Grapes Of Wrath Sparknotes

In The Grapes of Wrath Tom Joad is released from an Oklahoma state prison after serving four years after being convicted of manslaughter, Tom is trying to make his way back to his family’s farm in Oklahoma. He meets Jim Casy, a former preacher who actually baptized Tom when he was younger. Jim gave up his calling to be a pastor because of a belief that all life is holy, even the parts that are usually thought to be sinful. Jim goes with Tom back to his home. They finds it, and all the surrounding farms, deserted. He sees his old neighbor, Muley Graves, wanders by and tells the men that everyone has been “tractored” off the land. Muley tells then that most of the families including his own, have left for California to look for jobs. The next

morning, Tom and Jim go out for Tom’s Uncle John’s, where Muley tells them they will find the Joad family. After they get to Uncle John’s, Tom finds Ma and Pa Joad packing up their few possessions. After they saw advertisement of fruit-picking jobs in California, they decide to take the trip to California as their one and only hope of bettering their lives, but end up getting caught in a sand storm.
The Grapes of Wrath takes place during the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s, opening on an Oklahoma landscape where the sun is severe, crops scarce.

Tom Joad heads to his family’s farm after being released from prison. He learns that his family has been evicted from the property, which explains why the house has fallen into disrepair, with the building off its foundation, the fences gone, the outhouse tipped, and cotton growing haphazardly.Tom finds the family at Uncle John’s cramped home as they prepare for a long journey to California in search of work, a journey many others are also taking. The attachment to the Oklahoma land is so strong for Grampa Joad that he cannot bear to leave it, dying shortly after being removed from his longtime

environment.
The author of The Grapes of Wrath is John Steinbeck.

Steinbeck was born in 1902, in Salinas, California. He came from a middle class family. Steinbeck worked his way through college at Stanford University but never actually graduated. He wrote this book in 1939. The title of the book is from The Battle Hymn of the Republic by Julia Howe as seen in these verses, “Mine eyes have seen the coming of the glory of the Lord, He is trampling on the vintage where The Grapes of Wrath are stored.” The song can be interpreted as a plea to God to bring justice to the world. I think that is what John Steinbeck was trying to do, show the world there needs more justice and some people aren't treated as fair as others. He was trying to sway the American people's opinions. The book says a lot about the American Dream. The time period is right in the middle of the Great Depression. We see the American Dream come out as we follow the Joad family as they search for work in the midst of the Great Depression. All they want is a happy life. They travel from Oklahoma to California just to find a job picking fruit to support their

family.
The Grapes of Wrath really opens your eyes to how bad the families of this time period were in desperate need of work, there wasn't unemployment, no one had money, They would travel as far as they needed just to be promised a job to buy a home and to make a better life for themselves.
One part of the book that will always stick with me is when Tom went back to his home after getting released from prison, and he found it deserted. That just makes me feel bad for him, because he expected to find his family and make a life of himself, but instead when he got there it was completely empty.
The second part is at the very end, it’s definitely etched in my mind. It’s the image of Rose of Sharon nursing the half-starved man with her breast milk in the barn, it's a little uncomfortable, but at the same time she really wanted to save his life and knew this would be the only way. Even though the joads all know it going to be hard, they are all so excited for Rose of Sharon's baby. Babies represent new life, a fresh start, and they usually bring family together. And the fact that Rose of Sharon's baby does not survive shows just how bad their situation is, and just how unendurable conditions are in California. When she sees the starving man she doesn't just wallow in her self pity after losing her baby. She instead takes initiative, and goes ahead and uses something that was for her baby to help the man, knowing it will be no use for the baby anymore. I know that had to of been hard for both the starving man and Rose of Sharron, probably embarrassing and shameful. I can't help but think about second chances, and the kindness that people have where they put someone else's needs in front of their own, it's a good life lesson.
Even though this isn't a true story, it's still historically accurate. People were starving and the times were very hard. And people were definitely struggling. It lets the generations after the great depression think and appreciate how hard their ancestors had it. It makes us thankful for how strong they were and how they never let things concur them, they believed they could make a better life for themselves, and didn't just sit back and depend on others to make the situation easier. The Grapes of Wrath makes us show gratitude for everything our ancestors had to go through to make our lives easier.