Grapes of Wrath

GRAPES OF WRATH : A CRITIQUE

According to Time Magazine , John Steinbeck 's Grapes of Wrath is one of the most important and moving stories ever written . Described by critics as a portrait of bitter conflict ' between the powerful and the powerless , of the struggle of one man against injustice as well as a woman 's quiet and stoical strength , it is considered a landmark in American literature as it vividly captures the horrors of the Great Depression and how it has affected American society in general . It likewise probes into the very

nature of equality and justice in the so-called land of Milk and Honey

In this particular novel , John Steinbeck depicts the lives of ordinary people striving to preserve their humanity in the face of social and economic desperation . The novel also showcases the story of the Joads and what they endured when the rain wouldn 't come , and the crops couldn 't grow ' They were filled with the dry , infertile earth , which they arranged and rearranged in the time known as the Dust Bowl

Farmers such as the Joads lost their farms to the banks . Unable to figure out what else to do , they packed up and headed for California the bountiful land with multiple growing seasons . Although it sounded like the Promised Land , when they arrived , they found that they were part of a great migration and there wasn 't enough work for the multitudes . Growers in California needed the migrant workers in spurts and felt no compunction to help them survive the rest of the time There were so many workers available that there was no need to give them a living wage . When workers would strike , there were others to take their place . If they were starving to death , the growers would rationalize that it was their own faults

When one studies the novel , one will see that the theme touches on a that is still very much relevant in today 's world . Going off to search for greener pastures is one of the reasons why there are many migrant workers in the world today . Many citizens of third world countries have opted to fly to other countries in search of better jobs -so that they can provide better lives for their families back home They decide to leave the comforts of home with the goal of securing their families future . And just like the Joads , most of these migrant workers realize that seeking better and greener pastures is not as easy as one would hope it would be

In a way , the depiction of California in the novel can be viewed as a representation of the United States and its role in the lives of migrant workers . Nowadays , migrant workers troop to the United States with the idea that the move will be the solution to their problems -only to find out that life does not always turn out the way they plan it to . And while most of them do not experience drought or any hardship encountered in farms , migrant workers still find themselves in a struggle for economic and financial freedom -very similar to the experiences of the Joads in Steinbeck 's novel

Although the world has evolved from the time John Steinbeck wrote the novel , much of what the main characters experienced in the novel is still felt by many citizens of the world . Needless to say , there is a disproportionate distribution of wealth among nations and there is still that struggle between the working class and the capitalists . For as long as inequality persists in this world , there will be unions and families who will try to combat the evils of capitalism

The story is very inspiring because the main theme revolved around the struggle of man to push ahead against all odds . The Joads family moved west looking for a better life and found out that it wasn 't . It is a scenario that any Tom , Dick or Harry can go through -making the novel as significant today as when Steinbeck first wrote it . In fine , the Joads story is one which all of us can relate to and touches on the struggle of all men : to do better

References

Steinbeck , John . The Grapes of Wrath (Viking Penguin , Inc , 1939

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Grapes of Wrath : A Critique ...