GRAPES OF WRATH BY JOHN STEINBECK

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A Class Struggle in Desperate Times

John Steinbeck 's novel entitled The Grapes of Wrath is a story which depicts the spirit and dignity of a person during the most desperate of situations . The novel is a fictional account of the life of the Joad family on their way to the Promised Land of California from the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma during the 1930s (Steinbeck 2 . The family , similar to several other sharecroppers and farmers living in Arkansas , Texas Oklahoma , and other

states at the time of the dust bowl and the Great Depression were forced to leave their lands (Steinbeck 3

When it was first published in April 14 , 1939 , it quickly became a bestselling novel (Steiner 2 . Although there were those who criticized the novel for apparently being basically sentimental and still others dismissed it as another example of social journalism or documentation more than it is a novel , most critics recognize the literary value of Steinbeck 's work . In fact , the author even received a Pulitzer Prize for his work the following year (Steiner 2

The novel is an attack on capitalism as it is about the plight of the migrant workers . It condemned cruel industrialism and monopoly capitalism (Choi 90 . The theme of finding a home entwined with the political issues of the time is of the essence . This is because even though the story primarily has a political undertone , the author nevertheless explores the reason behind the...