Comparing Steinbeck's Standard In The Grapes Of Wrath And The Road

The Steinbeck Standard
In two differing stories of departure, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and The Road by Cormac McCarthy, Steinbeck’s standard for a writer is met by the raw human emotions exhibited in the main characters’ success and defeat.
Steinbeck meets his standard by celebrating the migrant workers’ drive and sense of community in the face of the Great Depression. The Joad family and many others, are dedicated to conquering all odds: “[t]hus they changed their social life–changed as in the whole universe only man can change” (Steinbeck 196). There are no other options available for these tenant families than to take the trek to California in hopes of finding work. The fears they once had about droughts and floods now lingered with

anything that might halt their westward crawl (196). Even with the banks and businesses throwing out these farmers, “[there is ]...the little screaming fact that sounds through all history: repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed” (238). This description of people coincides with man’s greatness as expressed in Steinbeck’s quote. Instead of staying depressed in this Depression, the people rally behind one another, proving that man will not merely give up but will take the chance to restart their lives. They had the yellow advertisement of work but there was no guarantee for a better life. Each family was in the same situation of uncertainty and thus, no one family can or wants to make it on their own. With the courage and compassion to trust the common–man, the families work alongside one another, igniting the literal campfire at night and the fire of faith to pursue onward in the morning. Gradually “leaders emerged,” “laws were made,” and “codes came into being” for the families moving westwards learned how to live cooperatively on the sides of the roads (194). In these expressions of humility, the families represent a unit of strength in the forces of callous capitalism. The private owners and the bank have stripped these people of their possessions, not their humanity; this can be seen as the author describes, “[i]n the evening a strange thing happened: the twenty families became one family; the children were the children of all. The loss of home became one loss, and the golden time in the West was one dream” (193). It is heroic how the migrants are not filled with evil intentions towards the businesses. Instead, they take a practical approach by working together with these businesses to keep each other afloat.
Furthermore, Steinbeck exemplifies the necessary qualities for writing more specifically in his development of Tom and Casy. Unable to label himself as a preacher, Casy epitomizes Jesus Christ in his observant nature and desire to help others. Casy states when he says grace for the Joads, “I’m glad there’s love here” (81). It is this love that keeps these families going day after day. To continue, by taking the blame for Tom when he assaults an officer, he changes Tom into a social activist himself. The two of them did more than wish to make a living in California, they attempted to stop the police force and businesses from taking advantage of the migrant workers. Through this, Steinbeck connects back to his point about the bonding of the average man. Casy and Tom want to provide justice for the migrant people because of the strong connection they have. In bettering the life of just one person, there is one less person subjected to discrimination. As their spirit of equality begins to rub off on other individuals, the workers are defying the very defeat the higher power outlined for them. This harsh reality of financial strains, starvation, and a vulnerable income did more than celebrate man: it embodied the characteristics of humanity. The workers proved the adaptability, intuition, and kindness that defines man in contrast to the big businesses. Both groups of people –worker and employer– were striving to make money, but only one proved to fit the definition of a man. Steinbeck reiterates this point in noticing, “[t]he people on flight from the terror behind [had] strange things happen to them, some bitterly cruel and some so beautiful that the faith is refired forever” (122). In this harsh reality, mans’ attitude through the ups and downs is able to stay courageous and compassionate because of Steinbeck’s realistic approach to his storyline.
McCarthy does the same by focusing on a father–son relationship that balances one another during the world’s collapse. It can be inferred that the father’s goal to reach the ocean is intent on finding someone to take care of his son. He knows he is dying–from constantly coughing up blood–but also that there are more threats of starvation and “bad guys” on the road (McCarthy 92). The father’s will to survive and innate intuition proves man’s great capacity as Steinbeck notes. The father has an indefinite love for his son so strong, that he views the boy as God. The first words spoken by the man in The Road are: “[i]f he is not the word of God God never spoke” (5). As the novel progresses, this notion of the boy as his warrant justifies the father’s inability to pull the trigger on himself or his son. The same human love in The Grapes of Wrath is required to survive in this post–apocalypse: something his wife instructs him on, even though she could not do it herself. As she states, “[t]he one thing I can tell you is that you wont survive for yourself. I know because I would never have come this far. A person who had no one would be well advised to cobble together some passable ghost” (57). For his physical and mental wellbeing, he needs to keep the strength of their relationship alive to feel like they still have a purpose and not end their lives right then and there like the mother did. The love of two individuals is enough when the remainder of society has forgotten what love is.
Moreover, with only a tattered map and a sense of direction, the man and boy are able to stay optimistic that they will not die a gruesome death. With the previous world obliterated, the spirit of man Steinbeck refers to would presumably of been obliterated as well within the remaining human population. But, McCarthy contrasts the civilized man and boy with the few people they encounter to highlight their gifts of mind and spirit. Instead of succumbing to animalistic and barbaric qualities, Papa turns the other cheek to care for his son in a proper manner. The father encourages them forward by insisting that they are the good guys, who will not take the savage route, “[t]his is what the good guys do. They keep trying. They dont give up” (137). He scavenges the landscape to look for resources instead of attacking someone else for theirs.
The boy also presents as a moral compass for the father.

He always wants to help someone else in need before himself, whereas the father is only concerned about their own personal wellbeings. He “is the one” who worries about their ethical choices and wants to help a stranger in any way he can (259). McCarthy proves the importance of the boy’s spirit of love for other people when his dad dies and he must take the leap of faith to continue along the road with a new family. Despite all the corrupted people they encountered beforehand, the boy meets someone who is “carrying the fire” (129). This mantra by the father and son, symbolizes hope and humanity. The qualities Steinbeck labels for a writer to create in his writings can be summed up in “carrying the fire” since the two never did give up. It is the greatness of the heart and spirit Steinbeck notes that is “inside [them]. [And] [i]t [is] always there” (279). It is noteworthy that even in the midst of death and ashes, the two are able to hold onto their relationship and sanity. The “good guys” can continue to carry meaning and structure in their lives, even in a time where society turned into a battle to survive on the remnants of

life.
In Steinbeck’s work of a real–life event and McCarthy’s work of a tangible event, the authors make their stories fully human by developing the characters into driven and loving people. The main characters prevail over the power of evil to benefit their lives in the best way they deem possible. Steinbeck’s manifestation of lower–class helping the lower class when no one else will and McCarthy’s expression of a good father and son duo, embody Steinbeck’s regulation that, “[t]he writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man’s proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit–for gallantry in defeat, for courage, compassion, and love.”