Dust, Despair, and Discovery: Analyzing 'The Grapes of Wrath'

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The world is a small place, but a person’s perception of the world is even smaller. John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath takes place during the Great Depression, following a family called the Joads as they make their way from Oklahoma to California. The Joad’s transition from the Dust Bowl to California is filled with death and despair, as they realize the size and depth of the world that they live in. The Grapes of Wrath details the journey from a dusty desert to a cruel, man-made wasteland, showcasing the range and depth that mankind will go when pushed to the brink.
The world appears to be ending. The once fertile Great Plains has become a dusty desert, the winds forming dust clouds every day. No plants can grow in the sweltering heat, and …show more content…

The bankers are kicking people off the land because money is no longer coming in, forcing farmers to take actions like this, “But where does it stop? Who can we shoot? I don’t aim to starve to death before I kill the man that’s starving me” (Steinbeck 49). The world is turning into a wasteland, forcing everyone into situations that they never thought they would be in, thus forcing decisions like shooting someone dead. The family that we follow throughout the book, the Joads, are like any other farming family. Large, hard-working, and straightforward. Unfortunately, they also suffer the same fate as any other farming family, kicked off their land and forced to move west, to California. On their way to California, they lose family members, deal with new hardships, and face an uncertain future. For example, on their way to California, they meet an old couple on the road. While conversing with them, the Joads show the California handbill to the couple, and the man says, “Why, that’s the one I seen. The very same one. You s’pose-maybe they got all eight hundred awready” (Steinbeck 189)? This line strengthens the fact that all of the farming families are moving west, since everyone at this point must have seen the handbill advertising work. Since there are so many people moving west, there won’t be enough room for everyone, forcing people to live in substandard

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