The Novel Of Shattered Dreams (Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck)

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Product:	Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Date:	05/03/02 (391 review reads)
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Advantages: Magnificent Development Of Characters, Beautiful Language, Quest For Fulfilment

Disadvantages: Bans On Novel Are Spreading

Labelled with the honourable title The Great American Novel, The Grapes of Wrath, written in 1939 by John Steinbeck was considered by critics as one of the best American novels of all time. The Grapes Of Wrath takes us into the complicated lives of a black sharecroppers family. There struggles, not only as black in a time of the Great Depression but also as people suffering from the sweeping poverty of 1930. Grapes of Wrath will have you captivated and emotional at its conclusion. What better way for John Steinbeck to carve the connotations of depression and anxiety than a focus that reaps all of that.


Forced by the whimpering situations in America's 1930's "Dust Bowl", the Joad family are forced to migrate to California. A sharecropping family from Oklahoma is the background that sets their circumstance for not just a harrowing predicament but also an enthralling journey of self-exploration.


The promise of California is a hope that the Joad family are desperate to aspire unto. The greed of rich landowners and the economical and social hardships of the life of a sharecropper, evicts the struggling family, making their decision to move more traumatic and rushed. For many years the Joad's have resided in Oklahoma but the turn of events in the Great Depression has without initial discrimination, forced them to leave their extended family in search for an idealistic province.


The journey to California is harsh and laden with turmoil and despair. The rearing of death, disheartens the Joads, but does not discourage their unbreakable will to reach the Golden State. The prospect and dream of high paying jobs and a new fresh life in California is a vision that drives the family to confront the harshest of situations. Along the road, the family encounter, bitter and hatred filled characters, torn and also disturbed by the Great Depression, John Steinbeck elevates these characters and their importance; their views
however of the Joad's are all very similar - the hated "Oakies".


However, at the realization of the Golden State comes the inevitable shattering of the Joad's dreams and imaginations. There are no high paying jobs, and the resentment that ensues them is overwhelming even for the Joad's hope filled hearts. In retaliation to the new pilgrim of "Oakies", the local residents find themselves at war with these desperate sharecroppers. The Joad's frantically move from camp to camp in search of their high paying, fruit plucking jobs but as desperation ensues, the family are unfortunately exploited at the hands of a greedy marketing firm.


A once promised land to which the Joad's dreamt of has been crushed and manipulated by the cruelness of its inhibitors. The climax of the novel, sees the Joad's relentless in their quest for the magic they aspire but confounded with the anguish, violence and hatred of both mankind and mother nature.


The plot of The Grapes Of Wrath is in essence a complex and enthralling plot that will have its reader undeniable captivated. The language and style of literature known as "muckraking" (paramount in the twentieth century) brings the plot and characters to life. Opening the loosely bind pages brings the reality of the Joad's struggles and hardships to life.


Throughout the novel, the profoundness and brilliance of John Steinbeck does not lie deep rooted in the dialogue that the Joad's have amongst themselves or with others for that matter but instead, his brilliance is in the wonderful descriptions that he excites in the different chapters. Each chapter sets the seen for the events and actions that will transpire later. We see that author John Steinbeck is talented in the portrait of pictures in the readers mind. His incredibly descriptive, imaginary but somehow cleverly not boring writing makes not just for easy reading but magic
al reading too. We see the harsh, cracked skins of the sharecroppers at the novels opening, weary by the golden sun they seek refuge; later in the novel, in California the tyrannical rains, beat heavy on the uncommon black backs of the Joad's.


John Steinbeck emotions and thoughts on the progression of the "Oakies" comes through in The Grapes Of Wrath, and this truly is excellent. We see how John Steinbeck is outraged at the treatment of pacifist sharecroppers seeking the fulfilment of their dreams. Ultimately, the emotions of John Steinbeck come through in this intense and rooting novel.


The development of the individual characters is a prospect that I found most exciting and interesting. At the emergence of the novella, mother Joad is the tradition obedient wife that 1930 society would have expected of her but as the novel progresses and the injustices against her family skyrocket, ma Joad arises as a successful and profound leader. Bold in her statement she commands respect and shows that the family's situation requires the evolution of the family as a unit also.


The Grapes Of Wrath is a wonderful and oblique tale of dreams and emotions that could only be passed on through the formation of shapes on the printed page. Many attempts in America were made to ban this novel and it is becoming more and more rare here in England too. This is because of its "Strong, Rough Language" supposedly. But the language used by kids today is monstrous in comparison with this. I believe it is a plight by the government to further darken the historical injustices in America's past and those of black American's, perhaps even shift the novel into the underbelly of libraries is the quest that they have undertaken. Whatever the situation or predicament, The Grapes Of Wrath is a most magical novella, read it and learn boldness of aspirations and dreams.

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