The Grapes of Wrath (Post #1)

I was reading (and finished) The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. The ending of the book consisted of, mostly, the Joad family finding work picking peaches for very low wages. All of the family goes to work, but on the first night Tom was caught in the middle of a fight and killed a police officer after they killed Casy (the preacher). So, Tom must go in hiding while the others work. Shortly after this event occurs, an enormous storm rolls in and the place where the Joads were staying is flooded out. While the water is slowly taking their home, they are running out of food and supplies. Rose of Sharon, in the midst of all of this, delivers a still-born baby. After the birth, the Joads retreat and find shelter in a barn, where Rose of Sharon does a very controversial action.

The Grapes of Wrath is absolutely one of the best books I've ever read. It was so amazingly tragic that at times I felt the need to stop reading; it was that...disturbing. Disturbing is a great word to describe this book, for it holds such horrible themes and unfolds such a heartbreaking story. Also, if people didn't know, this book is banned, still today, in many schools. It is banned, first and for most, because of the action that Rose of Sharon does at the end, but also because of the horrid story of survival that it tells. This is also why I love this book so much; it shows a truly horrid story. Most books today that have a tragic theme to it seem to somehow still have a happy ending. This book, however, does not have a happy ending; I don't even think that it has any happy aspects to it. Like I've said before, this book is realistic, and that's also why many people don't enjoy the book.

Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath to show, realistically, what happened to lower class people during the depression, and overall to display pain and suffering through the eyes of one whole family.

During the time, I'm sure that there weren't many books published displaying the cruelty of the Great Depression, so Steinbeck really put his reputation on the line after writing this book; I'm so glad he did, though. He made known the pain, real horrifying pain, that average families went through...this is also the theme of the book.

The best character of the book was Ma Joad. She was incredibly strong throughout the whole book; she was actually the one that had to keep the family together when times were tough. And then, at the end of the book, she actually took over the head of the family. Pa said himself that she was taking over his spot as man of the family; that shows how strong she was and how she had to be the rock to everyone else. Throughout the whole book she was this way, but I had to finish the book to truly realize how much of a tragic inspiration she is.

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." This is a quote that I really liked, but unfortunately didn't understand very well. I won't say anything more about it, but I really liked the sound of it. Another quote is: "How can you frighten a man whose hunger is not only in his own cramped stomach but in the wretched bellies of his children? You can't scare him--he has known a fear beyond every other." This quote explains greatly the pain that these people had to go through as they watched not only themselves starve to death, but their children. I don't have a child, so I wouldn't know what that actually feels like, but from what I've been told, it's the worse pain imaginable.

My only question for Steinbeck remains: What truly gave you the inspiration to write this book? I only wish that he was alive so I could ask him.