First Discussion Question for Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath novel revealed a couple of things about John Steinbeck. The first is that Steinbeck sticks up for the poor people in America, and that is evident in his writing. The whole story highlights the misfortune and the journey into poverty that one family endures. Steinbeck doesn't cut the rich people, the banks, the corporations, and the government any slack. He takes the side of the displaced farmers and through writing this novel shows the American people how life was like in the very recent past. Writers only write about what they know and how they feel about things, so taking that into consideration I am going to assume that Steinbeck has strong opinions about the Great Depression. The novel goes in depth about each type of camp and Steinbeck researched a lot of information for the short historical chapters that tell about life during the thirties for the lower class.

Steinbeck showed what he valued when he wrote this novel. Steinbeck valued family and the responsibility that comes with being a part of a family. Everyone has to play their part and aid the family in times of need and day to day. Ma wanted to keep the family together and was an avid in making that clear to everyone (Steinbeck 420). Steinbeck exemplified the value through Ma. Another value that Steinbeck shows through his writing is never giving up. All of the migrant Okies went through periods of starvation, but they continued on and never stopped believing (do I have to pay Journey royalties for using that line?).

Grapes of Wrath is told from two perspectives: one being the all knowing, all seeing, omnipresent narrator and the third person narrator that follows the Joad family. With an original party of twelve (and a half since Rose of Sharon is pregnant) having a third person narrator makes it slightly easier to develop more of the characters. There are twelve people, plus everyone that the Joads meet on the way, so regardless not all the characters will be in depth (cough Connie cough). The omnipresent narrator from the historical chapters gave a personal history lesson by including emotional people in the telling of different scenarios that showed the cruel and wrong things done to the workers and poor people.

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.