentic voice give shape to the characters and their common struggle. Steinbeck points out that one of the primary causes of the dispossession of tenant farmers is the fault of “the bank—the monster” and tractors taking “the place of twelve or fourteen families” (32-33). Likewise, Trent Keough writes in “The Dystopia Factor” that “The Grapes [of Wrath] investigate[s] the social phenomena of a transitional period in
The 1930s were a time of hardship for many across the United States. Not only was the Great Depression making it difficult for families to eat every day, but the Dust Bowl swept through the plains states making it nearly impossible to farm the land in which they relied. John Steinbeck saw how the Dust Bowl affected farmers, primarily the tenant farmers, and journeyed to California after droves of families. These families were dispossessed from the farms they had worked for years, if not generations (Mills 388). Steinbeck was guided by Tom Collins, the real-life model for the Weedpatch camp’s manager Jim Rawley, through one of the federal migrant worker camps. He was able to see for himself, from the migrants’ perspective, the living conditions to which they were subjected and later used the information to detail the lives of the Joad family in The Grapes of Wrath (Mills 389). Rebecca Hinton points out in her essay on the novel that “formerly tenant farmers with relative security and independence, they soon become migrant laborers at the mercy of the rich, struggling to maintain their pride” (101). In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck uses realism, allegory, and a change in values to show the intense struggle the common person went through to survive during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression after the rise of corporate and industrial capitalism.
Although The Grapes of Wrath is a work of fiction, Steinbeck writes to inform the public about information gathered from fact. His use of realism and authentic voice give shape to the characters and their common struggle. Steinbeck points out that one of the primary causes of the dispossession of tenant farmers is the fault of “the bank—the monster” and tractors taking “the place of twelve or fourteen families” (32-33). Likewise, Trent Keough writes in “The Dystopia Factor” that “The Grapes [of Wrath] investigate[s] the social phenomena of a transitional period in
Cited: Hinton, Rebecca. "Steinbeck 's The Grapes of Wrath." Explicator 56.2 (1998): 101-103. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 28 July 2011. Keough, Trent. "The Dystopia Factor: Industrial Capitalism in Sybil and The Grapes of Wrath." Utopian Studies 4.1 (1993): 38-54. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 28 July 2011. Mills, Nicolaus. "Book Notes." Nation 248.11 (1989): 388-390. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 28 July 2011. Motley, Warren. "From Patriarchy to Matriarchy: Ma Joad 's Role in the Grapes of Wrath." American Literature 54.3 (1982): 397-412. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 28 July 2011. Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin Group, Inc., 2006. Print. Wypijewski, JoAnn, Grace Schulman, and Carol O 'Cleireacain. "Editorials: The True Legislators." Nation May 1989: 577. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 28 July 2011.