The Grapes of Wrath
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| Author | John Steinbeck |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | The Viking Press |
| Released | 1939 |
| Media Type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN |
- This article is about the novel. For other uses, see Grapes of Wrath (disambiguation).
The Grapes of Wrath is a classic novel published in 1939 and written by John Steinbeck, who was subsequently awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. It is frequently read in American high school and college literature classes. A celebrated Hollywood film version was made in 1940, starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford.
Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath (as well as Of Mice and Men) at his home, 16250 Greenwood Lane, in what is now Monte Sereno, California. Set during the Great Depression, the novel focuses on a poor family of sharecroppers, the Joads, driven from their home by drought and destitution. In a nearly hopeless situation, they set out for California along with thousands of other "Okies" in search of land, jobs, and dignity. The novel is meant to emphasize the need for cooperative, as opposed to independent, solutions to the social problems brought about by the Industrial Revolution.
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[edit] Plot summary
The narrative begins from Tom Joad's point of view just after he is paroled from prison after serving four years for manslaughter. On his journey home, he meets a preacher, Jim Casy, whom he remembers from his childhood and the two travel together. When they arrive at Tom's childhood farm home, they find it deserted. Disconcerted, he and Casy go to his Uncle John's residence a few miles away, where he finds his family loading a truck with everything they own for a move; he learns that his family's crops were destroyed in the Dust Bowl and they were forced to default on outstanding loans. With their farm repossessed, the Joads seek solace in hope; hope enscribed on handbills that are distributed everywhere in Oklahoma, describing the beautiful country and high wages to be found out west. The Joads, along with Jim Casy, are seduced by this facade, and invest everything they have into the journey (although leaving Oklahoma would be breaking parole, Tom decides that it is a risk, albeit minimal, that he has to take).
En route, they discover that the roads and highways are saturated with thousands of other families making the same trek, ensnared by the same promise. As the Joads continue and hear stories from others, some coming back from California, they are forced to confront the possibility that their prospects may not be what they had hoped. This realization, bolstered by the deaths of Grandpa and Grandma, and the departure of Noah (the eldest Joad son) and Connie (the husband of the pregnant Joad daughter, Rose of Sharon), is forced from their thoughts: they must go on as they have no other choice.
Upon arrival, they find hordes of applicants for every job and little hope of finding a decent wage, due to the oversupply of labour, lack of rights, and the collusion of the agrarian industry. The tragedy lies in the simplicity and impossibility of their dream: a house, a family, and a steady job.
In response to the exploitation of labourers, the workers begin to join trade unions. The surviving members of the family unknowingly work on an orchard involved in a strike that eventually turns violent, killing the preacher Casy and forcing Tom Joad to kill again and become a fugitive. He bids farewell to his mother, promising that no matter where he runs, he will be a tireless advocate for the proletariat. Rose of Sharon's baby is stillborn; however, Ma Joad remains steadfast and forces the family through the bereavement. In the end, Rose of Sharon commits the only act in the book that isn't futile: she breast feeds a starving man, still trying to show hope in humanity after her own negative experience. This final act illustrates the depravity to which the 'Okies' are forced to submit, but also the endurance of humanity.
One should note that this novel is a fictional characterization of the plight of tenant farmers. Two-thirds of farmers in the dust bowl, primarily farmers who actually owned the land, actually stayed in Oklahoma and survived these storms. Many of these families held on and actually prospered in later years. One should avoid the tendancy of extrapolating the plight of the Joads into the fate of all residents of the dust bowl era. In many ways, this novel has contributed to a false characterization of the peoples in the affected midwest U.S. areas.
[edit] Explanation of the novel's title
Steinbeck had unusual difficulty devising a title for his novel. "The Grapes of Wrath", suggested by his wife, Carol Steinbeck, was deemed more suitable than anything the author himself could come up with. The title is a reference to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, by Julia Ward Howe:
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.
As might be expected, the image invoked by the title serves as a crucial symbol in the development of both the plot and the novel's greater thematic concerns.
[edit] Characters in The Grapes of Wrath
- Tom Joad – protagonist of the story (although it could be argued that this is not entirely true)
- Ma Joad – matriarch who helps the family keep together
- Jim Casy – a former preacher who becomes an advocate for the holiness of humanity
- Al Joad – the second youngest son who cares mainly for cars and girls; looks up to Tom, but begins to find his own way
- Rose of Sharon Joad – impractical, selfish daughter who develops as the novel progresses and grows to become a mature woman
[edit] Bannings
The Grapes of Wrath was banned immediately upon its publication in 1939 in Kern County, California, where a great part of the novel is set. The official reason given was the coarse language it contained, and the "nudity" (breast feeding) scene at the end of the book. However, the driving force behind the banning was the Associated Farmers of Kern County. Criticism was also often leveled at the novel's depiction of a minister as an open sexual predator. The book is frequently banned in schools across the United States, and in 1986, in Graves County, Kentucky, an adult was arrested for possession of a copy.
[edit] In popular culture
[edit] Adaptations for film, television, and theatre
- A film version was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck in 1940. John Ford won the Academy Award for Directing, as did Jane Darwell for Best Supporting Actress (as Ma Joad). Other nominations were for Best Picture, Henry Fonda for Best Actor, Robert L. Simpson for Best Film Editing, Edmund H. Hansen for Best Sound Recording, and Nunnally Johnson for Best Screenplay Writing. This film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
- The Steppenwolf Theater Company produced a stage version of the book, featuring Gary Sinise as Tom Joad. It ran for 188 performances on Broadway in 1990 [1], and was shown on PBS the following year [2].
- The Minnesota Opera is producing an opera adapted from the story.
- There is an episode of VeggieTales of the same name.
[edit] Popular music
- In 1940 Woody Guthrie recorded the ballad Tom Joad. This ballad, set to the tune of John Hardy, summarizes the plot of the book/movie. It was so long that it had to be recorded in two parts. Woody had written the song after seeing the movie The Grapes of Wrath, which he described as the 'best cussed pitcher I ever seen'.
- In 1995 Bruce Springsteen released an album entitled The Ghost of Tom Joad (featuring a song of the same name, which was later covered by Rage Against The Machine, and most recently by José González of Junip).
- The English Progressive Rock band Camel recorded an album Dust and Dreams inspired by The Grapes of Wrath in 1991.
[edit] See also
- The Grapes of Wrath movie, based on the novel
- T.C. Boyle's The Tortilla Curtain (1995), a novel with similar subject matter
[edit] External links
- Death in the Dust: John Steinbeck's first-person account of the conditions he observed at a California squatter's camp.
- Woody Guthrie's Tom Joad
- Syd Lexia's parody of the book as if it had been written by Doctor Seuss
Categories: Articles lacking sources from November 2006 | All articles lacking sources | 1939 novels | Novels by John Steinbeck | Modern Library 100 best novels | Great Depression fiction | Historical novels | Pulitzer Prize for the Novel | U.S. Route 66 | Time Magazine 100 best novels | Bakersfield, California
