Grapes of Wrath Themes

Question 1

Man’s inhumanity

Answer 1

to man

Question 2

Migrants great sufferings caused by

Answer 2

fellow human beings.

Question 3

Division of poor and rich is the

Answer 3

primary source of evil and suffering.

Question 4

Historical, social and economic circumstances

Answer 4

separate people into rich and poor.

Question 5

Class

Answer 5

discrimination.

Question 6

Migrants are treated like animals,

Answer 6

shuffled from camp to camp.

Question 7

Migrants are denied livable wages and forced

Answer 7

to turn against their brethren to survive.

Question 8

Steinbeck portrays the state (California) as

Answer 8

the product of land-hungry squatters who took the land of Mexicans.

Question 9

Years later, landowners see the influx of migrant farmers might

Answer 9

cause history to repeat itself.

Question 10

Family and

Answer 10

fellowship.

Question 11

Novels follow Joads and

Answer 11

collective body of migrants.

Question 12

Steinbeck argues their loyalty and

Answer 12

commitment to one another establishes true kinship.

Question 13

In the face of adversity,

Answer 13

the livelihood of the migrants depends upon their union.

Question 14

Joads and Wilsons merge into one, sharing

Answer 14

hardships and commitments to one another’s survival.

Question 15

Dignity

Answer 15

of wrath.

Question 16

Steinbeck emphasises the importance of

Answer 16

maintaining self-respect in order to survive spirituality.

Question 17

Joads are exemplary figures in

Answer 17

their refusal to be broken.

Question 18

Family rises above the hardship to perform an act of

Answer 18

unsurpassed kindness and generosity for a starving man.

Question 19

As long as people maintain a sense of injustice -

Answer 19

a sense of anger against those who seek to undercut their pride in themselves, they won’t lose dignity.

Question 20

Effects of

Answer 20

Selfishness and Altruism

Question 21

Greed and generosity is presented as

Answer 21

self-perpetuating, following cyclical dynamics.

Question 22

The evils that plague the Joad family and

Answer 22

migrants stem from selfishness.

Question 23

Simple self-interest motivates landowners and the

Answer 23

businessmen to sustain a system that financially cripples a group of poverty ridden people.

Question 24

(1932) Farmers Holiday Association formed

Answer 24

strikes to force to stop foreclosure and raise food prices.

Question 25

Environmentalism and

Answer 25

attitude towards land use.

Question 26

Linked to American

Answer 26

Romanticism.

Question 27

People see nature as giving “their own lives… meaning and worth”

Answer 27

by Ed Ricketts.

Question 28

Farmers derive wisdom

Answer 28

from the land.

Question 29

Steinbeck uses the land to ground

Answer 29

his characters’ sense of self.

Question 30

Heartlessness of tractors and the detachment of landowners

Answer 30

disrupt the farmers’ connection to the land.

Question 31

Steinbeck depicts the land as having a soul and

Answer 31

performing manual labour on that land provides a deeper understanding of life.

Question 32

Holism /

Answer 32

Unity

Question 33

Tom adopts his way of thinking and

Answer 33

takes a leadership platform.

Question 34

Tom is the symbol of sacrifice as he

Answer 34

carries on the mission of unifying the migrant workers.

Question 35

Casy’s philosophy is constructed on the idea that

Answer 35

all human beings are intrinsically linked, with love and compassion being the major components of his belief.

Question 36

What type of novel is it?

Answer 36

Proleterian

Question 37

The landowners hold power and attempt

Answer 37

to control supply and demand.

Question 38

Tom plans to represent the workers as they

Answer 38

fight against exploitation in the face of the economic machine.

Question 39

Grapes of Wrath advocates for social change by showing

Answer 39

the unfair working conditions migrants face when they reach California.

Question 40

Joads develop a sense of community among their

Answer 40

fellow exploited proletariats, still searching for the elusive American Dream.