Turtle In The Grapes Of Wrath

“The Grapes of Wrath” was written by John Steinbeck, Nobel Prize winner in Literature in 1962. The novel follows the journey of poor farmers as they escape the Dust Bowl poverty of Oklahoma to reach the prosperous farmland in California.
In the third chapter of “The Grapes of Wrath,” a turtle travels through a dry patch of ground toward a highway on a mound. Determined, the turtle fights its way up the incline and onto the highway. As it begins to voyage across the concrete, a speeding car swerves onto the shoulder hoping to avoid the turtle. Not long after, a truck intentionally clips the shell of the turtle. This sent the turtle spinning to the side of the road, landing on its back. Eventually, the turtle flips itself upright, scuttles down

the hill, and resumes its route. The turtle innocently trying to get across the road, can be viewed as symbolic reflection of the Joads and their struggle. Much like the turtle, the Joads are abused by the harsh environment. Yet, also, like the turtle, the Joads continues on their journey. This journey took the turtle southwest, which is the same direction that the Joads would also be travelling.
Rose of Sharon, Tom’s sister, is pregnant with her first child as they begin the journey to California.

She imagines her new life in the city and dreams of how she will dress her new baby once they are there. She, and her baby, symbolize a new beginning, similar to how the migrants thought the West. “However, her fixation consumes her so much that she becomes conceited. For example, as her family is packing for the move, Rose of Sharon refuses to help them. She uses her fear of hurting the baby as an excuse to get out of work. While she takes advantage of being pregnant, she is very scared of losing her baby, like the West. Rose of Sharon continuously asks her mother if any activity she does will harm her baby. Her deep fear of losing her baby foreshadows her still-birth at the end of the novel. The profound hope at the beginning of the novel comes spiraling down while the migrants’ future seams empty. At one point Rose of Sharon’s pregnancy is a symbol of hope, towards the end it is nothing but lost and shattered dreams. However, when the family comes across a starving man and his son, Rose of Sharon feeds the old man her breastmilk. During this scene, she becomes the nurturer she was not able to be with her child. This now symbolizes how shared hard times creates a bond between the struggling

migrants.