Analysis Grapes of Wrath
Author: John Steinbeck, Robert Demott (Introduction).
Penguin USA; New York.
Reissued Edition (Oct. 1992).
619 Pages.
The Grapes of Wrath is a novel by John Steinbeck that exposes the desperate
conditions under which the migratory farming families of America during the 1930s
lived, through a personal approach and heavy symbolism. The novel tells of one familys
migration west to California through the great economic depression of the 1930s. The
bank took possession of their land because the owners could not pay off their loan. The
novel shows how the Joad family deals with moving to California, and how they survive
the cruelty of the landowners that took advantage of them, their poverty, and willingness
to work.
The Grapes of Wrath combines Steinbeck?s adoration of the land, his passionate
hatred for corruption; resulting from materialism (money), and his abiding faith in the
common people to overcome the hostile environment. As it opens with a retaining
picture of nature on rampage, the novel shows the men and women that are unbroken by
nature. The theme is that of a man verses a hostile environment. His body may be
destroyed, but his spirit is not broken.
The method used to develop the theme of the novel is
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