Exploring Journey Themes in The Grapes of Wrath

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Journey Theme in The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath is a novel that can be read on many levels. The concept of a journey is evident at every level of interpretation, from its most simple, the journey of the poor Joads travelling from Oklahoma to California, to a complex one where it is a spiritual journey ......... In painting a literary portrait of the plight of itinerant farm workers called Okies, Steinbeck describes to America what he perceives as an unjust society. ........ Steinbeck uses the idea of the journey as one of the many themes of this novel, whether it be a spiritual, mental or physical journey. Consciousness comes in stages so the structure brings stages of awareness. ....... At a deeper level of reading, Casy exemplifies a journey of the spirit. He is a former preacher, ........ Perhaps it is more than a coincidence that his initials are also JC. By the end of their physical journey, the Joads have almost lost their family identity. However they have replaced it with something equally worthwhile: they have found kinship with other migrant families........ Journey demonstrates themes. When isolated families fuse with one another, a larger family, a family of Man develops. Numerous characters and events in The Grapes of Wrath help....... Thus the journey structure serves Steinbeck very well. It enables him to show the Joads' progress as a family into the wider family of migrants, suggesting humanity's direction for the better......

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