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John steinbeck the grape of wrath essay
Parallels in john steinbecks grapes of wrath and his life
An assignment of the grapes of wrath by john steinbeck
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The function and involvement of government has proven to be a topic of criticism in many literary works due to its extensive effects on the people. Both John Steinbeck, in The Grapes of Wrath, and Henry David Thoreau, in “Civil Disobedience,” bring to question the justness and the true goals of the government. Steinbeck and Thoreau discuss the best type of government, how government rights should be enforced, and the effects of government function on society.
Steinbeck and Thoreau both question which form of government is best to govern the people. It is clear that both authors believe that a heavily involved government does more harm to the people than good. Steinbeck believes there is more effectiveness in a government of people, rather than a strong federal government. This becomes clear when the families arrive at the camps and a government is formed in which “leaders emerges, then laws were made, then codes came into being” (Steinbeck 294). He
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illustrates that the people were able to form their own government and run it successfully. This is because the people know and understand the struggles and are able to govern accordingly. Thoreau also believes in a government by the people as “that government is best which governs least” (Thoreau 1). He believes in a government in which the people run, much like Steinbeck. They believe that only the people who experience the struggles, themselves, can create laws that will improve them, whereas the federal government does what is best for itself. Throughout both of their works, Steinbeck and Thoreau illustrate how this is the best way for the people and country to be successful. Another area that Steinbeck and Thoreau express the importance of is how government rights should be enforced. Steinbeck illustrates in his novel that the rules and “rights must be observed- the right of privacy in the tent; the right to keep the past black hidden in the heart; the right to talk and the right to listen…” (Steinbeck 265). The rights of the people should be discovered by them through daily life instead of forced upon them by laws and government officials. Steinbeck feels that this is a more effective way for the citizens to follow and govern themselves. Thoreau differs in his belief of what determines government action in that morals and individual conscience should influence rights and laws. This is made apparent as he obviously criticizes as “most legislators, politicians, lawyers... serve the state chiefly with their heads; as they rarely make any moral decisions” (Thoreau 2). The high-ranking government officials lack morals, or have very little, for if anyone does not agree, they must be wrong. It is necessary for those that run the country to enforce the rights based on morals and what is just. Although Steinbeck and Thoreau may differ in their views of the enforcement of government, they agree in the idea that government should be for the people. The final area of discussion in the works are the effects of government on society.
It is evident that anything the government decides to implement will have a large effect on society and its people. The Grapes of Wrath clearly shows that the effects of a self-government in the society makes the people one, and that “in 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” (Steinbeck 264). He believes that a government for the people creates a sense of unity and that this is the most important effect. Thoreau, however, once again criticizes the current government and claims that it has such a repressing effect on the people to the point that they have “the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government” (Thoreau 3). The effects of the government run by the people brings them together, while the federal government creates rage and rebellion from the
people. Steinbeck and Thoreau discuss the best type of government, how government rights should be enforced, and the effects of government function on society. It is necessary for them to address the clear problems facing their societies in order to propose a better solution. The basis of democracy is a government by the people, for the people, and Steinbeck and Thoreau visibly criticize the current government and their loss of these ideals.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck had many comparisons from the movie and the book. In 1939, this story was to have some of the readers against the ones that kept the American people in poverty held responsible for their actions. This unique story was about the Joad’s family, who were migrant workers looking for a good decent job. They were also farmers from Oklahoma that are now striving to find some good work and success for their family in California. This novel was one of Steinbeck’s best work he has ever done. It was in fact an Academy Award movie in 1940. Both the movie and the novel are one of Steinbeck’s greatest masterpieces on both the filmmaking and the novel writing. Both the novel and film are mainly the same in the beginning of the story and towards the end. There were some few main points that Steinbeck took out from the book and didn’t mention them in the movie. “The Grapes of Wrath is a
Without any government intervention, the state would be in shambles with no regulations on food, drugs, or the workforce. As for government based on conscience, Thoreau’s argument falls flat when he fails to recognize that majority rule is the only fair rule. Thoreau needed to learn that when friction takes over a machine, the machine is to be fixed, not thrown away. Evidently, Henry David Thoreau’s argument against organized government in America is much too flawed to be
John Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California. He had a pretty average childhood with a supportive family and a decent education. While growing up his mother, Olive Hamilton, was a major factor in his education, since she was a schoolteacher and made it her duty to educate him. His mother most likely was the reason he developed a love of reading and literature and ended up going to Stanford. In his child there were only two major events that affected his writing. These were when he worked on a ranch with migrant workers, and when his father’s business failed and the family was temporarily thrust into poverty. These two events most likely sparked his interest in the poor lives of the migrant workers. His experiences on the ranch taught him about the harsh and impoverished lives of the migrant workers and his experience of being in poverty enabled him to understand what life is like when one is poor, as the migrant workers were. This understanding inspired some of his most famous writings such as: Of Mice and Men, In Dubious Battle and The Grapes of Wrath. These experiences also allowed him to add a sense of realism to the stories. After graduating from his public high school in 1919 Steinbeck went to Stanford. He went there for 5 years before dropping out without a degree and moving to New York. The following years were highly tumultuous for Steinbeck and he held many odd jobs while trying to get his writing published. In 1935 he finally got his first big break when his critically acclaimed novel, Tortilla Flats, was published. After this he became quite successful and well known although the skill in his writing seems to fall after WWII. After researching his life I decided to focus on using his most famous n...
To begin with, Thoreau expresses that civil disobedience should be more implemented when the just resistance of the minority is seen legally unjust to the structure conformed by the majority. Supporting his position, Thoreau utilizes the role of the national tax in his time; its use which demoralizes the foreign relationship
John Steinbeck wrote the The Grapes of Wrath in 1939 to rouse its readers against those who were responsible for keeping the American people in poverty. The Grapes of Wrath tells the story of the Joad family, migrant farmers from Oklahoma traveling to California in search of an illusion of prosperity. The novel's strong stance stirred up much controversy, as it was often called Communist propaganda, and banned from schools due to its vulgar language. However, Steinbeck's novel is considered to be his greatest work. It won the Pulitzer Prize, and later became an Academy Award winning movie in 1940. The novel and the movie are both considered to be wonderful masterpieces, epitomizing the art of filmmaking and novel-writing.
As you approach your home, you realize the empty barn and the crooked house sagging close to the barren ground. A closer view unveils an empty, dried up well, an emaciated cat limping past the caved in porch, a tree with "leaves tattered and scraggly as a molting chicken" (23), a stack of rotting untouched lumber and cracked, jagged window panes reflecting the desolate land abroad. This description portrays the Joad family's home suffering from abandonment when they leave their country home life for better opportunities in the west. Steinbeck portrays the plight of the migrant Joad family from Oklahoma to California in search of a better life during the Great Depression in The Grapes of Wrath.
...for him to do). Instead Thoreau believes that as unjust and imperfect as democracy is at that particular time, he looks to better times, a time when legislators have more wisdom and integrity and hold humanity in a higher regard. He recognizes that fairness exists in the hearts and minds of individuals, some whom he knows personally and he holds to a hope that men like these can and will transform what is in their conscience into a “state at last which can afford to be just to all men and to treat the individual with respect…”
“On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” is evocative of some of the most famous writings of the Revolutionary Era. In comparison to “The Declaration of Independence”, both works include the three elements of Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle: logos, ethos, and pathos. When employed tactfully, the combination of these three components can create a very compelling argument. Thoreau’s essay elicits the idea that it is our civic duty and moral obligation to revolt when great injustices- slavery being the injustice he chose to write about- are occurring amongst us. By including factual evidence, referencing authority figures such as George Washington and
From these three men, we can learn the significance of detaching ourselves from the social norm and instead, fight for our values in a non-violent way, in order to make a change in our government’s corrupt and unjust laws. In “Resistance to Civil Government,” Thoreau articulates the importance he places on resistance against a powerful, controlling government. He opens his essay with a reference to the quote, “‘That government is best which governs not at all,’” and shares the motto, “‘That government is best which governs least’” (Civil).... ...
Thomas Paine begins the first section of the pamphlet distinguishing the differences between society and government. “Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one: for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries BY A GOVERNMENT, which we might expect in a country WITHOUT GOVERNMENT, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer.” In other words, Paine is saying that society is everything good of which the people accomplish together and government has its origins in the evil of man and is therefore a necessary evil at best. Paine says that government's main purpose is to protect life, liberty and property, and that a government should be judged to which it accomp...
The government are not listening. On “A Civil Disobedience describes on how the civilization was being corrupted by the fact that the community was being affected by the laws that the government did in order to see how the civilians will do. According to “A Civil Disobedience thoreau states that “government has made the mode which the people have no choice”. Thoreau mentions that the government made some changes that the people did not know about by following the laws. This appeals to the people credibility ethos because the government needed the credibility to the government for allowing the civilians to follow the rules. One example is in “A Civil Disobedience” describes “ government shows thus how sucessfully men can be opose for their own advantage like being the person that got used”. This connects to analogy because there is a comparisons between the government making the laws and the people doing so much to not obey the laws. On A Civil Disobedience”Thoreau mentions “the charactered inherited in american if someone would have done something if the government had not got in the way. Thoreau said that the government got in the way from someone who was about to try to change and only one man refused to pay the taxes and he has inspired everyone to do it. The author appeals to the person emotions because it has hurt the man feelings when the
In this short story Thoreau plays the protagonist as well as a pacifist. He continually reiterates his beliefs of law and conscience. Thoreau believes we have a conscience to determine right and wrong and views the government, at a state level at least, as useless. He gives the reader several examples of things the government does that would be against most conscious decisions. Such as: The listing of accomplishments the “government” made possible, included in this list is the repetition of the word “It” referring to the government. “It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished”(221).
Thoreau espouses that the democratic party listens to and answers the majority, which are the desires of the most powerful group. The problem with this is that the most virtuous or thoughtful group is left aside because the government only pays attention to what the strongest group says. A government functioning on this principle cannot be based on justice, because the ideas of what is right and wrong is decided by the majority, not by conscience. Thoreau writes, "Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think we should be men first, and subjects afterward. (p.178 para. 4)" He claims that it is more important for people to develop a respect for the right, instead of having a respect for the law, for it is people’s duty to do what is right.
Thoreau states that the current form of government is prone to misuse. Moreover, the government can be used to fulfill a few people selfish needs before the public can get a chance to prevent the misuse (Perkins 250). He gives an example of the Mexican war. He claims that the decision to go to war was work of a few individuals who used the standing government as a tool to accomplish their own desires. Additionally, the public did not have any say on the decision to go to war.
In "Civil Disobedience," Thoreau criticizes the American government for its democratic nature, namely, the idea of majority ruling. Like earlier transcendentalists, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thoreau believes in the importance of the individual. In a society where there are many individuals with conflicting perceptions and beliefs, Emerson chooses passivity and isolation to avoid conflict with others. However, unlike Emerson, Thoreau rejects passivity and challenges his readers to stand up against the government that focuses on majorities over individuals. Thoreau argues that when power is in the hands of the people, the majority rules, "not because they are most likely to be in the right, nor because this seems fairest to the minority, but because they are physically the strongest" (Thoreau 64). Thoreau portrays this very fundamental element of democracy, w...