An Argument Against the Censorship of The Grapes of Wrath
Censorship as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is the system or practice of censoring books, movies, letters, etc. (“Censorship”). Former Supreme Court Justice, Louis D. Brandeis once said, “Fear of serious injury alone cannot justify oppression of free speech and assembly, Men feared witches and burnt women. It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears” (Louis D. Brandeis). The Grapes of Wrath, a story about a displaced family moving to California because of the Dust Bowl in hopes of finding a better life, has been a hot topic since it was published in 1939. Many people and organizations have attempted and succeeded to censor or ban the book.
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In addition, there was the accusations by Steinbeck in the novel that the farmers had falsely lured workers to the area in promise of a job, resulting in a beneficial surplus of migrants into the area and forcing labor costs down (Lingo), brought anger to many farmers and people that lived in California. In reality, Steinbeck did not want to whitewash the farmer part in the novel, he wanted them to take the blame for the poor conditions of the migrant farmers and their treatment (Varriano). Steinbeck felt that the farmers looked down on the migrant farmers, calling them “a peon class” (Lingo), whom they could degrade and were taking advantage of the displacement of the migrants. While farmers in the area insisted that there was a shortage of labor, evidence shows that there was a high surplus of worker (Lingo). With no doubt most were taken advantage by the farmers in the community. Since a majority were homeless, hungry, and with most having families to feed, they were eager to accept any wage (Lingo). This ensured that the farmer was able to pay the lowest possible wage to the migrant workers that they hired. Be that as it may, Steinbeck’s novel is still a work of fiction and there were only fictionalized conditions and characters. Both sides can concede that there were harsh conditions for the migrants, but for the farmers and the community, that accepted, although not warmly, so many
People just don’t seem to give up, they continue fighting till the very end rather than lay down and succumb to the challenge faced. In “The Grapes of Wrath”, John Steinbeck uses symbolism and religious allusions as unifying devices to illustrate the indomitable nature of the human spirit.
One of the most argued topics throughout history is the conflict of law versus morality. It is hoped that law and morality would work together hand in hand. Unfortunately, there are many instances where law is corrupted and subdues morality. Even in the modern age injustices caused by the law seems like a common occurrence. Literary figures like John Steinbeck and Mark Twain believed that it was important to remain devoted to one's morality, or find new morals when law is corrupted. Through Twain and Steinbeck's most influential works Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Grapes of Wrath clearly show the authors' view on the significance of morality. Examples in the novels include the depiction of suffering caused by the law, the idea of
Directed by John Ford and based off of John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath (1940) stars Henry Fonda as Tom Joad who migrates to California with his family during the Great Depression.
Ray Bradbury establishes the theme of self censorship in many ways. He uses books, to help convey the level of censorship. At one point in the story Beatty is explaining to Montag that “It didn’t come from the government down. There was no dictum, no declaration, no censorship, to start with, Technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick.” The censorship in the story, wasn't from the government, the members of society censored themselves. They began an evolution, making censorship the focal point.
Censorship is defined as the act of taking out unacceptable parts from books, movies, and other content available to the public eye. In Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, censorship takes over a major part of the citizen’s lives. In the modernistic era, the story is based upon a lot of television and is censored to the important and educational content we have in the present, such as; books, which open doors to infinite amounts of knowledge.
...ld be compared to the story of Moses and the Hebrews. The Californians and the wealthy business owners symbolize the Pharaohs while the migrants symbolize the enslaved Hebrews. However the happy ending to Moses’ story doesn’t correspond with the ending of the Joads or other families. In the end, they are still impoverished, homeless, and hungry. While Egypt suffered plagues, the Californians and business owners suffer none. There isn’t any reason for the vindictiveness of the Californians and wealthy business owners to cease. Steinbeck uses the story of one family to ultimately cry out to everyone that “food must rot, must be forced to rot” (Steinbeck 349). The ones forcing poverty upon the migrants are the same ones sitting comfortably in their chair reading The Grapes of Wrath.
Censorship is the practice of concealing parts of a book, movie, show, or any other form of media. Media can be censored in many ways; one of these is to block out the offensive sections of the content. This is generally done when the content of said media is not considered overall offensive or inappropriate but has derogatory and/or blasphemous language. Another way Media can be censored is to have it banned completely. For a book to be banned, it must first be challenged. According the American Library Association, a challenge “is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group.” The question over censorship has been debated for years: Should we be allowed to ban Medias we deem unfit and/or inappropriate from our children?
Censorship has been a big part of the world’s history and especially America’s history. One of the most quoted amendments to the United States constitution is the first amendment; “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ...” This amendment guaranteeing free speech, press, and religion is still heavily debated and contested today. Censorship, as a challenge to free speech and press has been allowed many times and has been heavily debated itself. Many people censor for many different reasons and in many different forms. Censorship itself is not always a bad thing and has in some cases been used for protection of the general population.
Censorship is becoming more and more common all over the world today. The online Encarta Encyclopedia defines censorship as, "supervision and control of the information and ideas that are circulated among the people within a society. In modern times, censorship refers to the examination of books...for the purpose of altering or suppressing parts thought to be objectionable or offensive." Henry Reichman from the Education World website defines it as, "the removal, suppression, or restricted circulation of literary, artistic, or educational materials . . . on the grounds that these are morally or otherwise objectionable in light of the standards applied by the censor" (Cromwell). Definitions aside, great literature is being banned by many people for a number of reasons and shouldn't be.
Growing up in a place where free speech is strongly pressed, why is censorship no stranger? We live in a world where television, video games, music and even literary documents have all been censored. Literature can be defined as the body of written works of a language, period, or culture. This is everything from newspapers and magazines to textbooks and novels. Literary censorship has been around for a long time. These books are challenged and banned.
...however, feels that to solve the plight of the Okies, land should be set aside for them to start their own small farms, since farming is all they know. He also suggests that local committees set wages and labor needs before the harvests to protect the rights of the workers and prevent them from being extorted (Pgs 58-59). While Steinbeck’s ideas made sense and had good intent, the grim reality still remained that the corporations controlled the agriculture industry and that they were going to save every nickel and dime they could, even if it meant a lower standard of living for the Okie. Today, we have unions that attempt to prevent things like this from happening again, but the plight of illegal immigrants demonstrates that the reality of this country’s need for cheap labor remains.
John Steinbeck wrote the The Grapes of Wrath in 1939 to rouse its readers against those who were responsible for keeping the American people in poverty. The Grapes of Wrath tells the story of the Joad family, migrant farmers from Oklahoma traveling to California in search of an illusion of prosperity. The novel's strong stance stirred up much controversy, as it was often called Communist propaganda, and banned from schools due to its vulgar language. However, Steinbeck's novel is considered to be his greatest work. It won the Pulitzer Prize, and later became an Academy Award winning movie in 1940. The novel and the movie are both considered to be wonderful masterpieces, epitomizing the art of filmmaking and novel-writing.
Censorship can be for the good of people, but as well for the worst. When censorishop comes into mind, many think of undemocratic or fascist regimes preventing any type of influence other than theirs. Most of the time, certain sensitive topics, phrases, or even words would be redacted to protect the public, but what happens when a famous piece of American literature was modified because of its choice of words that was purposely selected to convey its message? This is the case for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain and is a fiction book about a young boy facing moral dilemmas in the racially-biased South. The book, commonly known in high schools, used the word “nigger”, a word ridden with a dark history of African American
The Grapes of Wrath attempts to show the difference between the groups of people and the characters along the lines of race, class, and religion, which are discussed in this paper. The Okies' racial status as Anglo Americans appeared to distinguish them from other immigrant workers. Steinbeck utilizes their whiteness further bolstering his good fortune. The "Harvest Gypsies" articles underline the migrants' Anglo-Saxon legacy: their names "show that they are of English, German and Scandinavian plunge." To these families living in provincial regions, with names like "Munns, Holbrooks, Hansens, Schmidts," majority rules system "was not just conceivable be that as it may inescapable" (Hicks, 1939). Steinbeck announces that "this new race" is in California for all time, dissimilar to past migrant gatherings who were extradited when they were no more handy; consequently, he predicts, the state will need to adjust its framework to suit them. Since they are Americans, "the old routines for constraint, of starvation wages, of imprisoning, beating and intimidation are not going to work." The Grapes of Wrath offers a challenge to working class readers to unite with the working population subjects of the story, contending that the desolates of capital amassing are felt all around the society, even all the more intensely on the penniless migrant workers.
The censorship of books is a division of censorship that, apart from Internet censorship, receives the most publicity. Banning books is the most popular form of such censorship. Many banned books are literary classics, such as The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, which was listed as the number 6 most challenged or banned book in a list compiled by the American Civil Liberties Union in 1997.