Social Issues in "The Grapes of Wrath"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how John Steinbeck's 1939 novel "The Grapes of Wrath" dealt with major social problems of the era. The novel focuses on the troubles of the Joad family and how it took a major social upheaval to make people begin to realize that exploitation existed on such a big scale and, more importantly, that they could do something about it.

From the Paper:

"The novel's plot centers on the Joad family's migration to California after the loss of their Oklahoma farm. The extended family--including the Joad grandparents, an uncle and Rose of Sharon's husband--are joined at the last minute by Tom Joad, just out of prison, and his friend Jim Casy, a former preacher who now believes that it is more important that people help each other than that they worry about traditional religion. Both the grandparents die on the hard journey and when the family arrives in California they find that they have been misled and there are few jobs even among the poorly paid migrant farm workers. Ma Joad leads the family and struggles to keep it together through many difficulties. They encounter officials and landowners and others who treat all the "Okie" migrants shamefully and the only times that anyone shows any sense of caring for others are in encounters with other migrants. In one clash with authority Jim Casy takes the blame for Tom Joad and goes to jail."

More papers on Social Issues in "The Grapes of Wrath":

• Comparison Essay # 4721 : "Labor Disputes in Literature"
• Analytical Essay # 38502 : "Powerful and Powerless in "The Grapes of Wrath"
• Analytical Essay # 26349 : "Inter-chapters in the "Grapes of Wrath"

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