Analysis Of Stainbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

The stock market crash of October 29, 1929 provided a dramatic end to an era of unprecedented, and unprecedentedly lopsided, prosperity. This disaster had been brewing for years. Different historians and economists offer different explanations for the crisis–some blame the increasingly uneven distribution of wealth and purchasing power in the 1920s, while others blame the decade’s agricultural slump or the international instability caused by World War I. In any case, the nation was woefully unprepared for the crash. For the most part, banks were unregulated and uninsured. The government offered no insurance or compensation for the unemployed, so when people stopped earning, they stopped spending. The consumer economy ground to a halt. An

In the Great Depression era novel The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck deploys descriptive language to convey Man’s perseverance. For example in chapter 3 Steinbeck describes Man’s perseverance by using a turtle and it struggles to represent the Joad family’s struggles. One can see Man’s perseverance when narrator states, “Now the hands, braced on top of the wall, strained and lifted, and the shell came slowly up and rested its front end on the wall.” In this passage the phrases “strained and lifted” and “came slowly up” evoke the reader's sense of struggle and hardship because the turtle is slowly lifting itself with all its might over a large obstacle. This dialogue also expresses life’s will to survive regardless of the

Since the book came out in 1939, everyone has had a opinion on the ending to John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. It has a very controversial ending, that Steinbeck thought would name the last nail into the coffin, so to speak, on how bad the dust bowl and moving west really was. The ending starts when the Joad family is threatened with a flood, so they make their way to a old barn where they find a boy and his old father. The boy says his father is starving, and that he can’t keep anything solid down. He needs something like soup or milk. Ma and Rose of Sharon look at each other and they agree that Rose of Sharon should use her milk, that she doesn’t need because her baby was stillborn, and feed this old man. Everyone gets out of the barn, and she feeds him. Now the weirdest part of all is that while she is feeding him, she starts to smile a mysterious smile. There are so many things that are just not right in any

The tone of chapter 11 in John Steinbeck's, “The Grapes of Wrath,” is sympathetic, sad and hopeless. His word choice and syntax show how the sad houses were left to decay in the weather. His use of descriptive words paints a picture in the reader's mind. As each paragraph unfolds, new details come to life and adds to the imagery. While it may seem unimportant, this intercalary chapter shows how the effects of the great depression affected common households.

Though it is a book that has been on the censored list, Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is a worthy novel to continue in the high school curriculum due to its accurate portrayal of the time period. As a student reading this novel after many extensive United States history classes and the previous year taking AP United States History, I felt a new outlook after reading a fictional story about the matters of the depression and dust bowl of the 30’s. Steinbeck’s use of literary depiction strengthens the novel and makes it more than just a recollection of the time. His biblical allusions, imagery, symbolism, and figurative language allow the reader to immerse themselves in the time. As a result of this, the novel went from a tale of history to

During the Great Depression, the nation as a whole was stripped of financial security and forced into a survivalist way of living. This changed the ways that people interacted with one another and the overall mentality of society. In the Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family is torn from their land and find themselves with nothing, a common story for migrant farmers of that time, derogatorily called “Okies” by Californians. But this is not the only group that is struggling, the entire county was in a state of panic and bruteness, no matter how “well off” they seemed to be. This caused the formation

Grapes of Wrath clearly illustrate the class struggle between workers and the upper class. Steinbeck displays the discrimination between the migrant people and landowners. Migrant workers are handled worse than animals, family’s or “Okies” are starving as food is wasted by the wealthy and the landowners maintain control through violence. “What do you want us to do? We can't take less share of the crop – we're half starved now. The kids are hungry all the time. We got no clothes, torn an' ragged. If all the neighbors weren't the same, we'd be ashamed to go to meeting.” (Pg 33). Farmers are trying to reason with the landowners, their whole community is out of money and are struggling to make a living. Grapes of Wrath show the unfair working situations that migrants face when they arrive in California. Land Owners are the most wealthy and powerful having the ability to pay their workers a poor wage. In the Grapes of Wrath, many Americans lose their homes, jobs and life savings, forcing them to move and leave behind their land in hopes of finding a prosperous place to live. The Great Depression (1929-1939) was the worst, deepest and longest lasting economic collapses in the industrialized western world. The Joad family is planning to move to California, but some of them have doubts and attachments that make them contemplate whether or not it is the right choice. The Joads find their motivation by helping each other through tough situations. Steinbeck shows the determination of the human spirit

On October 29th, 1929, the hugest stock market crash befell in American history which is as known as Black Tuesday. It triggered the final consequence under the unstable society and lead to the Great Depression. The Great Depression was a period time from 1929 to 1939 when American was in its deepest economic downturn in history. Consumer spending and banks were two of the long-term causes of the Great Depression. Prices of necessary kept rising, but people’s wedge stayed the same. People could not afford their daily supplies and were facing to starvation. Many banks closed because people did not trust banks to put their money in. When banks closed, business did not get loan to keep opening, so the economy became like stagnant water. In the early 1928, Hoover was elected to be the 31st president of the

Failure of banks: The American banks at that time were small institution and they were relying on their own resources. When the stock market crashed many depositors went to the banks to take their money but the banks had fewer reserves to give to the depositors so they had to sell their asset. Moreover, the banks stopped giving more credits which ultimately led to low circulation of money in the economy. This damaged the economy

Before the Stock Market crash of 1929, America went through a decade of prosperity and social change known as the Roaring Twenties. New fads and numerous inventions emerged throughout our country. Many people bought on credit and as a result, our economy flourished. However, many Americans failed to realize this would be one of the underlying causes leading to the Great Depression. For instance, “Most people bought, but many couldn’t afford to pay the full price all at once. Instead, they bought on credit” (Wormser 86). To clarify, buying on credit means borrowing money and paying it off later. Numerous individuals bought almost everything on credit including clothes, houses, and other manufactured goods. This ultimately led to the crashing

In The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, the chapters alternate between two perspectives of a story. One chapter focuses on the tenants as a whole, while the other chapter focuses specifically of a family of tenants, the Joads, and their journey to California. Chapter 5 is the former and Steinbeck does an excellent job of omniscient third person point of view to describe the situation. Chapter 5’s main idea is to set the conflict and let the readers make connections between Steinbeck’s alternating chapters with foreshadowing. Steinbeck is effectual in letting readers make connections both to the world and the text itself with the use of exposition, and symbolism.

Many people saw the United States as the land of opportunity, a place where anyone wherever they came from, or whatever their background, could make a success of their lives. The question, explain how and why the economy collapsed when the stock market crashed during the period of 1920-1929(the roaring 20’s).

John Steinbeck has a style of writing unparalleled in history and in the modern world.

Beginning in 1929 a worldwide economic downturn the Great Depression began. It was the longest depression ever experienced lasting until about 1939. The Depression started in the United States, however because of the drastic declines in productivity, unemployment, and deflation the Great Depression was felt in almost every country around the world. Only the Civil War ranks ahead of the Great Depression as the gravest crisis in the history of the United States of America.

The term “American dream” was coined in 1931 by James Adams. It is defined as the dream of a land where life is fuller and richer for everyone. This dream has been shared by millions of people all over the world since America was discovered. People such as European immigrants, and even people born in the Americas who wanted to expand west. The Joad family’s journey is a prime example of the determinism families had to try to live the American dream. Through John Steinbeck's plot in The Grapes of Wrath,  the struggle of the typical American dreamer is depicted in the Joad’s attempt to move to California for a better life.