The Grapes of Wrath is one of the most beloved novels
of American literature. Having earned the Pulitzer Prize in
1940, The Grapes of Wrath pretty much has a V.I.P. pass
to every "Top 100 Books of All Time" list in the universe.
It's a big deal. Written by John Steinbeck and published in
1939, this story vividly portrays life during the Great
Depression and the Dust Bowl in America as it follows a
family of Oklahoma tenant farmers traveling westward. It
explores the strength and goodness of the human spirit in
the face of gruesome, dismal circumstances.
Independent Reading
11 Honors English
When first published, Americans both embraced and
scorned the novel. Some applauded Steinbeck for capturing
so honestly the lives of migrant farm workers during the
Depression. Others accused him of being a socialist and of
championing communist beliefs (i.e., share the wealth,
friends). Californian farmers loathed Steinbeck's unsavory
depiction of, well, Californian farmers. In short, this novel
sent America into a bit of a frenzy. Eleanor Roosevelt took
note, and, as a result, she called for congressional hearings
on migrant worker camp conditions. Labor laws were
changed.
The Grapes of Wrath has been banned, burned, and bought over and over again. And that's why we love it. That's why
it's still around. The novel has been translated into nearly every language, and approximately 100,000 copies continue to
be sold every year.
John Steinbeck is a seriously famous Californian writer. His novels and stories often detail the lives of agricultural
communities in central California, particularly in the Salinas Valley (where he grew up). At the time of the Dust Bowl,
when tens of thousands of Americans migrated to California in search of a better life, Steinbeck was writing a series of
seven articles about migrant worker communities for the San Francisco Chronicle. He spent a lot of time getting to know
families who lived in various migrant worker camps in towns like Bakersfield, CA and Visalia, CA. He was infuriated and
disgusted by the amount of heartbreak and suffering that he witnessed, and he channeled that fury as he wrote The
Grapes of Wrath. It was not easy going, and he had to scrap many drafts of the novel, but he finally gained momentum
after visiting a camp in Bakersfield, CA. He gave himself 100 days to finish the novel.
Steinbeck's publishers lauded The Grapes of Wrath as one of the, if not the, greatest work of American Literature. Time
magazine disagreed in its 1939 review of the novel, saying, "It is not [the greatest work of American literature]. But it is
Steinbeck's best novel, i.e., his toughest and tenderest, his roughest written and most mellifluous, his most realistic and,
in its ending, his most melodramatic, his angriest and most idyllic.”
Both loathed and loved upon its publication, The Grapes of Wrath has firmly lodged itself within American culture, and
references to the novel continue to be made in movies, music, art, and TV. Allusions to this epic tale have surfaced in
both South Park and The Simpsons. Many songs have been written and sung about Tom Joad, most notably by Woody
Guthrie and Bruce Springsteen. The Joads are a fictional family, and yet they (and what they represent) are part of the
American story.
If anything, we should read The Grapes of Wrath because it affords us front row seats to one of the darkest chapters in
American history. Author T.C. Boyle sums it up beautifully: "You can read (about the lives of migrant workers) in your
textbook …but if you read it in Steinbeck's version, you get to live it and breathe it”.
The Grapes of Wrath Theme of Transience
At the heart of The Grapes of Wrath is change, and we watch families cope as they are forced to change their lives, their
homes, and their dreams. Change is bittersweet in this novel because it is imposed upon thousands of farmers and
families who would otherwise prefer to remain right where they are. The Joads learn to cope with the great changes in
their life by sticking together and by reaching out to other families.
Questions About Transience
1.
2.
3.
4.
Who changes the most in this novel?
How does the Joad's lifestyle change over the course of their journey to California?
Do any characters fight change in this novel? If so, what happens when they fight change?
Why doesn't Muley Graves follow his family?
Possible Thesis Statements:
Resisting change in the world of The Grapes of Wrath results in either death or madness.
Not one character wants the change that he/she faces.
The Grapes of Wrath Theme of Family
Family is a means of survival in The Grapes of Wrath. Without each other, the Joads would have no way of coping with
the loss of their land or of getting to California. Family is the one weapon that the Joads have against the cold, bitter
world around. They, along with many other migrant workers, learn that they are stronger and safer when they reach out
to other families, when they create a sense of community.
Questions About Family
1.
2.
3.
4.
What kind of relationship do Ma and Pa Joad have?
Why does Ma Joad throw a hissy fit when Tom suggests they forge ahead without him?
Why does Noah Joad leave his family?
What is the definition of "family" in The Grapes of Wrath?
Possible Thesis Statements:
Family is the only means of survival in the Dust Bowl world of The Grapes of Wrath.
There is no such thing as "family" in The Grapes of Wrath.
The Grapes of Wrath Theme of Lies and Deceit
Central to The Grapes of Wrath is a single lie: thousands of families move west to California because they believe it to be
the land of plenty, a place full of jobs and opportunity. This lie is spread through a yellow pamphlet dispensed by a
Californian landowner looking for workers, and it both gives families a sense of hope and strips them of hope. Several
entities help to sustain this lie: the banks, the car salesmen, the merchants, and the landowners. The Joads are deceived
into thinking that their worries will be forgotten once they get to California.
Questions About Lies and Deceit
1.
2.
3.
4.
Are the Joads deceived by the pamphlet that tells them of job opportunity in California?
Who tells lies in the world of The Grapes of Wrath?
If the Joads had known what they would find in California, do you think they would still have gone?
How did the Joads' dream of California compare to what they found there?
Possible Thesis Statements:
The lie of jobs in California gives the Joads hope, allows them to survive.
Hardly anyone tells the truth outside the world of the Joad family.
The Grapes of Wrath Theme of Betrayal
In the face of loss and poverty, the Joads band together to survive and make do. Thousands of other similarly
heartbroken families in The Grapes of Wrath also recognize the power of community. However, there are several
characters that, overcome by fear, choose to serve themselves rather than their community at large. Willy Feeley, an old
family friend of the Joads, accepts a job working for the landowners and helps to drive many sharecropping families
away.
Questions About Betrayal
1. Does Muley Graves betray his family by not following them to California?
2. Does Willy Feeley betray his community by accepting a job as a tractor driver, or is he merely supporting his family?
3. What kinds of betrayal do we see in The Grapes of Wrath?
Possible Thesis Statements:
Betrayal becomes the only means of survival in The Grapes of Wrath.
To betray is to become less human in the world of this novel.
The Grapes of Wrath Theme of Religion
When forced to give up so much, the Joads question their faith in a higher power. Reverend John Casy, an honorary
member of the Joad family, is a quiet man, but he is constantly thinking about God in The Grapes of Wrath and about the
ways in which humans' souls are connected. He has given up the priesthood, having been a lecherous and rule-breaking
preacher, but he still deeply considers the existence of God and the importance of religion in uniting and inspiring people.
Questions About Religion
1. Is anyone religious in The Grapes of Wrath?
2. What role does Reverend Casy play in The Grapes of Wrath?
3. What does Reverend Casy want in life?
Possible Thesis Statement:
Faith is the only thing that allows the Joads to survive in the way that they do.
The Grapes of Wrath Theme of Gender
The narrator of The Grapes of Wrath paints vivid and general portraits of life in Dust Bowl America, and clearly delineates
the roles of men and women. The men consider the losses, while the women look on silently, reading their husband's
expressions. Men make decisions, and women tend to the house chores. Men slaughter and hunt, while women prepare
and cook. However, despite these very specific descriptions of gender roles, we see Ma Joad often assume a "man's"
duties, and we see Tom Joad display more traditionally feminine sentiments. The novel complicates its own
understanding of women and men in 1930s America.
Questions About Gender
1. What role do men play in The Grapes of Wrath?
2. What role do women play in The Grapes of Wrath?
3. What kinds of relationships do men and women have with one another in this novel?
4. How does our narrator feel about gender roles?
Possible Thesis Statements:
The roles that men and women play are clearly delineated.
At times, men must act like women, and women like men in The Grapes of Wrath.
The Grapes of Wrath Theme of Criminality
By virtue of the fact that Tom Joad is on parole and cannot leave the state of Oklahoma, the Joads are constantly aware
of the law and of trying to adhere to the law. Much of The Grapes of Wrath deals with families who are treated poorly by
the law, whether in their hometown or in their California towns. We begin to question the validity and the value of the
law as we watch the Joad family, and many other families like them, fight tooth and nail to survive.
Questions About Criminality
1. Who commits a crime in this novel, and how are they punished?
2. How is crime defined in The Grapes of Wrath?
3. Who is "dangerous" in this novel?
4. What is prison like?
Possible Thesis Statements:
The Law prevents survival in the world of The Grapes of Wrath.
Without self-imposed laws, the migrant families would not be able to co-exist or survive.
The Grapes of Wrath Theme of Wealth
Great poverty is juxtaposed with a great appetite for wealth in The Grapes of Wrath. We watch as desperate economic
times make some people, like the bankers and landowners, more greedy, while other people, like the Joads and other
migrant families, become more generous. Wealth is defined as both money and happiness in the context of this novel,
and while some seek to make lots of money at all costs, the Joads seek only peace and comfort.
Questions About Wealth
1.
2.
3.
4.
Who is making money in the world of this novel?
What examples of wealth do we see in The Grapes of Wrath?
How do the landowners talk about the banks when they force tenant farmers off of their land?
How is wealth defined?
Possible Thesis Statements:
Money makes people less human in this novel.
Ma Joad is a wealthy woman.
The Grapes of Wrath Symbolism, Imagery & Allegory
The Road
Whoever said a road is just a road has not read The Grapes of Wrath. From the minute we watch Tom Joad return home
after four years in prison, roads take on great meaning. His "dark quiet eyes became amused as he stared along the
road" (2.53), the road that will take him home at last. Then, Route 66 is "the mother road, the road of flight" (12.1), and
it is the lifeline, the thing that allows thousands of families to pursue their hopes and dreams. But it is also the road that
leads to their misery in California.
We think it's interesting to note that Route 66 never really intersects with any other major highway or road – it goes in
two directions only. When you are on Route 66, you can either go forward in search of opportunity, or you can go
backwards and return to the poverty you came from.
We also learn that roads are dangerous places. If you are a turtle or a dog trying to cross the road, there's a good chance
that you will get run over. In the world of this novel, drivers like to create road-kill. The road can also be dangerous if
your car breaks down far from the next town.
Bugs
We don't know if you noticed, but there are lots of insects and insect-y images in this novel. When Tom Joad hitches a
ride with a truck driver, a grasshopper finds its way into the truck cabin, and "Joad reached forward and crushed its hard
skull-like head with his fingers, and he let it into the wind stream out the window" (2.56). This moment certainly gives the
phrase, "smooshed like a bug," a new meaning.
Our narrator pays special attention to the insects that populate the farmland, and we are reminded of that Biblical story in
the Book of Exodus that describes the swarm of locusts that descended upon Egyptian crops after the Pharaoh refused to
free the Hebrew slaves. We also are reminded of July 26, 1931, when a swarm of grasshoppers hit the Midwest region of
the United States, destroying crops and devastating farms. The swarm was so thick, that the sun was temporarily blocked
(source). Because of these stories, we fear insects and we know them to be capable of ruining a farm.
However, in The Grapes of Wrath, we also notice how easy it is for humans to kill insects, and there's a violence to the
way, for instance, Tom crushes the grasshopper. We begin to see similarities between the way humans treat insects and
the way landowners treat tenant farmers.
Music
There may not be iPods, pianos, or rock bands in this novel, but there is certainly a lot of music. The used cars that carry
thousands of migrant workers to California have an unusual and unique music. Those who drive these cars learn to listen
intently for their rhythms and melodies. One family listens as "the high hum of the motor dulled and the song of the tires
dropped in pitch" (2.64). Learning to listen to the car's music becomes a means of survival. Our narrator describes the
panic and anxiety that comes from driving a used car across the country:
Listen to the motor. Listen to the wheels. Listen with your ears and with your hands on the steering wheel; listen with the
palm of our hand on the gear-shift level; listen with your feet on the floor boards. Listen to the pounding old jalopy with
all your senses, for a change of tone, a variation of rhythm may mean – a week here? (12.6)
Making music is one of the most natural things for humans to do. We've been making music for thousands and thousands
of years. So, whenever we hear music or whenever music is present, we know humans are tapping into their ancient
abilities and desires. We know that their celebrating or mourning, we know that they are expressing themselves in some
way. What does it mean, then, that Tom Joad makes and hears more music in prison than he does when he is a free
man? He tells the preacher, "me an' some guys had a strang band goin'. Good one. Guy said we ought to go on the
radio" (4.68). What other examples of music do you detect in this novel?
The Turtle, the Joad Dog, and Other Furry Friends
Remember that dang turtle in Chapter Three? You know the one. The turtle who kept trying to cross the road, who was
dead set on going in a specific direction, but who was nearly run over by cars, and who was picked up and stuffed into
Tom Joad's coat? We know what you were thinking when you read this chapter: "Um, Mr. Steinbeck? We like turtles and
all, but what the HEY is so important about this turtle? Why do you keep writing about him?"
Well, this stubborn and determined turtle, who almost becomes a Joad pet, reminds us of the stubborn and determined
ways of the Joad family and other migrant worker families who persevere even after being kicked off of their farms,
cheated by used car salesmen and merchants, and set back by sickness and loss. The turtle accepts the challenges that
come his way, but he never forgets where he is going.
Another animal reference is the cat that Tom Joad sees. He recognizes it as an old family cat hanging around his
abandoned family farm. Just like the migrant workers, the cat has been turned out of its home. The cat now lives in the
wild and must survive on mice and other creatures. It has been transformed from a domestic pet to a wild animal.
We also want to mention the way in which the Joad's dog dies. Sure, the Joads didn't really have a lovey-dovey
relationship with this dog, and didn't even have a name for him, but he is the family dog nonetheless. This dog is run
over by a speeding, westbound car, and his body is so mangled as a result that his guts lie strewn on the road. We get
the feeling that his death foreshadows the gruesome circumstances that lie ahead for the Joads, and of the tough,
unrelenting life that awaits them. Times are hard, and people are so desperate and angry that they will not hesitate to
run over a dog, or to ruin a family's life.
The cars on the road are also like animals, "limping along 66 like wounded things, panting and struggling" (12.44). We
watch humans kill animals without a second thought (remember the Joad pig fest?), and we begin to see similarities
between the ways humans and their furry friends behave during desperate times.
Yellows, Grays, and Reds
Our narrator often describes the gold and yellow color of the Oklahoma landscape. He says, "The yellowing, dusty,
afternoon light put a golden color on the land. The cornstalks looked golden" (4.70), and we can't help but think of gold
and money when we notice yellow things in this novel. It's as though the land is reminding its inhabitants of how it once
was rich, lush, and profitable.
Similarly, our narrator talks about the "red country" and the "gray country" of Oklahoma, and we are reminded of the
dismal reality of the Dust Bowl drought, and of the blood, sweat, and tears that have been poured into the land. The
landowners and bankers are planting cotton in the place of corn, knowing full well that the cotton will bleed the soil dry,
will take any last moisture from it. One farmer describes this effect, saying, "You know what cotton does to the land; robs
it, sucks all the blood out of it" (5.5). He knows that he can resuscitate his land if he is given a chance: "If they could only
rotate the crops they might pump blood back into the land" (5.6).
Farming
Farming is about life, cultivation, and growth. However, with advances in technology and science, we watch farming
transition from a human-run to a machine-run art. In this novel we watch this transition, and we see how farming
becomes influenced by scientific advancements. We watch farmers fight against this change, "for nitrates are not the
land, nor phosphates; and the length of fiber in the cotton is not the land. Carbon is not a man, not salt nor water nor
calcium. He is all these, but he is much more, much more; and the land is so much more than its analysis" (11.1).
Farmers recognize that the machines that begin to take over their farms and that literally kick them out of their homes
are essentially non-living things that can never understand the land. These farmers feel that, "the machine man, driving a
dead tractor on the land he does not know and love, understands only chemistry; and he is contemptuous of the land and
of himself. When the corrugated iron doors are shut, he goes home, and his home is not the land" (11.1). We witness the
art of farming trapped in a war between old and new, between human and machine.
The Bank Monster
When landowners kick tenant farmers off of the land, they tell them that the banks are hungry, that the bank is part of a
hungry monster that cannot be sated. The tractors become the "snub-nosed monsters, raising the dust and sticking their
snouts into it, straight down the country, across the country, through fences, through dooryards, in and out of gullies in
straight lines" (5.41). When the tenant farmers try to figure out who is in charge, who they can complain to, the tractormonsters simply say, "Fellow was telling me the bank gets orders from the East. The orders were, 'Make the land show
profit or we'll close you up'" (5.63). There is no one, specific person to blame, no single person in charge. The banks in
the East are hungry for money, but we never get to see the faces of their agents, we never meet a specific landowner or
banker. We only know they exist, and that they are turning families out of their homes.
Blood
The Grapes of Wrath is full of blood. Consider the slaughtering of the pigs, the way Tom cuts his hand fixing the touring
car (and then uses his urine to make it stop bleeding), the Joad dog that gets run over, the farmland that is being bled
dry by drought and by cotton, Rose of Sharon's baby's birth, and more. We also know that the "grapes of wrath" in "The
Battle Hymn of the Republic" refers to injustice and spilt blood. Blood signals both life and death, so let's pay attention to
moments in which it bubbles to the surface of this novel.
The West
The idea of going west has been a central part of the American consciousness for a long time. Remember Louis and
Clark? Remember the Gold Rush? People have been heading west for years in search of fortune, opportunities, and
warmer weather. California has always been a symbol of wealth and opportunity for much of American history.
However, this novel complicates that myth, showing instead the misery and desperation that fills California's verdant hills.
Our narrator often describes the setting sun, offering specific description of the western sky. He says, "Only the
unbalanced sky showed the approach of dawn, no horizon to the west, and a line to the east" (8.1), as though suggesting
that the West represents the unknown, uncharted territory.
As nice as this image is, there's something a little unsettling about a horizonless horizon. Again, we find another jarring
disquieting description of the western sky, as our narrator describes, "The stars went out, few by few, toward the west"
(10.203). It's as though the west is eating the stars for dinner, is devouring the only glimmers of light amidst the night
sky. The Grapes of Wrath puts a new, dark spin on the American ideal of moving westward and seeking fortune.
The Sun
The sun is an omnipresent force in the Joads' life, one that they cannot escape. Many Joads have to sit on top of the
family truck on their way to California, and our narrator describes, "Their faces were shining with sunburn they could not
escape" (13.18). In this way the sun is almost violent. We also know that there has been a devastating drought in
America over the past decade, which has contributed to the arrival of Dust Bowl storms. The sun is a dangerous power.
However, the sun is not always a destructive symbol in this novel. Our narrator describes the sun in hopeful language
when he says, "The red sun set and left a shining twilight on the land, so that faces were bright in the evening and eyes
shone in reflection of the sky. The evening picked up light where it could" (13.174).
Racism
We learn much about racism in 1930s America throughout the novel, and we are reminded that we are exposed to one
perspective on life during this time: that of a poor, white family of Oklahoman farmers. While the novel spends the
majority of its time studying the Joads, we know that thousands of other families have been affected by the Dust Bowl,
and we know that the Joad experience cannot be completely representative of all other families' experiences.
Racial epithets are rampant in the world of this novel, and we hear stories about how ancestors of tenant farmers
violently stole land from Native Americans. In trying to defend his land from being taken by the landowners, one tenant
farmer argues, "Grampa took up the land, and he had to kill the Indians and drive them away" (5.19), hoping to convince
the landowners to let him keep his land. When the landowners do not listen to him, the tenant farmer grows more and
more enraged, and says, "Maybe we can kill banks – they're worse than Indians and snakes" (5. 25). Not only does this
remind us of another group of people who were kicked off the same land, but in this language, we hear the hot coals of
hate and of violence.
We also know that Grampa Joad has been no stranger to racist acts. Tom Joad describes the "time Grampa an' another
fella whanged into a bunch a Navajo in the night. They was havin' the time a their life, an' same time you wouldn' give a
gopher for their chance" (18.87). Through this novel, we're reminded indirectly of the bloody way in which Native
Americans were killed and driven from their lands. Now in this story we watch the Joads and other farming families fight
over and eventually lose the same land.
There are moments when we also recall the hate-filled racism that afflicted America following the Civil War. The guards
who patrol the fields in California, looking for migrant workers trespassing on the land (trying to grow food), comment,
"Why, Jesus, they're as dangerous as niggers in the South! If they ever get together there ain't nothin' that'll stop 'em"
(19.43). In this horrific language, we hear and see a cross-section of America's struggle with racism, hate, and
intolerance.
Pregnancy
Well, there's only one main pregnant lady in the novel, and that's Rose of Sharon. Whenever we see signs of babies in
books, we sit up straight and pay attention, because babies are usually a sign of new life, new beginnings. Babies are
cool because they ensure a family will continue to exist over another generation. So it's a pretty big deal that Rose of
Sharon's baby is stillborn. The promise for new life and new start is not realized. However, Rose of Sharon is able to bring
life to the world by nursing a nearly starved man.
The Grapes of Wrath Setting
Sallisaw, Oklahoma; Route 66; Central California (Bakersfield, Hooverville, Weedpatch, Tulare)
The geographical setting of The Grapes of Wrath constantly shifts, because its characters are constantly on the move. We
do know, however, that the story is set in the late 1930s, in the midst of the Great Depression.
We begin in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. Our narrator arms us with painstakingly vivid descriptions of the havoc that the dust
storms brought. After a period of great drought one June, rain clouds appeared, but instead of bringing rain, the clouds
disappeared, leaving great winds in their wake. The winds kicked up the drought dust that had gradually been
accumulating. Our narrator describes this process:
A day went by and the wind increased, steady, unbroken by the gusts. The dust from the roads fluffed up and spread out
and fell on the weeds beside the fields, and fell into the fields a little way. Now the wind grew strong and hard and it
worked at the rain crust in the corn fields. Little by little the sky was darkened by the mixing dust, and the wind felt over
the earth, loosened the dust, and carried it away. The wind grew stronger. The rain crust broke and the dust lifted up out
of the fields and drove gray plumes into the air like sluggish smoke. The corn threshed the wind and made a dry, rushing
sound. The finest dust did not settle back to earth now, but disappeared into the darkening sky […] The dawn came, but
no day. In the gray sky a red sun appeared, a dim red circle that gave a little light, like dusk; and as that day advanced,
the dusk slipped back toward darkness. (1.5-7)
The novel opens with this horrible event, and we watch how it sends the Joads and other tenant farmers into despair and
into poverty. With their crops ruined, and their entire world covered in dust, farmers like the Joads cannot make do. Dust
covers everything, and "every moving thing lifted the dust into the air: a walking man lifted a thin layer as high as his
waist, and a wagon lifted the dust as high as the fence tops, and an automobile boiled a cloud behind it. The dust was
long in settling back again" (1.3). When the dust from the storm settled, "it settled on the corn, piled up on the tops of
the fence posts, piled up on the wires; it settled on the roofs, blanketed the weeds and trees" (1.9). This is the
devastating backdrop against which The Grapes of Wrath begins.
A loneliness permeates the novel, because we know that the land is empty and that it is full of empty houses. Tom Joad
is freaked out when he returns to his family's farm after four years to find it completely vacant. Not only has it been
abandoned, but it has not been vandalized. Usually, when a family leaves a home, locals come and take the leftover
items and take the wood from the frame. Local children throw rocks at the windows for kicks. But the Joad home is
untouched, which means that there must not be many other families around, which means that everything about the land
is empty.
Uncle John's home is too small for the entire Joad family, but it is a home nonetheless. The house is "a square little box,
unpainted and bare" and it sits next to a barn "low-roofed and huddled" (8.20). The house has a little tin chimney. The
family likes to gather by the front door where some will lean against the house and others will sit on their haunches. The
dooryard is the patch of land that surrounds the front door of a house. When the landowners tell the tractor drivers to
plough a tenant farmer's dooryard, it is a clear sign of disrespect, as the dooryard is an important family gathering or
hanging-out place.
When the tenant farmers pack up their belongings and drive westward, their cars become new homes, and they learn
how to settle into a rhythm of driving during the day and setting up camp at night. Our narrator describes this new
"home" beautifully:
The house was dead, and the fields were dead; but this truck was the active thing, the living principle. The ancient
Hudson, with bent and scarred radiator screen, with grease in the dusty globules at the worn edges of every moving part,
with hub caps gone and caps of red dust in other places – this was the new hearth, the living center of the family; half
passenger car and half truck, high-sided and clumsy. (10.76)
The Joads, and other travelers, learn to listen to their cars, to detect any signs of malfunction or failure. The car is their
safety and their means of survival.
Route 66 extended from Missouri to Bakersfield, CA, and it was the main road used by families heading west to California:
Highway 66 is the main migrant road. 66 – the long concrete path across the country, waving gently up and down on the
map, from the Mississippi to Bakersfield –over the red lands and the gray lands, twisting up into the mountains, crossing
the Divide and down in to the bright and terrible desert, and across the desert to the mountains again, and into the rich
California valleys. (12.1)
Our narrator describes Highway 66 as "the mother road, the road of flight" (12.1), and it allows families to pursue their
hopes and dreams, while actually leading them to their despair and misery.
As families move along in their journeys to California, they begin to trust one other and begin to camp together at night.
When this happens, they learn to create sophisticated little worlds in their campgrounds, replete with unspoken laws and
codes that cannot be broken, and that, if broken, will result in either death or isolation. The worlds function as efficiently
and as intricately as any town or city might.
Once in California, the Joads are floored by its beauty and by its rich, lush land. There are orchards and fields
everywhere, and the soil is rich and moist. However, life is dangerous and it is harrowing in the beautiful state. Many
migrant families continue to move from place to place, setting up campgrounds called Hoovervilles (named after
President Herbert Hoover) on the outskirts of towns.
The Joads set up camp at one such Hooverville, but it's not that fun. In fact, it's downright un-fun. The Hooverville is full
of starving people who have little left and who are fighting to feed their children. Their tents are tattered, they live in
makeshift shacks, and they are unkempt. Weedpatch, by contrast, is a government camp with beautiful restrooms,
running water, hot showers, self-elected committees, dances, string bands, and occupants who look out for one another.
The Joads live for a time in an abandoned boxcar near Tulare, CA. They are one of the first families to discover the
boxcar, and, soon after, many other families flood the land and camp around the boxcars. The Joads feel like royalty,
because their home is warm, dry, and has a roof. But then the California winter comes and, with it, heavy rains. The rains
soak and flood the land, and the Joads must flee. California is depicted as fiercely beautiful, but incredibly dangerous.
Against the backdrop of growth and cultivation, families starve.
The Grapes of Wrath Narrator:
Who is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?
Mostly Third Person Omniscient; Occasionally First and Second Person
Our narrator is kind of ever-shifting. When telling us about the Joads, this narrator is all-knowing and all-seeing. He dips
in and out of each character's mind, knowing their immediate thoughts and fears.
However, interspersed with the chapters about the Joads are chapters that describe the historical context of the Dust
Bowl and of the California migration. These chapters feature a diversity of perspectives and points of view. At times, the
narrator with address the reader as "you." For example, he says, "For the quality of owning freezes you forever into 'I,'
and cuts you off forever from the 'we'" (14.4). At times, we get to hear the inner monologue of a car salesman as he
works to make a profit selling broken-down cars to poor families: "All right, Joe. You soften 'em up an' shoot 'em in here.
I'll close 'em, I'll deal 'em or I'll kill 'em. Don't send in no bums. I want deals" (7.25).
So what's up with our ever-shifting narrator? We're not too sure. But we do know that by exposing us to a variety of
perspectives and voices, Steinbeck allows us to really get a sense of what life was like for migrant workers in the late
1930s and of the various characters that played a role in this historical moment. It's almost as though Steinbeck has
created a textbook about migrant workers in California during the Great Depression, and he wants to represent as many
stories as possible so that we can learn as much as possible. If were to create a textbook or to design a lesson about
Dust Bowl America, how would you tell it?
The Grapes of Wrath Genre
Historical Fiction; Quest; Realism
We are very lucky. The Grapes of Wrath gives us a window into the lives of migrant worker families escaping the Dust
Bowl in late 1930s America. Steinbeck creates fictional characters and sets them against the backdrop of an important
chapter in American history. Not only to we get to know the Joads well, but we also get to know the history of the Dust
Bowl and of the migrant worker communities very well.
The Joads seem to undergo an odyssey in their quest for peace and happiness. While it is arguable as to whether they
ever achieve this peace, the novel vividly details the quest and all of the gruesome obstacles that pop up along the way.
The Grapes of Wrath Tone
Take a story's temperature by studying its tone. Is it hopeful? Cynical? Snarky? Playful?
Passionate and Stubborn with a Hint of Anger
Steinbeck's passion seeps through the chapters that depict the general landscape and life of Dust Bowl America. One
could argue that if Steinbeck were to weed out some of his repetitive images and some of his detailed descriptions, the
novel would be much shorter and much more concise. However, we get the feeling that Steinbeck wants to load his
readers up with detail and with repetitions. It's as though he wants the experiences of reading this novel to resemble the
Joads' experience of seeking peace and prosperity.
The Joads are met with obstacles, setbacks, and challenges that make their journey more complicated and grueling than
they ever could have imagined. And yet, they continue to fight and to persevere. We almost detect a stubbornness in the
way Steinbeck crafts and builds his novel – he doesn't want his readers to miss out on any of the gruesome details, and
he wants us to truly recognize the strength of spirit that the Joads have to muster.
In certain chapters that don't feature the Joad family, we see Steinbeck the journalist weigh in on greater societal
questions. For example, in Chapter Fifteen, our narrator describes the power of revolution. He seems to attack the
bankers and the landowners directly:
If you who own the things people must have could understand this, you might preserve yourself. If you could separate
causes from results, if you could know that Paine, Marx, Jefferson, Lenin, were results, not causes, you might survive. But
that you cannot know. For the quality of owning freezes you forever into 'I,' and cuts you off forever from the "we."
(14.4)
In this moment, our narrator's passionate, emotional nature erupts as he almost threatens an ambiguous power. We
know that Steinbeck was truly appalled by what he witnessed at the labor camps when he reported for the San Francisco
Chronicle, and we see at times his emotion bubble forth.
The Grapes of Wrath Writing Style
Journalistic, Stream-of-Consciousness, Detail-loving, Cinematic
Steinbeck loves details, and he doesn't deprive us of them as he describes the Joads' daily lifestyle and routine. We know
everything, from where Ma Joad keeps her letters, news clippings, and trinkets, to the exact part that is needed to fix the
Wilson's touring car. In fact, Steinbeck is so good at being precise that by the time we finish The Grapes of Wrath, we've
earned our PhDs in the art of auto mechanic repair. His chapters that treat the Joad family are full of lively, colorful
dialogue that closely approximates the sound and rhythms of the Oklahoma speech patterns. We feel like we are right
there, traveling alongside the Joads.
Steinbeck intersperses his chapters about the Joads with chapters that explore the life and times of the Dust Bowl
through a broad, historical lens. These chapters tend to assume a stream-of-consciousness, as it depicts banks evicting
tenant farmers, corrupt car salesmen selling broken-down cars for too much money, and even the very dust storms that
ruin the land. In these instances, Steinbeck uses lots of repetition, making the language seem almost dreamlike and
emphasizing the desperate times of the Dust Bowl era. Take a gander:
Listen to the motor. Listen to the wheels. Listen with your ears and with your hands on the steering wheel; listen with the
palm of your hand on the gear-shift lever; listen with your feet on the floor boards. Listen to the pounding old jalopy with
all your senses, for a change of tone, a variation of rhythm may mean – a week here? (12.6)
The repetition of "listen" creates a rhythmic quality, creates a sense of movement in this moment, and we get the sense
that we are witnessing a kind of heightened reality. The narrator speaks in the second person, addressing a "you," and,
suddenly, we are among the Joads and the thousands of other families who have spent their savings on buying a used
car. Steinbeck makes us feel like we are part of the story.
What’s Up With the Title?
The title, The Grapes of Wrath, is pulled directly from "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." What the hey is this "Battle
Hymn" you speak of? Well, even if you don't recognize this song's title, you will likely know the chorus and its melody like
the back of your hand. It goes something like this:
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
"The Battle Hymn of the Republic" was written by abolitionist Julia Ward Howe in 1861, the night after she visited a Union
army camp on the Potomac River near Washington D.C. The hymn became a kind of anthem for the abolitionist cause
and for the Union soldiers during the Civil War in America. The hymn was published in the Atlantic Monthly in February,
1862. Since then, this song has been woven into the fabric of American culture, appearing in books, movies, speeches,
and albums. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. incorporated the lyrics of this hymn into several of his sermons, and the hymn
was played at Winston Churchill's funeral. Many Americans, however, take great offense to the song, feeling it to be a
hateful and un-Christian rant against southern soldiers.
The hymn summons God to bring justice to those who have wrecked havoc over the land and over its people. In other
words, the hateful ways of the people are so great that only God can bring about vengeance. In the context of this novel,
"the grapes of wrath" may be interpreted as the greed, self-interest, and selfish ways of the landowners and of the banks
– all of which lead to the suffering of thousands of migrant workers.
The "grapes of wrath" is also a Biblical reference to the Book of Revelation, passage 14:19-20:
So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the
great wine press of the wrath of God.
Make no mistake, the squishing of "the grapes of wrath" is a violent and emotional image, and one that is closely
associated with the widespread oppression of a people and with the darkest chapter in American history (slavery). The
"grapes" image also makes us think of the spilling of blood.
As you reflect on the novel, do you think that this title invokes a specific god, or do you think it might be appealing to
another supreme force to bring about justice? Steinbeck's first wife, Carol, suggested The Grapes of Wrath as a title, and
he took her advice. Do you think that this is a good title for the novel?
The Grapes of Wrath Questions
Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
Individual assignments will be
distributed every other week
from the beginning of the
semester to the end. Refer to
your calendar for due dates.
Questions from the novel will be
on the mid-term exam or final
depending on when your
particular class completes the
project. Read conscientiously.
1. If you had been in the Joads' shoes, would you have left your home and gone
to California?
2. Let's say you have to load up your car and move two thousand miles away,
never to see your current home again. What items would you bring with you,
and why?
3. Why does Mae the waitress sell the customer two pieces of candy for a penny?
4. How has our world changed since the Great Depression?
5. Does this book make you want to tinker with a car or eat some side-meat?
6. You have been commissioned to design a lesson or to create a textbook about
the Great Depression in America. How would you structure your lesson or
textbook, what stories would you tell, and how would you tell these stories?
7. Why do you think Steinbeck structured this novel in the way that he does? Do
you like the way in which chapters about the Joads are interspersed with
chapters dealing with the greater historical context? Why or why not?