ipl-logo

Ending In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

953 Words4 Pages

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 …show more content…

In The Grapes Of Wrath, By John Steinbeck, the ending is very controversial in many ways, the most obvious ways though are fundamentally wrong, morally wrong, and just how depressing it is.Since the book came out in 1939, everyone has had a opinion on the ending to John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. Michael Harmon once said, “The ending can be seen two ways, as a tool for people to recognize the poverty and destruction at that time, or as a way to get more citizens to read the book”. 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. 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 sense with the end of the

Show More
Related

  • Scarlett's Mothers-Personal Narrative

    1377 Words  | 6 Pages

    It was a cold, dreary night in the month of October in 2003. It was the night before Scarlett’s mothers funeral, she had only been 3 years old. The only thing that made her happy was a stuffed monkey with a picture of her mom in the belly. Scarlett had grown up with her dad Frank in California, and as she hit 9 years old Carla had started coming around more.

    Read More

  • Juxtaposition In The Grapes Of Wrath

    651 Words  | 3 Pages

    Steinbeck’s, The Grapes of Wrath follows the difficult journey of the Joad family as the attempt to move to California. Interwoven into this story is small paragraphs that deliver smaller, individual messages. One such paragraph is paragraph 11. In this paragraph Steinbeck speaks of how the farms have changed over time. This juxtaposition of times seems insignificant and unrelatable to those who don’t look deeply into this short, quick story.

    Read More

  • Foreshadowing In The Grapes Of Wrath

    859 Words  | 4 Pages

    John Steinbeck’s classic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, explains the story of the Joad family while simultaneously dealing with eternal human issues. We open on Tom Joad, fresh out of prison, hitchhiking his way back home after killing a man with a shovel. From there we travel through ideas of religion, capitalism, xenophobia, and determination. As Tom begins walking home from where he was dropped off, he runs across his childhood preacher, alone and barefoot, and discusses ideas of human desire and sin within the church after learning that Casy is no longer a member. Continuing on his way home, Tom finds his family’s barn abandoned and his neighbors gone.

    Read More

  • Grapes Of Wrath Rhetorical Analysis

    1255 Words  | 6 Pages

    Grapes of Wrath Synthesis Essay Coretta Scott King, prominent civil rights activist and wife of Martin Luther King Jr., once stated, “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members”. King argues that the real value of a community lies in how people are treated within the group rather than the communities effect on the outer world. During the Great Depression, the common experience of poverty throughout the nation brought people together to form communities that assisted each other in their aim of survival. The struggle prevalent across the working class created a culture and community that was reliant on this compassion for each other.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis: The Grapes Of Wrath

    1880 Words  | 8 Pages

    Intercalary Chapter Literary Analysis 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.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of John Steinbeck's New Historicism

    1657 Words  | 7 Pages

    A Sacrificial Breastfeeder: John Steinbeck’s New Historicism perspective in the 20th Century John Steinbeck’s most interesting ending is illustrated in the 1939 classic Grapes of Wrath. “She moved slowly into the corner and stood looking down at the wasted face, into the wide, frightened eyes. Then slowly she lay down beside him. He shook his head slowly from side to side. Rose of Sharon loosened one side of the blanket and bared her chest” (Steinbeck 455).

    Read More

  • The Role Of Oppression In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

    168 Words  | 1 Pages

    In The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck follows the Joad family as they suffer the hardships caused by the Dust Bowl in the 1930’s. The most important lesson people can learn from the novel is the value of a human life. Although the 1930’s was a low point in American society, the ill-treatment of human beings is still relevant today. Just like Jim Casy’s philosophy, it is important to fight for the rights of the people and their dignity. There are several examples of oppression in The Grapes of wrath.

    Read More

  • Grapes Of Wrath Book Review

    2198 Words  | 9 Pages

    This story reveals all the difficulties and all of the suffering proceeding of many of the migrant laborers during the Great Depression and also the Dust Bowl. The novel by Steinbeck has been written to criticize many of the careless and self-interested people and overly important corporate and banking elites for trying to increase their profit policies that would ultimately force many of the farmers to suffer and go through major tribulations. Through these careless actions many of these farmers had to go through things such as starving. It is a very well written political piece, it describes the actions by the lower classes in a great way. As the Grape of Wrath begins, the Joad family is a very traditional family and the structure of the family is in which where the men make the decisions and the women do as they are told.

    Read More

  • Quotes From The Grapes Of Wrath

    749 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the book The Grapes of Wrath, it portrays many of the experiences being lived in the Great Depression and the Dust bowl. But, it also portrays some of the many lives being lived in the modern age today. The book makes a powerful draw to many of the readers due to the fact that America was once in this position; that almost every family was in this position during the Great Depression. Even today in the modern age, most of readers have been through the struggles of trying to survive or what their family members had to do for a better life. The book gives a lot of connection and shows deep meaning that people understand the most.

    Read More

  • The Grapes Of Wrath Chapter 11 Analysis

    294 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Grapes Of Wrath Rhetorical Analysis Essay

    1177 Words  | 5 Pages

    John Steinbeck has a style of writing unparalleled in history and in the modern world. In the same way, his philosophies are also unparalleled, with his focus in socialism not extending to communism or abnegation of spiritualism. His ideal world is utopian, holding the dust bowl migrant at the same level as the yeoman farmer was held in Jeffersonian times. In The Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck Steinbeck, who posses impregnable technique, conveys his message of a group working tirelessly for the betterment of the community.

    Read More

  • Cinderella Man And The American Dream Essay

    1655 Words  | 7 Pages

    Near the end of the excerpt in The Grapes of Wrath, it is seen that the family is going to have to face a catastrophic event. The family is told that they “have to get off the land.” or, “The plows go through the dooryard” (33). At this point, the family is left to question what they are going to have to do. They will no longer have a home to protect them from the elements, they will not have a place to sleep, and they will not have any job. They are facing the worst part of their lives, and they do not know what is to come next.

    Read More

  • The Upper Class In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

    451 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Grapes Of Wrath Chapter 5 Analysis

    735 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Role Of Suffering In John Steinbeck's Grapes Of Wrath

    657 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, human suffering is portrayed throughout the whole novel. The novel takes place during the devastation of the Dust Bowl which occurred in the 1930's. People from various Dust Bowl states all migrated towards California; the land of hope. Steinbeck utilizes the Joads' journey to demonstrate and highlight the life of an average migrant. During this harsh time, people managed their lives under the notion: every man for themselves.

    Read More

More about Ending In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

Open Document