The rich bastard/good guy dichotomy is most essential to Steinbeck’s narrative purpose for Chapter Two. Tom Joad Jr., while prying the truck driver for a ride, claims that “sometimes a guy’ll be a good guy even if some rich bastard makes him carry a sticker.” We know that the driver wants to be a good guy, similar to the emergence of ‘good personality’ over ‘good character’ in The Great Gatsby. The phrase “good guy” is only referenced six times within the novel, all within chapter two. “Rich bastard” only appears twice, both within chapter two again. Not only placing the descriptions within the same chapter to dichotomize them, Steinbeck goes further to isolate them from the rest of the book. The truck driver and Tom both agree that the “rich
Steinbeck characterizes him to show how self centered and rude he is because he doesn’t even understand what just happened. In this way, Steinbeck uses characterization of different people and their actions to show how humans are self centered, and don’t pay much
Throughout history, authors utilize the written word to either expose grievous faults within society or celebrate the feats of society. John Steinbeck is certainly no exception as he has constructed many pieces which serve to enlighten the audience on the accomplishments and faults of society. The novel, The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck attempts to expose faults within society which include prejudice and the overwhelming desire for greed. He does so through his use of allusions, diction, and characterization. John Steinbeck in the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, attempts to expose one of society’s most detrimental flaws--prejudice through the use of repetition and characterization.
With this example, Steinbeck could be making the statement that
Steinbeck uses machines to serve as a physical representation of sin/devil and demonstrates how capitalism is the driving force behind it. Capitalism is the purest form of individually that a society can have from a governmental standpoint, and Steinbeck shows this by putting the Joad family in Camp Hooverville. Camp Hooverville is seen as capitalistic, for it's an every man for himself oriented camp. Capitalism is the driving force behind the machines, that evicts families off their land and instead gives it to big industrial firms. The cops at the camp are the physical makeup and the driving force for capitalism and the over wrenching power it has over the people.
It sometimes seems like the rich rule the worl. These privileged and more fortunate people tend to take advantage of the less privileged and less fortunate people for their own benefit. This is shown in two texts, both written by John Steinbeck. One text, a book called The Grapes of Wrath, is about Tom Joad and his family migrating to California to look for work after their land is taken from them by the banks after The Dust Bowl. The second is an essay titled, Their Blood Is Strong, which is about the migrant workers in California and the banks, government, and bigger farmers.
But they won’t do nothing like that. I won’t have no place to go, an’ I can’t get no more jobs.” This shows how although workers are mistreated, they often don’t have any other option and just have to live with it. The predatory world of Steinbeck is one in which the strong prey on the weak, and the vulnerable are left to fend for themselves. This is evident in the treatment if characters like Candy, Crooks, and Curely’s wife, who are all marginalized and oppressed in different ways due to their age, race, and
Throughout the first half of The Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck sets up the characters for disappointment by making their hopes for
Steinbeck’s moral conclusion talks about the injustices in different social classes. The novella could have ended by kino possibly getting money for the pearl and getting everything that he desired for himself and his family. However if this were to happen then the novel would have not shown the reader the huge division between classes. An example of the division of classes is the relationship between the wealthy doctor and the poor indian families. The doctor would not at first help Kino because Kino was poor and he despised kino's race.
John Steinbeck provides us a sense of history and perspective on critical realities in society that allowed other authors to speak truth to many topics that were previously avoided. Stiendbeck’s early life may seem bleak compared to his well-known
John Steinbeck lived in a moderate environment that shaped his view of society in which he incorporated into his works. One line that displays this is the quote, “Steinbeck’s novels can all be classified as social novels dealing with the economic problems of rural labor, but there is also a streak of worship of the soil in his books, which does not always agree with
I have conducted the beginning of research and I have come across websites, journals, and texts that I plan to use for my paper. They will contribute by communicating background material, critique and others’ opinions, and direct evidence to support the ideas conveyed about Steinbeck’s writing. I have already attained that John Steinbeck experienced the time period he grew up, and his writing directly reflected that setting. The women in “The Chrysanthemums”, “The White Quail”, and the Grapes of Wrath are shown to be strong and useful, but not in the way men are, in society. Women were seen as caretakers and house makers, but they had no equivalent rights in society or in a political view, and I intend to expand further on this topic with vast description, analyzation, and
Summary: ‘The Wide World of John Steinbeck’, written by Peter Lisca is broken down in three sections. The first section is the opinions of readers, critics and also John Steinbeck. In one review by F.O. Mathiessen says, “It’s a puzzler why Steinbeck should have wanted to write or publish such a book at this point of his career.” (Page 197-198) Another review was by John Steinbeck, himself, which he said in a letter to some of his agents which stated, “Mixed up book,” and also “pretty general ribbing.”
(100) Now, rather than only seeing the owners through the biased lense of the Joads, the reader can also see the drive behind the owners who appear to be the villains of The Grapes of Wrath. It would be easy for Steinbeck to maintain a bias against the owners but he strives to help teach the logic behind all human decisions. He also shows the opposite side too, not just from the Joads. “Fear the time when the bombs stop falling while the bombers live—for every bomb is proof that the spirit has not died. And fear the time when the strikes stop while the great owners live—for every little beaten strike is proof that the step is being taken.
As one critic states, “The dialogue is stilted; the characters, two-dimensional; the style, pretentious; the tone, inconsistent; the plot, awkwardly managed; the theme, confused.” (French. Page 31) Notwithstanding, John Steinbeck, similar to all the other geniuses before and after him can not remain without fault. True literary geniuses must do the unthinkable, reimagine the world around them, and continue to persevere relentlessly against all odds. The story might not have been his most popular but it showed depth and a continual development so that more could be achieved and strived for.