Change Is In the Wind: An Analysis of The Grapes of Wrath
Metathesiophobia is the persistent, abnormal, and unwarranted fear of change. The fear of change is exceptionally common in majority of the population. People become comfortable with routines and when that routine is threatened, whether they fear change or not will affect how they react to the situation at stake. Man needs control of their life and change takes that away, causing insecurity. Hence, insecurity is a common emotion behind metathesiophobia. This long, complicated word is the base of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath.
An exceptionally clear example of how metathesiophobia is displayed in The Grapes of Wrath is in chapter twenty one. Steinbeck describes the citizens of California to be defensive and hostile towards the Okies. They are afraid the Okies will take over everything because they are willing to work for smaller wages. These people coming into their towns are hungry and desperate for anything that can help them survive. The townspeople do not own the land, but they work and have debts. They are frightened by the hunger-filled desperation of these nomads because they know that these families will do their job for almost
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free. They are threatened by the nomads and are ready to defend what is theirs. The Californians have their way of living and they know that the Okies presence will alter that state of living, striking fear into them. This fear of change also goes hand in hand with the division of social classes.
This materializes in chapter twenty one and also in chapter fourteen. The situation in chapter fourteen is similar to that of chapter twenty one. California is nervous as change begins with the Okies starting to trickle in to their towns. The owners try to blame these changes on things like the growing labor movement or new taxes. A gradual appearance of social consciousness begins and shifts from being all about the individuals to the group in general. The families that are travelling and struggling to survive beg for something to change so that they can continue to live. However, the families that have secure homes and work are terrified of the change that will come with the
travelers. Change has also been specific to the individual characters. They each go on their own journey within themselves, exploring the changes in their worlds and in themselves. At one point in the story the Grandpa Joad dies and the family is completely reluctant to the changes that have been made when it comes to death. The law requires them to have a mortician collect the body and give a proper burial, along with fees and paper work. The Joads could not accept this change and insisted on burying their grandpa because they believe that the tradition, that sons bury their fathers, is their birthright. Although as the story progresses they make less of an effort to bury their loved ones. When it comes to the end when Rose of Sharon baby is stillborn they don’t seem to be affected by it anymore. The child isn’t buried or given any last words of any kind. It seems to just happen in a blink of an eye and is just accepted.
People just don’t seem to give up, they continue fighting till the very end rather than lay down and succumb to the challenge faced. In “The Grapes of Wrath”, John Steinbeck uses symbolism and religious allusions as unifying devices to illustrate the indomitable nature of the human spirit.
San Francisco would arise into the “importer, the banker, the market” and the “great financial and commercial centre of all the Pacific coasts and countries” (300). Trade opportunities with other countries would be created and an increase in economic success would surface. Although there are many benefits, there are also some major drawbacks with the arrival of the railroad. George says, the state of California has a chance to grow rapidly, however the “aggregated population and wealth of the State will diminish rather than increase” (298). In spite of the new era being greater, richer and more powerful than the California in the past, some major economic transformations would be seen in the state. In the past, California did not have a rich class, nor a poor class. “With the expansion of the railroad, the State will become a better system for some social classes than it was in the past, but it will also be far worse for others.” ( ). People who are rich would become wealthier, while poorer people would have a harder time acquiring wealth. For instance, those who already own land, business, etc., will become richer. While people with their own labor, will become poorer and find it harder
The opening scene’s setting gives a premise to the overall gloomy and dusty lifestyles of the Okies. The whole time period is already gloomy from the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, but the description of the bland Oklahoma landscape is sad. Steinbeck even wrote about dust like it was an ominous homewrecker. Dust and the wind and the elements in general are given all of the power in this chapter and in future chapters. Such dominant influence of nature suggests the family structure of the Joads and other Okies to be unstable. The environment governs the family, making them move, causing them to seek jobs due to poor land and subsequent lack of work.
Although both the novel and movie form of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath are considered to be American classics, the novel provides a deeper understanding of the story's time and meaning. Absent from the film, the novel's interchapters provide a greater understanding of the time in which The Grapes of Wrath takes place. First, in the movie it is unclear why the Joads are forced to abandon their farm. It is described very briefly by Muley Graves, leaving the audience in a state of confusion. However, in the novel, Chapter 5 explains exactly why the farmers are forced to leave. In this interchapter, Steinbeck uses a dialogue between a farmer and a representative from a bank; the farmer is forced to leave because the bank, or the"Monster" as Steinbeck says, needs to make a profit, and if the farmer cannot produce any goods to pay off debts, then the bank forecloses the land. This happened to many farmers in the 1930's due to a dr...
... for the Joads and a burning hatred against the greedy landowners who crushed the hearts of the destitute. It establishes a desire for the unloved land owned by selfish landowners. The once comforting scenery is instead spiked with an intense lust for the land and an ensuing hatred for those who own it. But still, the Joads held on to a stubborn hope, the only comfort they had and the only reason they continued to fight. A quote from Chapter 20 of The Grapes of Wrath explains this, “Why, Tom - us people will go on livin' when all them people is gone. Why, Tom, we're the people that live. They ain't gonna wipe us out. Why, we're the people - we go on.” (Steinbeck 359) Steinbeck’s writing style effectively develops these opinions of the readers, preserving the sympathy for the migrant workers for years to come. (Shmoop Editorial Team, "The Grapes of Wrath Analysis")
California society, and people as individuals, could not decide whether they relished their newfound freedom or despised it. Some people attempted to recreate the lives they knew at home, while many others threw off the shackles of their old proper lives. Victorian culture emerged in the 1820’s and 1830’s in America. At 1850, the time of the Gold Rush, it was at it’s high point. Anyone who came to California from the states, no matter what their position, would have come from a place influenced by the Victorian way of life. This included strict ideas about the roles of men and women, taboos on drinking and gambling, high value set on hard work, Christian ethics, and ethnic prejudices.2 People who came to California experienced something quite different.
In John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath”, the American cultural mainsteam ideas on capitalism, religion. During the great depression, as the dust bowl struck the Midwest, many people fell on extreme hard times and began to question cultural assumptions in America. Tom Joad represents the socialist counter-culture emerging in America, while Casy represents the movement away from a more traditionalistic religious identity, expressing his belief that there is no heaven or hell, and discussing the concept of a shared soul.
“There’s something in our world that makes men lose their minds,...” (Lee 295). That something is fear, an emotion that is never wanted. Fear is a major motivator in the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, it encouraged the townspeople, Aunt Alexandra and Mayella to make some very bad decisions. The townsfolk joined the wrong crowd and prolonged racism in Maycomb. It caused Aunt Alexandra to stop people to be themselves and Mayella to accuse an innocent man of rape.
Prejudice is a strong word. It is the kind of word that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. One of Steinbeck's themes in the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, is the prejudice against the migrant workers by the financially established Californians. Steinbeck provides four clear examples of prejudice; the man whose children died of starvation, the fishing story, the California police officer and the history of the Californians.
In John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family and the changing world in which they live is portrayed from a naturalistic point of view. Steinbeck characterizes the Joads and their fellow migrants as simple, instinct-bound creatures who are on an endless search for paradise (Owens 129). The migrants and the powers which force them to make their journey--nature and society--are frequently represented by animals. The Joads, when they initially leave home, are a group of simplistic, animal-like people who barely understand or even realize their plight, but as the story progresses, they begin to grow and adapt to their new circumstances. They evolve from a small, insignificant group of creatures with no societal consciousness into a single member of a much larger family--society.
...he rest of the world views California as the “ideal place to live.” However, if California continues to infringe the negative, discriminatory political view its immigrants, the “California Dream” will no longer subsist.
In the words of Bertrand Russell, “Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom” (Russell). Fear causes many problems in our lives. Fear influences many of a person’s actions and decisions. However, people usually regret the decisions or actions they made out of fear. Also, these actions and decisions can cause problems for those people in their future. Fear is a harmful emotion, for it clouds people’s judgement, disables them from taking action, and causes them to make decisions that they will regret later.
Since 1848 to the present, California has had strong periods of representing the American Dream with its egalitarian advances and times of overwhelmingly democratic positions. Also, California was once a place for economic opportunity, attracting people from all over the nation. Since 1990, however, California has witnessed a reverse migration. Once a land of hope and opportunity, California has slowly been turning into a land of despair.
Los Angeles is unique in that it captures the essence of a multi-ecological setting bringing the ocean, the skyscraper, and the happiest place on earth under one rooftop. Its deep-rooted culture engulfs the city’s character and overwhelms the spirit of L.A. Los Angeles has encompassed the circle of the Mexican pueblo that began in 1848 and has returned over two hundred fifty years later. Hordes of “land hungry Anglo-Europeans” began to migrate to Los Angeles from various parts of Europe. They viciously took land from the inhabited Mexicans by fraud, force, and imposing ridiculous property taxes. Although Mexican rancheros fought gallantly for their land, they could not afford to pay the property taxes and as a result lost a vast part of their holdings. The Mexican ranchero lifestyle gradually vanished as new settlers took over. As the Anglo-whites became the majority in Los Angeles, they also became the major influence on the development of the city and its capitalist structure.
After World War I, rural America had lost more than 30% of their value, homes foreclosed, factories idle, millions without work, and families in need of basic necessities. Then the Dust Bowls of the Texas and Oklahoma panhandle added more misery to the fading economy. Farms abandoned and Americans from the Midwest started their migration to California seeking to find work or anything to sustain their families. However, the influx of people further exasperated the crumbling job market. Americans against Americans, an ugly scene occurred at the State’s border. California State Representatives alarmed at the ever-increasing migration, issued orders to stop the itinerants at the State border – no Okies or Arkies allowed to enter California’s border. In 1937, California passed the “Anti-Okies Law” forbidding any person, agent, or corporation from providing aid or help to indigent person not a resident to California.