Grapes of Wrath Themes Flashcards
Man’s inhumanity
to man
Migrants great sufferings caused by
fellow human beings.
Division of poor and rich is the
primary source of evil and suffering.
Historical, social and economic circumstances
separate people into rich and poor.
Class
discrimination.
Migrants are treated like animals,
shuffled from camp to camp.
Migrants are denied livable wages and forced
to turn against their brethren to survive.
Steinbeck portrays the state (California) as
the product of land-hungry squatters who took the land of Mexicans.
Years later, landowners see the influx of migrant farmers might
cause history to repeat itself.
Family and
fellowship.
Novels follow Joads and
collective body of migrants.
Steinbeck argues their loyalty and
commitment to one another establishes true kinship.
In the face of adversity,
the livelihood of the migrants depends upon their union.
Joads and Wilsons merge into one, sharing
hardships and commitments to one another’s survival.
Dignity
of wrath.
Steinbeck emphasises the importance of
maintaining self-respect in order to survive spirituality.
Joads are exemplary figures in
their refusal to be broken.
Family rises above the hardship to perform an act of
unsurpassed kindness and generosity for a starving man.
As long as people maintain a sense of injustice -
a sense of anger against those who seek to undercut their pride in themselves, they won’t lose dignity.
Effects of
Selfishness and Altruism
Greed and generosity is presented as
self-perpetuating, following cyclical dynamics.
The evils that plague the Joad family and
migrants stem from selfishness.
Simple self-interest motivates landowners and the
businessmen to sustain a system that financially cripples a group of poverty ridden people.
(1932) Farmers Holiday Association formed
strikes to force to stop foreclosure and raise food prices.
Environmentalism and
attitude towards land use.
Linked to American
Romanticism.
People see nature as giving “their own lives… meaning and worth”
by Ed Ricketts.
Farmers derive wisdom
from the land.
Steinbeck uses the land to ground
his characters’ sense of self.
Heartlessness of tractors and the detachment of landowners
disrupt the farmers’ connection to the land.
Steinbeck depicts the land as having a soul and
performing manual labour on that land provides a deeper understanding of life.
Holism /
Unity
Tom adopts his way of thinking and
takes a leadership platform.
Tom is the symbol of sacrifice as he
carries on the mission of unifying the migrant workers.
Casy’s philosophy is constructed on the idea that
all human beings are intrinsically linked, with love and compassion being the major components of his belief.
What type of novel is it?
Proleterian
The landowners hold power and attempt
to control supply and demand.
Tom plans to represent the workers as they
fight against exploitation in the face of the economic machine.
Grapes of Wrath advocates for social change by showing
the unfair working conditions migrants face when they reach California.
Joads develop a sense of community among their
fellow exploited proletariats, still searching for the elusive American Dream.
