John Steinbeck wrote one of the great books titled The Grapes of Wrath and changed part of American history. In the novel, he creates a complex array of ideas, characters, and plot. One of the complex ideas Steinbeck creates comprises of the theme of unity between characters. This unity tests the members of the story to bring out their potential and show there exists strength and survival within the organization. Steinbeck demonstrates the theme of unity by the individual parts -- leaders, laws, and places of organization -- in the microcosm chapter seventeen while reflecting the theme into the Joad family chapters.
In chapter seventeen an assembly of migrants establishes and forges its leaders, beginning the theme of unity, later reflecting it into the Joad chapters. Leaders encourage order, and this shows one main reason they hold importance. The order that leaders stand for create not only discipline but organization. Discipline and organization keeps the unity together. Steinbeck must think leaders are important because in the intercalary chapter he describes that with leaders, "[t]here grew up government in the worlds" (266; ch 17). This supports the idea that leaders keep order because government exists to be a set of laws that hold control. Reflecting this in the Joad chapters, Steinbeck creates a leader of the Joad family. The leader has an important role in making sure the family keeps order with their moral laws. The one who holds the family together and encourages the family's morals is Ma. It is very important to her that the family sticks together. Every thing she does becomes "for the family" (ch 13). If she always does things for the family, there exists no doubt she makes sure the moral codes of the family stay ...
... middle of paper ...
...13). The growth of units together at their place of home is a growth of their strength. Because of this, the idea of being together in a home has importance in an unity. A home or community has strength because it provides a duty, social interaction and commonality.
Overall, it is very important for an unity to have a leader, laws and a home to be strong. There exists importance for an unity to organize in all of these areas because the community would collapse without the strength. Steinbeck seems to demonstrate a strength in the members of the family as well. An unity is important because the members can work together to survive and grow strong. Steinbeck seems to say the most significant thing of an unity is for everyone to be together. Everything else will just fall into place.
Works Cited
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 1992. Print.
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,
Although Steinbeck argues for collective action to achieve specific goals, only the most unperceptive critics continue to argue that he is a collectivist in either philosophy or politics. Throughout his work he decries the mindless indoctrination of the totalitarians and maintains that only through reflection upon his bitter experience can learn the value of acting in concert with others for the relief of emergency conditions -- like the flood at the end of The Grapes of Wrath -- so that the individual may subsequently be free to realize his own potentialities. Nothing better illustrates Steinbeck's concept of social organization than the pictures in Chapter Seventeen of The Grapes of Wrath of the world that is created each night a people come together, and disappears the next morning when they separate.
John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, uses dehumanized "Okies" and personified cars to aid in the explanation of hardships of making it in a new society and how in order to survive, change must take place. Steinbeck’s novel portrays a family as they struggle in the heartless world. Both the usage of dehumanized workers and personified cars helps portray the deep fear and uncertainty the migrant workers began facing. By using figurative language, Steinbeck captures the general endeavor all the Okies who were unwillingly labeled as one class: scum. Ultimately, each willing family tossed aside their past, surrendering to their new foreign life.
Miller’s Death of a Salesmen and Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath show the correlation between work and the development of human rights, human interaction, and the value of the American family. The Loam and Joad families exemplify how work can shape the a family‘s value and community interaction. The constant pursuit of a better life through the stability of work demonstrates a common goal that both families strived for. Work not only affects the lifestyle of a community, but also its ethical and moral attitude.
The protagonist of this story is Tom Joad. Tom must overcome several conflicts when he is paroled from jail and let out into an economically depressed country. Tom's physical conflict throughout the novel is the task of surviving the horrible starving conditions of America's Great Depression. He also has physical conflicts with people who only wish to destroy the hopes of migrant workers such as the police and strikebreakers. Tom's emotional conflict deals with his inability to get good work and take care of his family. Tom had feelings of worthlessness until he decided to run away and attempt to organize the migrant workers against the wealthy California landowners with inspiration from his close friend Jim Casey. Tom becomes a character with much moral integrity, and devotes himself to the lives of his fellow migrant workers. The main conflict is basically shown in a battle of good vs. evil. As the novel progresses it becomes more evident that the migrant workers must band together in order to survive against the wealthy and greedy landowners. Ma Joad said that survival is the ultimate principal and it is also the ultimate conflict of Grapes of Wrath.
In literature as in life, people often find that they must make difficult choices in order to survive. The reasons behind their decisions and the results of their subsequent actions affect our opinion of them. In the Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, the author portrayed situations where two main characters became involved. The nature of their choices, the reasons behind their decisions, and the results that followed affected them greatly. However, the choices that they made were surmounted successfully. Ma Joad and Tom Joad are two strong characters who overcame laborious predicaments. Their powerful characteristics helped to encourage those that were struggling.
In this book, the authors Tom Rath and Barry Conchie examine the question “What are the keys to being an effective leader?” To answer this question they had a team that reviewed data collected from Gallup polls. The data came from interviews from 20,000 senior leaders, over a million teams and more than fifty years of Gallup Polls of the most admired leaders in the world. The authors then had the team do a study of more than 10,000 followers to find out why they follow the influential leaders in their life.
When Saxso was on his journey to find his family he ran into a couple problems which didn’t stop him from searching for his family because he was so determined to find them because their would be nothing he could do without them. Another example is in Sons Of Liberty when Sam is stepping up and trying to get rid of taxes that when he is doing that he doesn’t realize how much people want to join him and protect him. As Saxso and Sam notice that they are being a leader they are pushing themselves to go beyond their abilities to do what they can for who they care
However, one can only understand a text by examining the events. Steinbeck guides the reader through three basic epochs in of the Joad family history. In the first, the Joads are rural Oklahoman farmers. This period establishes a normal family life that will Steinbeck will systematically subvert. After they are forced from the farm by debt their farm, and the others in the area, are sold to a single man, and
Tom Joad is an ex-convict that was only into his own self-interest and lived by a mantra of live your life day by day and not concerned with the future, to becoming a man who thinks about the future and someone with morals and an obligation to help others. Ma Joad is a typical woman of the early 1900’s whose main role was a mother only with a role of caring and nurturing. Later in the novel, she becomes an important figure for the family and is responsible for making decisions in keeping the family together and emphasizes the importance of unity. Another important transition in the book is the family starting off as a single close knit unit to depending on other families to survive. This common interest and struggle bonded the community of individual families to a single one. Steinbeck wrote this novel very well, by having great character dynamics and development that displays the characters strengths and also their
As the Joad family faces the same trials that the turtle faces, and as the desperate farmers have to deal with car dealerships, the intercalary chapters help to set the tone of, as well as integrate the various themes of The
Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is a realistic novel that mimics life and offers social commentary too. It offers many windows on real life in midwest America in the 1930s. But it also offers a powerful social commentary, directly in the intercalary chapters and indirectly in the places and people it portrays. Typical of very many, the Joads are driven off the land by far away banks and set out on a journey to California to find a better life. However the journey breaks up the family, their dreams are not realized and their fortunes disappear. What promised to be the land of milk and honey turns to sour grapes. The hopes and dreams of a generation turned to wrath. Steinbeck opens up this catastrophe for public scrutiny.
Coming together as one is an essential to promote the health that is needed in order to define the
Everyone had influenced by their surrounding. Your personal identities and choices in life are based on the role of the relationship you have with others. This helps you to realize who you are and what you need in the life. The combination of all you learns come together to give you a clear idea of what your needs, values, and belief in this life. Finally, it is clear that the role of relationship play an important role in the framework of our personal identities.
...es. A family’s strength determines the strength of the society in which we live. It is the responsibility of each of us to protect and strengthen families in whatever capacity we can. Perhaps it will once again flourish.