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Archetypes In The Grapes Of Wrath

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It’s difficult to get kicked out of a land you have lived in for so long and end up having nowhere to go. In this novel, Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, shows Tom Joad’s journey with his family to a new place where they've never been. They travel from Oklahoma to California and encounter a lot of hardship. Tom Joad is the main character in the story and is portrayed in the beginning as someone who can’t control their anger. He shows development in managing his anger issues as a result of his family’s unwavering emotional support. His character experiences many highs and lows and embodies Jungian psychoanalytic archetypes. Usually when finding the archetypes you look at them in real life action things like movies, shows, or in person …show more content…

“Joad leaned toward the driver. “Homicide,” he said quickly. That’s a big word--means I killed a guy. Seven years. I’m sprung in four for keepin’ my nose clean” (Steinbeck 18). In this scene of the novel, he acts impulsively due to easily getting irritated. The driver had asked basic questions to kill time and Tom viewed it differently and thought of him as someone who was being nosy. He shows impulsiveness because of how quickly he erupts and comes to a certain conclusion that the driver wanted to know about his crime and personal issues. He’s reckless due to the fact that asking several questions easily gets him annoyed causing him to give …show more content…

“Look, Ma, stop worryin’...Whyn’t you do that?” (Steinbeck 117- 118). Tom tells his mom not to overthink about their journey. Also mentioning how she should look and enjoy how it is right now instead of worrying about the possible things they’ll be doing once they get to California. Additionally, advising to take things little by little as the days go by. This is Tom looking on the bright side and showing his mom his point of view of how he’s at ease and not thinking negatively. Tom Joad's determination to have a better life by moving to California shows his hopefulness despite serving in jail for almost 4 years. This allows him to pass this positive mindset to his mom like he had during his time in jail granting his

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