History- The Grapes of Wrath

This novel reflects history very accurately because this book was placed during the Dust Bowl. The various groups in society such as the workers and the bosses were portrayed as the bosses get the money and all of the workers ran around trying to find a decent job or any job at all. That is how it was all the time during this Great Depression. People were out of work and the bosses really did not give any money away unless the workers were working for them and even that the workers would only get the slightest amount of money. The author also portrays another group of society in this novel which is the men and women. The men during this time were basically the ones that had to find jobs in order to keep their families running. The women on the other hand had to take care of their families which was probably one of the more difficult tasks during these harsh times and conditions. The author really does a good job with putting in different groups of societies into this novel. When Steinbeck says, "The eyes of the whole family shifted back to Ma. She was the power. She had taken control. The money we'd make wouldn't do no good, she said. All we got is the family unbroke. Like a bunch a cows, when the lobos are ranging, stick all together. I ain't scared while we're all here, all that's alive, but I ain't gonna see us bust up" (Steinbeck 169 & 170). This shows on how much family had to rely on each other to stay together. The men had to go out and find jobs while the women had to keep their families together. The women had a very important role to take care of while the men were away trying to find jobs. I think that the author influenced himself because he lived through these hard times and he wanted to make a story that taught people on what it was like growing up during the Great Depression.

Bibliography

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.