Importance of Minor Characters in The Grapes of Wrath
In the novel The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, a fictitious migrant family, the Joads, travel west in search of a new life away from the tragedies of the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma. Along the way, Steinbeck adds a variety of minor characters with whom the Joads interact. Steinbeck created these minor characters to contrast with the Joad’s strong will power and to reflect man’s fear of new challenges, and to identify man’s resistance to change. Three minor characters who fulfill this role are Muley Graves, Connie Rivers, and the tractor driver.
Early in the novel, Steinbeck presents a direct contrast to the Joads, Muley Graves. Muley Graves’ name and actions accurately portray Steinbeck’s idea of a man resistant to change and fearful of new challenges. The name of this character has a distinct significance. The first name Muley can be related to mule, and then linked to the saying “stubborn as a mule”. By analyzing this name further, the reader can determine that Graves also has a meaning. Grave is symbolic to grief or death, both of which this character endures. Meaningful actions could only follow a name of such significance, and this is true with this character. Even though Muley’s family has left him for “easy livin’ “ in California, he refuses to get off “his” land. By refusing to leave for pride reasons, Steinbeck tries to justify Muley’s stubbornness when he is really terrified of leaving his land and having to change his life style. Muley’s refusal to adapt results in him being transformed into an animal with hi...
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...vides insight on a situation that occurred frequently during that time. Most people did not fear the change in environments, but few like Joe Davis’ boy did and could not adapt to the rough life of a migrant.
Steinbeck created many characters for the Joads to come in contact with for different reasons. These three characters mentioned above were created to contrast the Joads and to recognize the weaker individuals in a society. By giving up, or refusing to try, these characters display a fear of new challenges and a resistance to change.
Throughout the novel, The Grapes of Wrath there are intercalary chapters. The purpose of these chapters are to give the readers insight and background on the setting, time, place and even history of the novel. They help blend the themes, symbols, motifs of the novel, such as the saving power of family and fellowship, man’s inhumanity to man, and even the multiplying effects of selfishness. These chapters show the social and economic crisis flooding the nation at the time, and the plight of the American farmer becoming difficult. The contrast between these chapters helps readers look at not just the storyline of the Joad family, but farmers during the time and also the condition of America during the Dust Bowl. Steinbeck uses these chapters to show that the story is not only limited to the Joad family,
Steinbeck strikes at the fear in every man’s soul, with his portrayal of the poverty stricken life of the Joads as they travel from one stage of abandonment and what would seem like a helpless state to a journey of enduring perseverance. The Joads, Steinbeck’s creation in the Novel Grapes of Wrath is a large close-knit family living in Oklahoma during the “Dust Bowl” era. Steinbeck documents their journey beginning with their homelessness due to the crop failures to them surviving in a box car at the end of their journey. I think Steinbeck’ intention is to illustrate to the reader that being poor doesn’t always equate with being helpless. The Joads demonstrate this by their resilience to overcome homelessness, death, and prejudice.
In the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck brings to the reader a variety of diverse and greatly significant characters. However, the majority of each characters' individuality happens to lie within what they symbolize in the microcosm of the Joad family and their acquaintances, which itself stands for the entire migrant population of the Great Depression era. One such character is that of Jim Casey, a former preacher and long-time friend of the Joads. In this story, Casey represents a latter-day Christ figure who longs to bring religious stability to the burgeon of migrant families facing West.
In literature as in life, people often find that they must make difficult choices in order to survive. The reasons behind their decisions and the results of their subsequent actions affect our opinion of them. In the Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, the author portrayed situations where two main characters became involved. The nature of their choices, the reasons behind their decisions, and the results that followed affected them greatly. However, the choices that they made were surmounted successfully. Ma Joad and Tom Joad are two strong characters who overcame laborious predicaments. Their powerful characteristics helped to encourage those that were struggling.
Parkinson disease (PD), also referred to as Parkinson’s disease and paralysis agitans, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that is the third most common neurologic disorder of older adults. It is a debilitating disease affecting motor ability and is characterized by four cardinal symptoms: tremor rigidity, bradykinesia or kinesis (slow movement/no movement), and postural instability. Most people have primary, or idiopathic, disease. A few patients have secondary parkinsonian symptoms from conditions such as brain tumors and certain anti-psychotic drugs.
Parkinson’s disease is one of the most common nervous system disorders. This disease is part of a group of conditions that are referred to as motor system disorders. Motor system disorders are the result of the loss of dopamine producing brain cells. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter. It acts as the chemical messenger in the transmission of signals in the brain and other vial areas. Dopamine is found in humans as well as animals, including both vertebrates and invertebrates. Further information on dopamine can be found by visiting http://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Dopamine.aspx. There are four primary symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, which include (1) tremors or trembling in hands, arms, legs, jaw and face, (2) rigidity or stiffness of the limns and trunk, (3) bradykinesia or slowness of movement, and (4) postural instability or impaired balance and coordination..
Tom Joad is an ex-convict that was only into his own self-interest and lived by a mantra of live your life day by day and not concerned with the future, to becoming a man who thinks about the future and someone with morals and an obligation to help others. Ma Joad is a typical woman of the early 1900’s whose main role was a mother only with a role of caring and nurturing. Later in the novel, she becomes an important figure for the family and is responsible for making decisions in keeping the family together and emphasizes the importance of unity. Another important transition in the book is the family starting off as a single close knit unit to depending on other families to survive. This common interest and struggle bonded the community of individual families to a single one. Steinbeck wrote this novel very well, by having great character dynamics and development that displays the characters strengths and also their
Parkinson’s disease, a chronic, progressive, and neurodegenerative brain disorder affecting body movement, known to have no cure, yet has treatments that will help in managing the disease. This disease is named after James Parkinson, an English physician who described this illness. Approximately one million people in the United States are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (What is Parkinson’s, n.d.). This disease is identified to be slow in progression and symptoms of this will only worsen as time goes on. Parkinson’s is the second most common neurodegenerative disease (Simpson, Murray, & Eccles, 2010).
Parkinson’s Disease (PD), "the shaking palsy" first described by James Parkinson in 1817, is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder which affects in upwards of 1.5 million Americans. The disease begins to occur around age 40 and has incidence with patient age. One survey found that PD may affect 1% of the population over 60. Incidence seems to be more prominent in men, and tends to progress to incapacity and death over one or two decades.
...won’t learn anything, they may have made some good friends, or enemies, but they never really realized how to do certain things the teacher wanted them to grasp. Some of the most important, but not necessarily most discussed, things parents should look into can turn out to be how successful their child was in preschool. The location of a preschool can affect whether or not a student or the students parents feel safe about them being there. The curriculum can be the deciding factor when it comes to what the student is going to leave preschool knowing new things or having the same mentality as before. The teachers that are watching over and teaching young children are also very important. Some teachers are much more qualified to work with preschoolers than others. These factors should most likely be looked at thoroughly before parents decide their children’s future.
In novel Water for Elephants, the author, Sara Gruen, was able to present many different acts of loyalty and disloyalty within the story. Acts of kind, honesty, faithfulness or hatred from characters throughout the novel towards Jacob, resulted in the same acts from Jacob. Seemingly, Jacob was a deceiving and disloyal character to some characters, such as August. However, as the novel progressed, it became obvious that Jacob would learn his lessons of loyalty from others before he has showed it himself. Jacob showed utmost respect for the ones whom truly cared about him. He continued to grow, and show characteristics of a man as he learned different lessons. Ultimately, it became evident that Jacob Jankowski’s actions were solely acts of repayment.
Parkinson’s affects about one million people within the United States and about five million people worldwide. Most individuals who develop Parkinson 's disease are 60 years of age or older. Parkinson 's disease occurs in approximately 1% of individuals aged 60 years and in about 4% of those aged 80 years (Heyn and Stoppler, 2013). Since overall life expectancy is rising, the number of individuals with Parkinson 's disease will increase in the future. According to Sweeny (2013) Parkinson’s affects approximately 1.5% to 2.0% of people aged 60 years and older. Though it is rare, young adults may also be diagnosed with PD. Before the age of age if 21, the diagnosis is deemed juvenile onset. Between the ages of 21 to 40 it is called early onset. A significantly higher incidence rate of Parkinson’s disease was found among men with the relative risk being 1.5 times greater in men than women. (Wooten, Currie, Bovbjerg, Lee, and & Patrie,
The characters formed a belief that they would be sent to Urinetown if they disobeyed the law. They were taught that Urinetown was a forbidden place of exile. The UGC and its workers reinforced water consumption tax and be...
Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is a story of a tragic hero with a level of high degree, but where his actions fall short and effect the fate of his nation at large. This man who was being rewarded by King Duncan for his loyalty and courage in defending the Scottish realm, and managed to turn into a murdering, power hungry monster, simply by saying, someday you’ll be king.
The job of a line producer is to hire all the below the line production crew such as camera crews, lighting crews and catering staffs. He/she are also in charge of overseeing the production budget and the day-today operations. The line producer works closely to the executive producer in the case of a television show or else with the director if he/she is working on a film. This is to make sure they are properly executing on the creative vision.