Themes- The Grapes of Wrath

The themes in every book are always important to look at. Like in The Grapes of Wrath, the theme was the struggle with people and nature. To this day, everybody has struggles whether it is with nature or it is with people or socially. During this specific time in human life, people were struggling with nature with the Dust Bowl. Everyday farmers would go out to there crops to check out what is going on, the dust bowl just became a big drought. For farmers they would have to go and seek better places in order to make a living. Especially the farmers in this novel they do not want to see themselves fail because nobody in this world wants to fail. So in order to try to make life better they go and find a job somewhere else. When Steinbeck says, "Jus' let me get out to California where I can pick me an orange when I want it. Or grapes. There's a thing I ain't never had enough of. Gonna get me a whole big bunch a grapes off a bush, or whatever, an' I'm gonna squash 'em on my face an' let 'em run offen my chin" (Steinbeck 83). This shows that people were so excited to go and head out to California to just get away from all of this struggle whereever they were living. The author understands all of the struggles that go on throughout life that you have stay strong for. People during the Dust Bowl could of just stayed home and starved to death instead of heading to California, but people decided that they were not going to fail and head to California. That is what the Joads did in this situation, but instead of finding a job they were unable to live in the harsh conditions of these times. The universal theme in this novel told a lot about the history between people and nature throughout the Dust Bowl.

Bibliography

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

Setting- The Grapes of Wrath

There was a rough patch that hit in the nineteen thirties and that is where the Dust Bowl came into play. This novel reflects history because during the nineteen thirties there was a huge drought which was called the Dust Bowl. People would leave their homes and head out to California. This novel shows a family that is going through this drought. Tom Joad is a farmer and a big drought does not help with all of his crops. The behavior of this time was sort of like a depression. People did not really feel like doing things or it was very quiet during this time mostly because of all the people leaving their homes to head into California. The social issues of this time were very bad. People fleeing homes to head into California, or people just staying at home and just starve to death. When Hemingway says, "She gazed at him, and she closed her eyes slowly. "Funny ain't it. All the time we was a-movin' an' shovin', I never thought none. An' now these here folks been nice to me, been awful nice; an' what's the first thing I do? I go back over the sad things-- that night Grampa died an' we buried him. I was all full up of the road, and bumpin' and movin', an' it was'nt so bad. But I come out here, an' it's worse now" (Steinbeck 322). This quote shows all the hard decisions they had to make during this tough time. People would look over the sad things rather than look over the good things that were happening to them. That is what Steinbeck wanted readers to realize is people really did not think like they usually would during a time like this. This book symbolizes the depression and the perservierence of the men, women, and children that had to go through this tough, hard, time. The setting in this book was not only a hard time, but it was also a tough time to work in.

Bibliography

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

Hero-The Grapes of Wrath

The hero in this book had a lot of courage and bravery, this man's name was Tom Joad. The traits that Tom had throughout this book was that he had courage, and bravery. Tom held a lot more traits, but these were his big ones. Tom showed courage throughout the story because starting out in Oklahoma at this specific time in life was not easy. Tom had to make a decision whether to stay at home and have no job or travel all the way to California and see if you can find a job. Tom made a decision that put his family's well-fare in jepordy. When heading to California you could not take planes or jets, you had to drive. While Tom knew that California may have to many people working there, he still took the route that seemed promising for him and his family. When Steinbeck says, "Ma cleared her throat. It ain't kin we? she said firmly. As far as 'kin,' we can't do nothin, not go to California or nothin'; but as far as 'will,' why, we'll do what we will. An' as far as 'will'---it's a long time our folks been here and east before, an' I never heerd tell of no Joads or no Hazletts, neither, ever refusin' food an' shelter or a lift on the road to anybody that asked. They's been mean Joads, but never that mean" (Steinbeck 102). What this says is that Ma Joad is getting scared about moving out to California. The decision that Tom Joad made is having a huge impact on the family itself. The second trait that Tom Joad had was bravery. Tom had a lot of bravery in order to fulfill the task of going to California. Tom and the family headed out into California looking for a job. They did not know what that job was going to be, but they were going to find a job. Throughout the story Tom Joad fulfilled his duties and became a "hero."

Bibliography

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

Causes, Gains, and Losses- The Grapes of Wrath

The conflict in The Grapes of Wrath was basically the Dust Bowl. The cause of this conflict is the fact that it is the Dust Bowl. The Dust Bowl was a very long drought. People from all over the place all headed towards California for jobs. Since California got some rain they were able to work over there. The only gain of this conflict is the hope that people were able to get while traveling to California. A lot of families had hope and they were ready to work. Once they got over to California they did not find any jobs around. They were all already filled up. So once this happened they lost all of their hope which they once had and they ended up starving to death because they had no money for food, which brings us to the losses of this conflict. There are a lot of losses that are in this type of conflict. The first lost is that people have to leave their homes and travel all the way to California whithout knowing what their life is going to be like over there. When Steinbeck says, "Where'll we go? the women asked. We don't know. We don't know. And the women went quickly, quietly back into the houses and herded the children ahead of them. They knew that a man so hurt and so perplexed may turn in anger, even on people he loves. They left the men alone to figure and to wonder in the dust" (Steinbeck 34). This quote states all of the questions people had of where they were going when they had to get off of their property. All of the times that people were kicked off of their farm they were told to go to California because they had more jobs, little did they know, once they got to California all of the jobs were filled up. Another loss is all of the people that were in the state of California which led to no jobs and starvation of a lot of people.

Bibliography

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

Values and Attitudes- The Grapes of Wrath

John Steinbeck showed a lot of his values and attitudes through the writing that was in The Grapes of Wrath. His values and attitudes were pretty much be the best that you can. The Joads were only one of the many families who were affected by the dust bowl. The dust bowl was a long drought and it made many farmers move to California in order to seek work. The Joads were one of those families that had to move to California in order to work. Throughout their journey they were told by many people that they were not going to find any jobs in the state of California because they were all taken. There were so many people in California that it was impossible to find a job. Despite hearing that the Joads still went on with the trip and got into California. When Steinbeck says, "The preacher sighed. I'll go anyways, he said. Somepin's happening. I went up an' I looked, an' the houses is all empty, an' the lan' is empty, an' this whole country is empty. I can't stay here no more. I got to go where the folks is goin'. I'll work in the fiel's , an' maybe I'll be happy" (Steinbeck 94). In this quote Jim Casy, who is a preacher, is heading to California with the Joads. He has seen that all the houses are empty and it seems like everybody is in California because of this Dust Bowl. In this story, it is written in third person. The Joads like every other family without a job headed into California without any idea of what kind of job they were going to get. This family though had the most important thing heading into the state of California which was hope. Hope was a big thing to have during these rough times because it kept the families together longer than if you had no hope. The writing reveals a lot about Steinbeck's values and attitudes throughout the book.

Bibliography

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

Day five- Old Man and the Sea

Santiago is now at the end of his trip. He is almost back to his "shed" and the fish is now gone. All there is left of it is the carcass. Sadly, he thinks that nobody is going to believe him that he caught this giant fish. All he has is this carcass that he could of picked up out of the water! Also, he knows that he could of gotten a lot of money with this fish for all of its meat. Now since there is no meat on the fish its worth nothing. His hope has gone down the drain since he got back to his home. When Hemingway says, "He unstepped the mast and furled the sail and tied it. Then he shouldered the mast and started to climb. It was then he knew the depth of his tiredness. He stopped for a moment and looked back and saw in the reflection from the street light the great tail of the fish standing up well behind the skiff's stern. He saw the white naked line of his backbone and the dark mass of the head with the projecting bill and all the nakedness between" (Hemingway 121). Throughout the story Santiago had so much hope and was very courageous. Now he is looking at the negatives at the fish. He notices all of the nakedness on it, he also notices the backbone of the fish where there should be meat. He should be saying to himself, hey I caught the biggest fish anybody has ever seen. Even though there is no meat on it, you can still see how big it was. That morning everybody was so astonished of how big it was they mistaked it to be a sharks carcass. Santiago had showed a lot of strength, courage, and bravery throughout the whole trip. Even though he did not bring back home the prize possession, he will still be the old man that caught the biggest fish ever.

Bibliography

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1996. Print.

Day four- Old Man and the Sea

Santiago is nearing the end of his trip. He has battled this huge fish for so long and he finally was able to spear it. It was to big to put on his little boat so he decided to hang it off the side. When Santiago was coming back into shore he knew what was going to happen to him. He knew that there were going to be some hungry predators waiting for him to get into their territory. He decided to take the risk of hanging the fish on the side of the boat and he knew what the consequences were going to be. When Hemingway wrote, "When the old man saw him coming he knew that this was a shark that had no fear at all and would do exactly what he wished. He prepared the harpoon and made the rope fast while he watched the shark come on. The rope was short as it lacked what he had cut away to lash the fish. The old man's head was clear and good now and he was full of reslution but he had little hope. It was too good to last, he thought" (Hemingway 101). As you can see Santiago had so much hope that he was able to bring home this huge fish to show the boy and he knew that it was to good to last long. Even though there is still some meat still on the fish he knows that more sharks are going to be coming this way especially since the fish is ripped open. Santiago just wanted proof that his luck had ended in the last eighty-four days. He wanted to show people that he is not unlucky for he is a man of luck. He wanted to show Manolin that he is able to fish with him again, now that he caught a fish. Now nearing the end of his trip Santiago has to find a way to keep the sharks away from his boat and more importantly his fish.

Bibliography

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1996. Print.