This marking period I read a realistic fiction novel called The Grapes of Wrath. This novel takes place in the late 1930’s, when a farming family, the Joads, have to migrate from their farm in Oklahoma to California in order to find work. They move from camp to camp in search for work and survival. The main character, Tom Joad, gets into trouble after killing a cop who murdered his friend, Jim Casy. He goes into hiding for a while and then departs from the rest of the family. Meanwhile, Rose of Sharon, his sister, gives birth to a stillborn and then saves a man by allowing him to have her breast milk. Tom Joad is the main character of this novel. He is a kind and nice, short-tempered and fiercely independent. Tom is a man that is more into the present than anything else. He tends to worry less about what will happen next and more on what is happening now. After being released from prison, he heads home. He meets up with a Jim Casy, a preacher. Jim ends up staying with Tom through out most of the novel until he dies. Tom learns a lot about humanity through Jim and his own development in the novel and in the end becomes a man of the people. Jim Casy is another significant character. His beliefs are significant to the stories theme and concepts. He has a significant effect on Jim with these beliefs he expresses to him. He believes that life is holy no matter what, and that organized religion isn’t the only way to be sinless and holy. Jim organizes migrant workers to stand up for themselves and against the bosses, who are beginning to lower wages and making life more difficult for them. His purpose in the novel was to help Tom develop into a social activist. A third significant character is Ma Joad. She is not much different than any other mother. She is caring, loving, and protects her family. She is the backbone of the family. At the story progresses she is capable of keeping her family and herself together. She becomes more of a provider than Pa Joad. She is a strong person and has a strong composure, that she able to keep up. Ma Joad represent the true meaning of togetherness or she is the reason the Joad family survives and remains together as best as possible.
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
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
California in search for a brighter, economic future. The name Joad and the exodus to
What does it take for one to achieve the American dream? What kinds of struggles does one need to overcome to achieve their goals in life? In the classic novel The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, you can follow the Joad family in the pursuit to their dreams and the difficulties they faced and overcame. The Joad family faced numerous conflicts including; men, society, nature, and him/herself but overcame many to keep pushing them towards their dream; to go to California and find a better life.
Grapes of Wrath. In the beginning of the novel The Grapes of Wrath, the Joads are faced with the challenge of traveling Route 66 all the way to California. This is their solution to being tractored off their land and having no way to support the large family. This challenge is similar to the depression of 1929, when many people lost their jobs, homes, and their whole lives.
As the story comes to a close, the Joad family is almost all broken up. In a bigger perspective than the government camp, the final scene implies what Cassy was trying to say from the beginning; that nobody has an individual soul, but everybody's just got a piece of a great big soul.
The tale of The Grapes of Wrath has many levels of profound themes and meanings to allow us as the reader to discover the true nature of human existence. The author's main theme and doctrine of this story is that of survival through unity. While seeming hopeful at times, this book is more severe, blunt, and cold in its portrayl of the human spirit. Steinbeck's unique style of writing forms timeless and classic themes that can be experienced on different fronts by unique peoples and cultures of all generations.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is considered a classic novel by many in the literary field. The trials and tribulations of the Joad family and other migrants is told throughout this novel. In order to gain a perspective into the lives of "Oakies", Steinbeck uses themes and language of the troubling times of the Great Depression. Some of these aspects are critiqued because of their vulgarity and adult nature. In some places, The Grapes of Wrath has been edited or banned. These challenges undermine Steinbeck's attempts to add reality to the novel and are unjustified.
Because of the devastating disaster of the dust bowl, the Joad family was forced to leave their long-time home and find work and a new life elsewhere. They, like many other families, moved to California. "The land of milk and honey". The people in the dust bowl imagined California as a haven of jobs where they would have a nice little white house and as much fruit as they could eat. This dream was far from the reality the migrant farmers faced once in California. The dreams, hopes, and expectations the Joads had of California were crushed by the reality of the actual situation in this land of hate and prejudice.
Okies Vs. Californians The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, is a novel depicting the Okies migration to California during the period in history known as The Dustbowl. In this novel, Steinbeck attempts to display the tensions between the Okies and the Californians. This display can be closely compared to today’s tensions between citizens born in the US and the immigrants. Great pieces of literature are timeless in the lessons they teach and the controversy they portray.
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 since before anyone can remember. Their oldest son, Tom, has been in jail the past four years and returns to find his childhood home abandoned. He learns his family has moved in with his uncle John and decides to travel a short distance to see them. He arrives only to learn they are packing up their belongings and moving to California, someplace where there is a promise of work and food. This sets the Joad family off on a long and arduous journey with one goal: to survive.
2. He describes himself as "the only honest person" he knows. He is the moral center of the book, although he tends to be corrupted a bit by his neighbors' and Daisy's reckless and extravagant ways as the book progresses.
The main character, Tom Tin, faces hardships and struggles many fourteen year olds do not have to face so early on. His father has mistakenly got himself into trouble and it is up to Tom to save his father and help make his family’s future bright again. Tom has good intentions throughout the novel, but he gets himself into trouble. He turns out to be an unlikely hero after pushing through his doubts and finally triumphing over his mistakes along his journey.
...s can make a person do unbelievable things. Although he was still an outlaw of society at the end of the book, his status changed immensely. Throughout the novel, he experienced reeducation and rebirth. He became a new man who fought for social amelioration and a better way of life for his people and for all struggling people. Tom learned that a man cannot just look after himself; in the spirit of compassion, he is also obligated to help others.
Jim Hawkins in the main narrator in the novel Treasure Island who strives to live. He goes on this journey with Doctor Livesey, and Squire Trelawney, and they hire a crew to help them. The battle between the pirates and Jim’s party that took place once they reach the island showed how people can turn against you in an instant. Treasure Island showed many interesting conflicts, and issues that Jim Hawkins had to solve.