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...
... middle of paper ...
...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.
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.
The book, Guarding Sing Sing by Ted Conover is the story of Conover’s experience of what it is like to work in a prison. Ted Conover is a journalist who was intrigued of what goes on in prison, so he contacted the department of corrections in New York and asked to shadow a recruit to get an understanding of what its like to be a corrections officer to help close the gap of the corrections and the general population. When his request got denied, he decided to apply for a job as a prison officer. Conover goes through training academy in Albany in order to try and get a chance of working in a prison as a correctional officer. Ted is placed at Sing Sing, a troubled maximum-security facility. He is given the position of gallery officer, a positio...
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...
...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.
As a boy Adam lived a pretty good life. He had a small family. He lived with his brother Scott, father Stan, and two sisters Elizabeth and Valerie. (Bio 1) They lived in a small town in New Hampshire where there was not a lot to do. As a young one, Sandler was loved watching movies. This was one of the reasons why he got into comedy.
Knights, L.C. "Macbeth." Shakespeare: The Tragedies. A Collectiion of Critical Essays. Alfred Harbage, ed. Englewwod Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964.
When Josiah was twenty five he began his next chapter in his dedication to the Lord by rebuilding the temple. The temple had not been restored for almost a century, so it became of great importance to Josiah and his people. This restoration brought new jobs for his people and new hope for the land. As the workers were cleaning out the temple they found a book that looked of great importance. They gave the book to the high priest Hilkiah, who then gave it to Staphan, Josiah’s secretary. The book was the bible, which had been forgotten for so long. Josiah had Staphan read him the words of the bible and was astonished by what was written in it. Josiah tore his robe as a sign for his gri...
The Tragedy of Macbeth written by William Shakespeare is a tale of a man and his un-bridled ambition, set in ancient Scotland. Macbeth is a nobleman of the king of Scotland, Duncan, who is in mid-war with Norway. Macbeth and his fellow general Banquo encounter three witches. The witches tell the pair that Macbeth will be king, and Banquo’s children will also be kings. Any person in their right mind would question information given to them by strangers, let alone witches, but for some reason these statements intrigue Macbeth. They temp Macbeth to do evil things such as treason, and worse, to kill. Although un-bridled ambition is his main tragic flaw, there is one more that plays a big role in his decisions and the outcome of the story; Macbeth is far too impressionable.
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.
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.
Parkinson disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized mainly by physical and psychological disabilities. This disorder was named after James Parkinson, an English physician who first described it as shaking palsy in 1817 (Goetz, Factr, and Weiner, 2002). Jean- Martin Charcot, who was a French neurologist, then progressed and further refined the description of the disease and identified other clinical features of PD (Goetz, Factr, and Weiner, 2002). PD involves the loss of cells that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine in a part of the brain stem called the substansia nigra, which results in several signs and symptoms (Byrd, Marks, and Starr, 2000). It is manifested clinically by tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, hypokinesia, and postural instability. PD is a common disorder, affecting at least 1% of people by age 70 with it being 1.5 times more common in men than in women (Hauser, et al. 2010). The incidence has been estimated to be 4.5-21 cases per 100,000 population per year, with most studies estimating a prevalence of approximately 120 per 100,00 (Hauser, et al. 2010).
Parkinson's Disease is a mysterious disease that affects the central nervous system and can be very difficult to treat and live with. It is classified as a motor system disorder but is a progressive, chronic disease resulting in
I performed a western blot and got positive results( a band) for the sample and no band for the negative control
Macbeth’s tragic flaw is his ambition and it consequentially leads to his downfall and ultimate demise. Macbeth is a tragic hero who is introduced in the the play as being well-liked and respected by the general and the people. He brings his death upon himself from this tragic flaw. His strengths turn into his weaknesses and his ambition drives him to the edge and sets himself up for his tragic death.
In John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, there are many characters who have major influential roles in the overall development of this dark and twisted story. Characters such as Tom Joad, Ma Joad, and Roasasharon Joad are big characters who in some way, shape, or form impact the plot of this novel. Perhaps one of Steinbeck’s most important characters is Jim Casy. This character influences the entire Joad family, but ends up leaving a huge impact on Tom as the end of the story draws near. Steinbeck cleverly describes Jim Casy’s appearance, uses him as a symbolic figure, and gives the Joad family an overwhelming peace.