Less than a century ago, the US experienced a combination of one of the worst natural disaster in our nation 's history and the biggest economic downturn that we 've experienced to date. The Great Depression in the 1930 's, crippled the American economy, causing many to lose their jobs, homes, and land. Along with this horrific economic state, the American Midwest also experienced the Dust Bowl, which made land impossible to farm, and caused dust storms that made the area uninhabitable. John Steinbeck 's novel, The Grapes of Wrath, explores the struggles of the Joad family, who happened to have experience the brunt of both devastating blows. Mumford & Sons made an adaptation of this story into a song that some say is better than the original …show more content…
In an article by AnnaKate Pitts, she points out that we as readers, are reading a book that is too drawn out and lacking coherence in some parts (Pitts). Leaving many to wonder, why suffer through this metaphorical "drought" of excitement, much like the Dust Bowl itself. Well, Mumford & Sons alleviates this pain by shortening this novel into a few short stanzas while still delivering its main themes but removing the confusing aspects that the book includes. Instead of focusing on the specific details of a single family struggling throughout this event, Mumford & Sons focus on the struggles that faced many during this time. An example of this is apparent in the line, "There was no one in the town and no one in the field", highlights the scale of the Dust Bowl in relation to the general population (Mumford and Sons Songs) They also reflect the hatred and animosity towards the economy and banks, using phrases such as " going out back to get my gun", hinting at the fact that farmers are willing to fight back in order to get their land (Mumford and Sons Songs). Lastly, the idea of loss of identity is expressed in the song through the lines " I 've been kicked off my land at the age of sixteen; And I have no idea where else my heart could have been; I placed all my trust …show more content…
The Grapes of Wrath may offer greater detail and a never-ending amount of "immersive" interchapters, however, Mumford and Sons jumps straight to the point, stating the facts through the lyrics and tone of the music (Mumford and Sons, Steinbeck). While we do lose the detailed oriented interchapters that describes small conflicts and interactions, we are presented with a more appetizing and digestible offering of a great
John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, is one of the most influential books in American History, and is considered to be his best work by many. It tells the story of one family’s hardship during the Depression and the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s. The Joads were a hard-working family with a strong sense of togetherness and morals; they farmed their land and went about their business without bothering anyone. When the big drought came it forced them to sell the land they had lived on before anyone could remember. Their oldest son, Tom, has been in jail the past four years and returns to find his childhood home abandoned.
These chapters help readers envision a time period that otherwise may seem alien to them. They can better connect with the people of that time period and their struggles. Intercalary chapters throughout The Grapes of Wrath create a distinct visual of life during this time. Chapters 1 and 12 give detail to help readers feel the forces of nature, how it affected life and sent people traveling on a harsh, unforgiving path west.
When times get tough, many people turn away from everyone and everything. It must be part of human nature to adopt an independent attitude when faced with troubles. It is understandable because most people do not want to trouble their loved ones when they are going through problems, so it is easier to turn away than stick together. Maybe their family is going through a rough patch and they reason they would be better off on their own. This path of independence and solitude may not always be the best option for them or their family, though. Often times it is more beneficial for everyone to work through the problem together. It is not always the easiest or most desirable option, but most times it is the most efficient and it will get results in the long run. In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck makes this point very clear through several characters. Many characters throughout
Throughout the novel, The Grapes of Wrath there are intercalary chapters. The purpose of these chapters are to give the readers insight and background on the setting, time, place and even history of the novel. They help blend the themes, symbols, motifs of the novel, such as the saving power of family and fellowship, man’s inhumanity to man, and even the multiplying effects of selfishness. These chapters show the social and economic crisis flooding the nation at the time, and the plight of the American farmer becoming difficult. The contrast between these chapters helps readers look at not just the storyline of the Joad family, but farmers during the time and also the condition of America during the Dust Bowl. Steinbeck uses these chapters to show that the story is not only limited to the Joad family,
The Joad’s were facing many conflicts and in the process of losing their house. They heard there was going to be work in California and wanted to take the risk and move out there to find a job to provide. The Dust Bowl and The Great Depression were pretty huge topics in history and the novel about The Grapes of Wrath had some pretty raw details about their journey and similar to both histories. The Joad family pushed each other to have a better life in California and did everything they could to have a job to provide and eat, and mainly survive to live another day. In the novel, the beginning, the Joad family faced and struggled with nature, dust nature, just like the people that experienced this during the Dust Bowl. The people in the Southern plains dealt with a huge dust storm and the Joad family were also faced with this storm but struggled from these dust storms because of no work. No work means you can’t eat and
One of America’s most beloved books is John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. The book portrays a family, the Joads, who leave Oklahoma and move to California in search of a more prosperous life. Steinbeck’s book garnered acclaim both from critics and from the American public. The story struck a chord with the American people because Steinbeck truly captured the angst and heartbreak of those directly impacted by the Dust Bowl disaster. To truly comprehend the havoc the Dust Bowl wreaked, one must first understand how and why the Dust Bowl took place and who it affected the most. The Dust Bowl was the result of a conglomeration of weather, falling crop prices, and government policies.
According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, transition is defined as a movement, development, or evolution from one form, stage, style to another, or simply just change. The book Grapes of Wrath have displayed many transitions by the characters and the society that is portrayed in the novel. The two characters that made significant transitions in the book are Tom Joad and Ma Joad. Tom transitions over the course of the novel from an ex-convict that had killed a man, independent, stubborn, and lives his life day by day to exhibiting thoughtfulness, a person with high morals, and compassion. In the beginning of the novel, Ma Joad was just a mother figure and care giver in the family, but later on she slowly begins to become the center for strength and the decision maker in the family when Pa Joad was not effectively able to assume that role. Another significant transition in the novel is the changing in society that
The play “Our Town” is a 1938 three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder that is set in a small town called Grover’s Corners. It tells the story of a couple citizens in their everyday lives in the early nineteenth century. Grover’s Corners is a small town, no famous people really come out of it, and everybody knows everybody for the most part. These families that live in Grover’s Corners do not leave the town for the entire book, the people are even buried there. This is the exact opposite of what happens in the novel “The Grapes of Wrath”. The Grapes of Wrath is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck that sets the stage of one “Tom Joads” and also the life of a farmer in the Midwest during the Great Depression. Unlike the people in Grover’s Corners, these people leave their hometown not because they want to, but because they have to. The people of Grover’s Corners are ignorant about the gift of life while the people in “The Grapes of Wrath” suffer through a catastrophe that makes them realize how important life really is.
The Grapes of Wrath is a novel written by John Steinbeck, which focuses on an Oklahoman family that is evicted from their farm during an era of depression caused by the Dust Bowl. The Joad family alongside thousands of other refugees (also affected by the dirty thirties) migrates west towards California seeking employment and a new home. John Steinbeck’s purpose for writing this novel was to inform his audience of how many of their fellow Americans were being mistreated and of the tribulations they faced in order to attain regain what they once had. As a result, The Grapes of Wrath triggered its audience’s sympathy for the plight of the Dust Bowl farmers and their families.
The Dust Bowl was a treacherous storm, which occurred in the 1930's, that affected the midwestern people, for example the farmers, and which taught us new technologies and methods of farming. As John Steinbeck wrote in his 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath: "And then the dispossessed were drawn west- from Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico; from Nevada and Arkansas, families, tribes, dusted out. Carloads, caravans, homeless and hungry; twenty thousand and fifty thousand and a hundred thousand and two hundred thousand. They streamed over the mountains, hungry and restless - restless as ants, scurrying to find work to do - to lift, to push, to pull, to pick, to cut - anything, any burden to bear, for food. The kids are hungry. We got no place to live. Like ants scurrying for work, for food, and most of all for land." The early thirties opened with prosperity and growth. At the time the Midwest was full of agricultural growth. The Panhandle of the Oklahoma and Texas region was marked contrast to the long soup lines of the Eastern United States.
The opening chapter paints a vivid picture of the situation facing the drought-stricken farmers of Oklahoma. Dust is described a covering everything, smothering the life out of anything that wants to grow. The dust is symbolic of the erosion of the lives of the people. The dust is synonymous with "deadness". The land is ruined ^way of life (farming) gone, people ^uprooted and forced to leave. Secondly, the dust stands for ^profiteering banks in the background that squeeze the life out the land by forcing the people off the land. The soil, the people (farmers) have been drained of life and are exploited:
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The Grapes of Wrath is a classic piece of American literature that provides an in depth analysis of the great dust bowl. The author, John Steinbeck, illustrated the everyday life of a migrant farmer from the perspective of the Joad family. By describing many important motifs, Steinbeck illustrates the many social and economic transformations that America experienced in the 1930’s. These themes include race, religion, gender, and class. The changes that occurred during this time period forever changed the American way of life.
Steinbeck’s novel demonstrates the value of members in a society to work in unison to achieve a common goal. Without each other, the Joads will have no way of coping with the loss of their land in Oklahoma and reach their destination in California. Unity as a family is the only option they have to endure this hopeless calamity. In addition, the collapse of the family results in their initial purpose and intention to fall apart. The Great Depression was an era that was detrimental to many individuals. It affected farmers drastically as it forced them to look for work elsewhere in the country. Regardless of how severe conditions were, many remained sanguine in anticipation of a brighter tomorrow.
The book, Grapes of Wrath, follows the life of the Joad family, who live in Oklahoma during the Depression. The story begins with the return of Tom Joad from prison, where he has spent the last few years. He killed a boy in a bar fight and is now on parole. He is taken by surprise when he returns to Oklahoma only to find that his house is in ruins and his family is not there. He doesn’t know that, while he was gone, the banks forced his family and thousands of others off their land. Tom is accompanied by a former priest, Casey, who searches with Tom for his family. Tom and Casey find the Joad family at Tom’s uncle’s house. The family is preparing to move west to California in hopes that they will find jobs and escape the Dust Bowl drought. The Dust Bowl drought has killed all the farmer’s crops and the land has lost it’s richness. Tom decides to travel with his family, even though he’s going against parole rules by leaving the state.