Character Analysis in The Grapes of Wrath There are two main characters in The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck. Those characters are Tom Joad and Ma Joad. Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to start actually analyzing them, since thats what a character analysis is for. Ma Joad is the focal point for the entire family. She is the driving force behind the family's ability to get through even the roughest times. She never lets anyone know of any doubt or pain that she might have, as even the slightest show of weakness could cause a mild panic in the family. Even though she is a very strong character, she is a somewhat flat, static character. She doesn't really change during the course of the story, she pretty much just stays the same. Her character is developed through indirect characterization. You see her affect upon her family by their doing whatever she says, practically all the time. Ma is also a protagonist, in the sense that she is the center of the family. Tom is almost an equally important character, and is also the first character seen. Right from the beginning of the story, he seems to be the "black sheep", due mostly to the fact that he has spent some time in jail for manslaughter. His characterization is done mostly indirectly, through his family's response to his being out of jail (really trusting people, aren't they?). He is also developed, to a lesser extent, directly, by his attitude of "one foot before the other" kind of living. He is a round, dynamic character. In the beginning, he is thinking, more or less, only of himself, and doesn't consider the "bigger picture". By the end of the story, he has come to accept Jim Casy's views on the world in general, and plans to organize the people against the money hungry employers, even though Jim himself has already been killed because of those same beliefs.
Al Joad is a fairly skinny guy of medium built who starts out being a
When times get tough, many people turn away from everyone and everything. It must be part of human nature to adopt an independent attitude when faced with troubles. It is understandable because most people do not want to trouble their loved ones when they are going through problems, so it is easier to turn away than stick together. Maybe their family is going through a rough patch and they reason they would be better off on their own. This path of independence and solitude may not always be the best option for them or their family, though. Often times it is more beneficial for everyone to work through the problem together. It is not always the easiest or most desirable option, but most times it is the most efficient and it will get results in the long run. In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck makes this point very clear through several characters. Many characters throughout
or fear." Thus, if Ma acts as if everything is all right, then the family
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck had many comparisons from the movie and the book. In 1939, this story was to have some of the readers against the ones that kept the American people in poverty held responsible for their actions. This unique story was about the Joad’s family, who were migrant workers looking for a good decent job. They were also farmers from Oklahoma that are now striving to find some good work and success for their family in California. This novel was one of Steinbeck’s best work he has ever done. It was in fact an Academy Award movie in 1940. Both the movie and the novel are one of Steinbeck’s greatest masterpieces on both the filmmaking and the novel writing. Both the novel and film are mainly the same in the beginning of the story and towards the end. There were some few main points that Steinbeck took out from the book and didn’t mention them in the movie. “The Grapes of Wrath is a
Throughout the course of history, advances in medical technology have prolonged the length of life and delayed death; however, terminal illnesses still exist and modern medicine is often unable to prevent death. Many people turn to a procedure known as Physician-Assisted suicide, a process by which a doctor aids in ending a terminally ill patient’s life. This procedure is painless and effective, allowing patients to control their death and alleviate unnecessary suffering. In spite of these benefits, Physician-Assisted suicide is illegal in many places both nationally and internationally. Despite the fact that Physician-Assisted suicide is opposed by many Americans and much of the world on ethical and moral grounds such as those based on religion and the morality of taking another life, it should still be legalized because it alleviates suffering of patients, allows patients to choose a dignified death, and allows patients to control their own fate instead of their disease controlling them.
William Dean Howells’s “Editha” is about a couple named Editha Balcom and George Gearson who adore each other, but are completely divided on the issue of the war. Editha holds a much more favorable view of the war and hopes for George to share her perspective. However, George has complete disdain for the war, going as far as saying that all wars make him sick. Editha writes a letter to George, telling him that she will always love him, but that she cannot marry a man who does not put his country first. But before she can give him the letter, George, who was out drinking, volunteers to enlist in the war and is chosen to be made captain. Before he leaves for war, he tells Editha to not forget his mother. There are “not many letters” while he
Tom is represented as a “supercilious”, “arrogant”, and “fractious” character, who thinks that he is superior to everyone else. Right from the get-go, Tom was characterized as the man at New Haven who everyone hated, which further enhances the idea that this man was haughty since the beginning.
Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are seen as an attack on the oldest cohort, which includes people age 85 and older. In the United States, the oldest cohort is the fastest increasing cohort due to medical advances in previous years (Osgood). Because of recent groundbreaking technology, life
William Dean Howells' opinion of romanticism is his novel "Editha" by having the character of Editha symbolize his views on romanticism. When George announces that there is war, Editha surprises her lover and audience by saying "how glorious." She romanticizes the war by calling "any war glorious that is for the liberation of the people who have been struggling for years against the cruelest oppression." It's hard to figure out if Editha truly loves George, or if she is overtaken by the thought of having someone heroic to love. One of the ways Editha views life is that to have good things one must prove himself or herself worthy of it, for instance her love. In the story when she's thinking about George, she says George, "had simply asked for her love... and she gave her love... but if he could do something worthy to have her, be her hero- it would be grander." What better way to prove his love to Editha by doing something he was not favorable towards for Editha's sake and allowing himself named captain of Company A for her amusement. Her true feelings for George come to light when she writes him a goodbye letter saying why she was breaking her engagement with him since the man she marries "must love his country first." She wrote that letter as soon as he left, it's quite unfair and she even realizes it yet still writes it to satisfy herself. Even when he enlisted, she knew that he was not for him but for her. Editha noticed he became a different person after enlisting, " he made her feel as if she had lost her old lover and found a stranger in his place," if she had truly loved him she would not have felt giddy at the thought of kissing a stranger after losing her true love.
Like most peoples families there is a dynamic of people involved, although all from the same environment and teachings, it is ultimately an accumulation of personal experiences that shape us and defines how we perceive our existence. “Everyday Use” is a story of conflict of right and wrong and also family values. Walkers’ narrator, “Mama”, struggles with her disrespectful daughter ‘Dee”. Though “Mama” was quoted to have worked hard like a man to send her to school gratitude is never mentioned. “Clearly, Dee privileges language over silence, as she demonstrates in her determination to be educated and in the importance she places on her name” (Tuten). Since “Dee” had been out of the house and to school in the city she had lost touch with where she came from and had little respect for the family heritage. Maggie having been burned in a house fire had learned to love the shelter that only a family can provide. Being burned makes you like no one else, everywhere you go you feel eyes looking. Since she had not been out of the house and had the time to learn the value of family she regarded the quilts as a part of her heritage.
Dylan Thomas wrote the poem, “Do not go gentle into that good night” Thomas wrote this poem about his father, who was very ill at the time. In the poem Thomas is telling his father to fight his illness and stay alive even if that means he’ll, Thomas, have to keep on hearing the screams and deal with the verbal abuse. The poem is rich in figurative language making the effect in general is to detail death metaphorically as the end of a day and as a result to make known death and reduce its danger. Thomas gives a variety of examples of people who would most likely agree to death gently. He expresses that only a few men are willing to fight for more time in this life and those men would be: the "Wise men" who want more time because their understanding has not shaped any change fundamental things and would like to be remembered for something in their
In Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," the speaker is a son talking to his aging father and pleading with him to fight against death. The son knows that death is the inevitable end to every life, but feels one should not give up to death too easily. By using metaphor, imagery, and repetition, Thomas reinforces the son's message that aging men see their lives with sudden clarity and realize how they might have lived happier, more productive lives. These men rail against fate, fighting for more time to set things right.
This essay is about the poetic drama written by Fredrico Garcia Lorca, Blood Wedding, and the play written by Bertolt Brecht, Mother Courage and her Children. In Blood Wedding, Fredrico Garcia Lorca focuses on the moral and social norms people usually follow. They belong to a rural society which is conservative and at times primeval; they follow and respect only the traditional values to which they are accustomed opposite to the liberal social outlooks. They can't accept conduct outside their social lifestyles. The mother and the bridegroom are characters who are affected by these issues. However, In Mother Courage and her Children, Bertolt Brecht diminishes the traditional roles of characters because they have to survive according to their situation, a confused war torn society. Mother Courage and Yvette are two characters that are individualistic and have to survive. The aim is to demonstrate how characters behave and react to social values according to the needs of the situations they are placed in, whether they conform to social rules as expected traditionally or whether they react in a more individualistic ways. In both texts, the characters face difficulties in responding to moral and social issues. This is to emphasize the fact of how characters in Blood Wedding are controlled by the moral and social values in society whereas characters in Mother Courage and her Children are more individualistic and less influenced by the moral and social values of society. In Blood Wedding they conform to the fact that difference is inevitable in any conflict whereas characters in Mother Courage and her Children become malleable and resistant in order to face and overcome conflict.
When The Grapes of Wrath movie first began we met Tommy Joad and he just got out of prison. That right there makes you wonder about this character especially when you find out that he killed a man then you really wonder about him. Then we met Ma she was one of my favorite characters she kind of reminded me of my own mother in a way specifically in the end of the movie where Tommy leaves them again. These two are my favorite characters in the movie and it is hard to choose between the two of them, but I think that Tommy wins because of his personality and characteristics. In the movie Grapes of Wrath written by John Steinbeck and produced by John Ford my favorite character is Tommy Joad because he is a kind hearted kid, he takes whatever life gives him, and he does what is best for other people.
The first line I found to be creative was line 1 when the author writes, "the Cambridge ladies who live in furnished souls", I viewed this to be creative because of the diction he decided to use to portray the ladies image to the reader. The word "Cambridge" gave me a good mental picture of what one of these ladies could possibly be like. When I read the word "Cambridge" I instantly thought of old England when English ladies where very prestige and proper. This word made me think of higher class white ladies, who could have likely came from Affluent backgrounds, and are well educated. I also got the impression that these ladies could be snobbish and forceful ladies. When I read the part that read "who live with furnished souls" I imagined a furnished house. I associated this word with a furnished house because it is a term you hear often with houses. The house would represent the ladies, and everything in the house would represent what is a part of the ladies soul. When I think of Cambridge ladies and think of what could furnish their souls I automatically think of riches, maybe education. I have this idea that the term furnished could mean that their souls where predetermined for them maybe because they where raised into a certain lifestyle, or maybe they could have been brought up in a certain religion and they are already set in their ways before they are old enough to think for themselves and choice their own ways and beliefs.