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Suffering In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

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John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath was published just as the Great Depression ended. His novel is set during the 1930’s, specifically in the dust bowl of the Midwest. In The Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family makes the perilous journey out West to find new jobs after their family farm was shut down by the company that owned their land. When they reach California, they realize it was not the oasis they had once imagined it to be, as they were met with no jobs left in the state, poor living conditions, brutal police, and low amounts of food. However, the obstacles they face all hold one thing in common: they are the product of man’s cruelty. Each of these hurdles were also faced by every other family that moved out West during the early 1930’s, and their mentality was merely to survive. Therefore, true human nature was …show more content…

There are many different reasons as to Steinbeck chose this to be his major theme to prevail throughout the book, but the main reason is to make the readers feel what he felt while researching for the novel. The theme is apparent due to the constant nature migrants who are constantly on the receiving end of cruelty from the native California people. One point that shows this is in chapter twenty-two when a native told Rose of Sharon, “I can see your black soul a-burnin'. I see that innocent child in that there girl's belly a-burnin'” (Stienbeck 409). In this quote a native is telling Rose of Sharon all the things she does, not even completely sinful, is ruining her innocent baby. There are instances like this in every chapter at least once, if not normally

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