John Steinbeck uses symbolism to enrich his writing. Several of these symbols can be found in his book, The Grapes of Wrath. The Joad’s, a family from Oklahoma, are in search of a better life. They leave their home in journey to California because of the dust bowl. The symbols in the book are the dust, the turtle, names of people, and the grapes. These symbols give the reader an additional perspective of the book. Dust represents life and death. Dust makes a mess of things and leaves possessions under a mucky film. The farming in Oklahoma becomes difficult because the heavy winds uplift the soil and carry it great distances. Then the farmers are left with no soil to grow their crops. The Joad’s livelihood depends on the soil. If the soil is rich, then it will feed hundreds. But if the soil is dry, it destroys crops and causes famine. The dust covers Oklahoma and leaves the Joad family with no other choice, but to move. The Joad’s journey to California is as slow as a turtle. Heat in the desert, car problems, and the death of the grandparents make the journey long and painful. A turtle shelters himself by pulling his head, legs, and tail inside his shell. The Joad’s gather together as a family to comfort and shelter themselves. A turtle feels safe when it enters his shell and the Joad’s feel safe when they gather as a family. There is symbolic significance in the names of characters throughout The Grapes of Wrath. Tom, one of the main characters, is hitchhiking home when he stumbles upon a preacher by the name of Jim Casey. Jim baptized Tom, but now he is no longer preaching because he has found that everything is holy and man needs no preacher. His initials are J.C. which are the same as Jesus Christ. Jim shows similar characteristics to Jesus Christ. He sacrifices himself for Tom. Tom has caused a deputy to loose his suspect and is said to be under arrest, but Casey steps in and takes the blame. “It was me, alright” (p.364). Casey is taken by two deputies, but appears to be proud because he knows he has done the right thing. “Between his guards Casey sat proudly, his head up and the stringy muscles of his neck prominent” (p.364). He gives up his freedom so the Joad’s can accomplish their dreams as a family. Tom then meets Muley Graves, an old neighbor. Muley shows animal like characteristics and acts like a mule. Just like a mule, Muley is stubborn. ...
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...ouldn’t share. “So Ruthie got mad an’ chased ‘em, an’ she fit one, an’ then she fit another, an’ then one big girl got up an’ licked her” (p.563). Although she appears to be strong in reality she is weak . Grapes are the fruit of the vine; something sweet. But in actuality for the Joad’s they are a disappointment. The Joad’s talk about them as being this wonderful fruit that will bring them a better life. They will pick the grapes and earn money. But as they stare at the open fields they realize that it is all just a dream. There are no grapes. They continuously think of the grapes as an escape from their depression. The grapes would be so fruitful that they would be able to bathe in the sweetness, but in their case it turns out completely different. Discussing the symbols of the dust, the turtle, the names, and the grapes makes the reader aware of another aspect of the story. The reader is able to realize just how well Steinbeck is able to bring his stories to life. As a reader you learn to appreciate his style of writing. Once you read his books you realize that he is not only a author, but an artist too.
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the symbols in the Grapes of Wrath
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The Grapes of Wrath explicates on the Dust Bowl era as the reader follows the story of the Joads in the narrative chapters, and the migrants in expository chapters. Steinbeck creates an urgent tone by using repetition many times throughout the book. He also tries to focus readers on how the Dust Bowl threatened migrant dreams using powerful imagery. As well as that, he creates symbols to teach the upper class how the Dust Bowl crushed the people’s goals. In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck utilizes imagery, symbolism, and repetition to demonstrate how the Dust Bowl threatened the “American Dream.”
The turtle is a metaphor for the working class farmers whose stories and struggles are recounted in The Grapes of Wrath. In Chapter 3, the turtle plods along dutifully, but is consistently confronted with danger and setbacks. Significantly, the dangers posed to the turtle are those of modernity and business. It is the intrusion of cars and the building of highways that endanger the turtle. The truck that strikes it is a symbol of big business and commerce. “The turtle entered a dust road and jerked itself along, drawing a wavy shallow trench in the dust with its shell” (pg 21) shows that the Joad family that will soon be introduced will experience similar travails as the turtle, as they plod along wishing only to survive, yet are brutally pushed aside by corporate interests.
Along with Jim Casy and Uncle John, Tom Joad secures redemption by leaving to protect his family, promising to continue Casy’s legacy, and developing into a stronger character who aspires to restore justice to the migrants, despite his previous nonchalant attitude toward his crime. Initially, Tom Joad has no inclination for absolution, remarking, “I’d do what I done again...I killed a guy in a fight, knocked his head to plumb to squash” (Steinbeck 35). His words indicate his feelings about his crime, and reveal his apathetic and uncaring persona. However, Tom’s attitude shifts when he kills another man shortly after Casy’s death, and “did not sleep. The nerves of his wounded face came back to life...to shake him” (Steinbeck 528). This foreshadows
Early in the novel, Steinbeck presents a direct contrast to the Joads, Muley Graves. Muley Graves’ name and actions accurately portray Steinbeck’s idea of a man resistant to change and fearful of new challenges. The name of this character has a distinct significance. The first name Muley can be related to mule, and then linked to the saying “stubborn as a mule”. By analyzing this name further, the reader can determine that Graves also has a meaning. Grave is symbolic to grief or death, both of which this character endures. Meaningful actions could only follow a name of such significance, and this is true with this character. Even though Muley’s family has left him for “easy livin’ “ in California, he refuses to get off “his” land. By refusing to leave for pride reasons, Steinbeck tries to justify Muley’s stubbornness when he is really terrified of leaving his land and having to change his life style. Muley’s refusal to adapt results in him being transformed into an animal with hi...
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is considered a classic novel by many in the literary field. The trials and tribulations of the Joad family and other migrants is told throughout this novel. In order to gain a perspective into the lives of "Oakies", Steinbeck uses themes and language of the troubling times of the Great Depression. Some of these aspects are critiqued because of their vulgarity and adult nature. In some places, The Grapes of Wrath has been edited or banned. These challenges undermine Steinbeck's attempts to add reality to the novel and are unjustified.
It is said that immigrants come to this country for a better life, then that is what they should try to do for themselves. In most cases they just end up working low-paying, dead end jobs. If you come to america for a better life then you should put forth the effort to better yourself rather than just barely scraping by. Most immigrants tend to work the manual labor jobs that do not require a lot of other human interaction. “ While U.S. government mounds its huge effort to stop people from entering the country illegally, many American employers continually show their eagerness to give them jobs.” (Crest 72) Many immigrants use government assistance such as welfare and food stamps. Immigrants using government assistance tends to anger people because they feel like illegals are using the taxes that they pay to live their life while not paying taxes on their own. Trump suggests building a wall but I do not believe that will work very well at warding off the influx of immigrants, they will find other ways of entering our great country. Some argue that immigrants do the jobs that most Americans would not want to do themselves, at a much lower pay rate. Often illegals are paid under the minimum wage because employers do not have to register them as employees. Many illegals are often seen working in the construction business, gardening, roofing, concrete work, house cleaning, etc. This is because most of those are hard work or thought of as blue collar work that often does not pay enough to support a family. This being, they often have to work more than the average native born
The Grapes of Wrath combines Steinbeck adoration of the land, his simple hatred of corruption resulting from materialism (money) and his abiding faith in the common people to overcome the hostile environment. The novel opens with a retaining picture of nature on rampage. The novel shows the men and women that are unbroken by nature. The theme is one of man verses a hostile environment. His body destroyed but his spirit is not broken. The method used to develop the theme of the novel is through the use of symbolism. There are several uses of symbols in the novel from the turtle at the beginning to the rain at the end. As each symbol is presented through the novel they show examples of the good and the bad things that exist within the novel.
Police brutality is hypocrisy; as the police are meant to protect society from harm, not cause further damage and stress. Police should be trained properly so they do not resort to violence and abuse of power. Many cases of police brutality and not sanctioned and are undertaken by a group of police as a form of "mob mentality". Police are placed on a pedestal of authority and respect by the rest of society. To maintain this image, rules and codes of ethics within the police force should be maintained at all possible times. If police are using brutality to resolve issues, it doesn't set much of an example of dispute resolution between individuals. Over the past decade police abuse remains one of the most serious human rights violation in the United States. Police officers are trusted and expected to respect society as a whole and enforce the law. There is a time a place for aggressive force if needed, apprehending a suspect, however the environment and situation might influence the moment thus resulting in the brutal and barbaric behavior from the cop. The important thing to do is to understand the circumstances when excessive force can be used and times where the use of force has to be abstained. Police officers follow a strict guideline in how to handle encounters from escalating into something much more serious. The use of excessive force, in this case police brutality brings liabilities that cannot be taken lightly with the department and the community. Usually the high crime rates tend to revolve around low-income minority areas and officers tend to assume that minorities living in the areas are guilty. Police brutality that does exist is most likely result of emotional exhaustion.
Police brutality is a negative thing to think about everyday about the men and wemon that are supposed to protect and serve they swore to protect and make sure all of the laws are being followed in the past, present, and future. There isn’t anything you can do to stop the bad police officers to protect yourself other then the law that you have to fight to bring justice to the court. The youngest person that has experienced police brutality and lost their life was a 12 year old and the oldest was 65, but more than 100 victims were unknown.
Police brutality gives a sense of distrust in the community, when we cannot trust the people who are supposed to help protect us and uphold justice we lose faith and pride in our nation. It damages the trust between society and law enforcement and trust is a very difficult thing to repair. When society distrusts law enforcement they are less likely to comply to their laws and do what is necessary to help them carry out those laws. For instance, a fellow classmate of mine said she heard gunshots and saw two boys running, minutes later the NYPD showed up, instead of helping the police carry out their investigation by giving them a description she said nothing. This is a result of the distrust she has towards police officers due to all the recent acts of brutality that have had light shed upon
She is clearly not amused at the idea of never seeing the sun, so she sits and pouts. Hades suggest she eat, so that she not misunderstand him and think he were trying to starve her, but she tells him she will not be fooled by his spells. She knows that eating the food of the underworld will condemns one to live there forever. Here is another example of how the text differs from the tale, hades clearly states that “I will swear to you…nothing you eat will bind you to my realm” (D. B. 18). Persephone has mixed thoughts about this, Hades leaves the basket in between them and states that he will sleep, for he has had a long day, and once ‘asleep’ Persephone eats, while he listen to her eat the food the happily falls asleep, then the cave lights go out. The glow of the crystals dim when Hades sleeps and Persephone gets scared until she notices a faint glow above the cave. She then crawls through the opening and manages to leave the cave, thinking it is night and that she has made it outside she walks until she comes face to face with a big dog like lizard, that tries to attack her. Hades notices that she is gone then hears Persephone call out to him and he goes to save her. Nowhere in the myths have I seen that there are creatures like those roaming the underworld, so that is another twist Gellis has added to the
The definition of thankful is expressing gratitude and relief. It is important to be thankful because it shows that we appreciate each other and that we really care about what people do for us. Being thankful brings people closer together because it makes them happy. Within life you have to focus on what you do have instead of what you don´t have. Even if you think something you have is trash, it is actually another person’s treasure. If you have stopped being thankful, you have fallen asleep in life. Being thankful helps make a positive and loving environment. There are things you are going to want and don’t get, but at least you have something. On that note, I am very thankful for school, family time, and my grandparents.
I am also very thankful for my family who has always been there for me and supported me during all
It is important to be thankful because it gives thanks to people. It also shows courtesy and politeness to the person you are saying thanks to. Being thankful shows appreciation for little or big things and it's out of respect to the other person by saying that the whole world does not revolve around you and that everyone is equal. I am thankful for my grandparents, family, and my talent of soccer.
I am thankful for many things, everyday I think of how lucky I am, but today I can only tell you a few of those things. Now if you want to know what those things are then you must keep reading. Oh but the suspense is is getting so strong. Reading this is only gonna take about two minutes, so hopefully you can take some time out of your busy Schedule and continue reading. There are millions of things we all should be thankful for. Just waking up in the morning alive and healthy is something to be extremely thankful for. I am so thankful for friends, family, and dance. You may or may not relate with what I'm saying but you can see how I relate.