Joad Essays

  • Ma Joad Character Analysis

    1008 Words  | 3 Pages

    really interesting is, Ma Joad. After reading the book, I felt so sad and depressed of what she had to go through in her life. While reading it, I compared my Mother to Ma Joad, I think they went through the same journey, not physically, but emotionally. We grew up in a really poor country, Cambodia, and we went through a similar situation. Ma Joad played a really important role in this family movement,

  • Ma Joad as Leader in The Grapes of Wrath

    705 Words  | 2 Pages

    from the strong and the leaders are separated from the followers. In John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family, forced from their home in Oklahoma, head to California in search of work and prosperity only to find poverty and despair. As a result of a crisis, Ma Joad emerges as a controlled, forceful, and selfless authority figure for the family. Ma Joad exhibits exelent self-control during the sufferings and frustrations of the Joad's journey. Ma knows that she is the

  • The Metamorphosis of Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

    2551 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Metamorphosis of Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath Tom Joad from Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath is a prime example of a person whose morals and spiritual growth cannot be restricted by the law or any other limiting factor for long. Throughout the novel he develops from a man only interested in his own independent personal desires and needs to one who is devoted to his family and sacrifices his own personal comfort for the benefit of the family. At the novel's end Tom is continuing Jim Casy's

  • Grapes of Wrath Essay: Theme of Strength Through Unity

    978 Words  | 2 Pages

    the relationship between the dissolution of individual families and the unification of the migrant people. The journey of the Joad family west illustrates this as they depart a parched Oklahoma, arrive in a hostile California, and eventually settle in amongst others as unwelcome there as they are. With the return of Tom to the family in the beginning of the story, the Joad family is once again united, though at the same time we see them to be utterly isolated from other migrants. It is not until

  • Alienation in The Catcher in the Rye and The Grapes of Wrath

    606 Words  | 2 Pages

    culture. The Joad family, upon their arrival in California, are estranged and avoided because they are labeled as “Oakies” on account of their origination from Oklahoma. They are regarded as dirty, unwanted people, on a quest to take advantage of prospering California. They are treated as though inferior mainly because of their socioeconomic status, which is considerably lower than the farmers of California. Though Holden Caulfield’s alienation from others is intentional, while the Joad family is inadvertently

  • The Struggle in The Grapes of Wrath

    1446 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Struggle in The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is a story about life in the great depression.  Steinbeck tells the story through the Joad family and how they struggle to survive.  Also he has short chapters about the background and what was going on outside of the Joads. In the beginning of the book Tom, the second eldest son, is hitch hiking back home from McAlester, the prison.  He was just paroled from a murder sentence after spending about four years in jail. 

  • Observations on The Grapes of Wrath

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    window panes reflecting the desolate land abroad. This description portrays the Joad family's home suffering from abandonment when they leave their country home life for better opportunities in the west. Steinbeck portrays the plight of the migrant Joad family from Oklahoma to California in search of a better life during the Great Depression in The Grapes of Wrath. As the strong-headed, independent and protagonistic Tom Joad heads toward the country to finally reunite with his family after serving four

  • Grapes of Wrath Essay: Moving From Me to We

    808 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Grapes of Wrath, explores how the Joad family adapts to a new reality, how their concern changes from their own family and problems, to other families and their difficulties, until their concern includes all of the migrants and the larger problems of unemployment and prejudice. The Joad family’s journey to California results in the breakup of their family. The very first cause of the breakup of the individual family was with the loss of their land. The Joad family had lived there for many generations

  • Grapes of Wrath

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Grapes of Wrath, chronicles the Joad’s family exodus from Oklahoma to California in search for a brighter, economic future. The name Joad and the exodus to California is parallel to the Biblical story of Exodus and the character Job, but at the time was depicting the Okie Exodus. The Okies were farmers whose topsoil blew away due to dust storms and were forced to migrate along Route 66 to California in search of work. The Okies were resented for migrating in large numbers to areas in the

  • The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

    1007 Words  | 3 Pages

    the classic novel The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, you can follow the Joad family in the pursuit to their dreams and the difficulties they faced and overcame. The Joad family faced numerous conflicts including; men, society, nature, and him/herself but overcame many to keep pushing them towards their dream; to go to California and find a better life. The first and most obvious conflict the Joad family faces in the beginning of the novel is the ongoing struggle with nature. Beginning

  • Grapes of Wrath

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    of Wrath by John Steinbeck is a novel depicting the struggle and distraught brought towards migrant workers during the Great Depression. The Grapes of Wrath follows one Oklahoma family, the Joads, as they journey down Route 66 towards the earthly paradise of California. While on route to California, the Joads interact with fellow besieged families, non-hospitable farmers, and common struggles due to the Depression. Steinbeck uses these events to show strong brotherhood through biblical allusion,

  • Grapes Of Wrath

    1727 Words  | 4 Pages

    the farmers are left with no soil to grow their crops. The Joad’s livelihood depends on the soil. If the soil is rich, then it will feed hundreds. But if the soil is dry, it destroys crops and causes famine. The dust covers Oklahoma and leaves the Joad family with no other choice, but to move. The Joad’s journey to California is as slow as a turtle. Heat in the desert, car problems, and the death of the grandparents make the journey long and painful. A turtle shelters himself by pulling his head

  • Rural Homelessness

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rural Homelessness As the Joad family lost its farm and hit the road in Steinbeck's classic, The Grapes of Wrath, so to did America lose its ability to plead ignorance to the problem of rural homelessness. Yet, as the troubles of the Great Depression, and two million homeless Americans, were eclipsed by a world at war, the issue of homelessness was once again placed on the back burner, and then taken off of the stove altogether (Davis 275). Although this problem has seldom been discussed

  • Greed Exposed in The Grapes of Wrath

    1445 Words  | 3 Pages

    Greed Exposed in The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath is a novel that was written by John Steinbeck. This novel explores the predicaments that families faced in the "Dust Bowl" of Western America. The story shows how the Joad families, like many other families, were made to leave their homes because big business took over and the little man was left to fend for himself. Times were changing and families had to adjust even if that meant starting a whole different life in a brand new place

  • The Grapes of Wrath - Questions and Answers

    1288 Words  | 3 Pages

    farms and received little compensation for their hard work. This made them frustrated and unhappy. Additionally, the Joad family, who were proud and wanted to prove themselves, were not content with their life in Oklahoma and wanted to start anew in California. Who are the members of the Joad family unit that set out for California? Briefly state what happens to each of them. The Joad family members who set out for California were Ma, Pa, Ruth, Winfield, Uncle John, and Rose of Sharon. Noah left early

  • Finding Hope in The Grapes of Wrath

    624 Words  | 2 Pages

    during the Great Depression. Though the Joads were a fictitious family, I was able to identify with many signs of hope that they could hold onto. Some of these families who made the journey in real life carried on when all they had was hope. The three major signs of hope which I discovered were, overcoming adversity, finding jobs, and completing the journey. The Joad family members were facing hardships from the beginning. Before the journey, Tom Joad had been in prison and that was a downer

  • Grapes Of Wrath

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    four years of a manslaughter conviction, Tom Joad makes his way back to his family’s farm amid the desolation of the Dust Bowl. He meets Jim Casy, a former preacher who gave up his calling out of a belief that all life is holy, and that simply being among the people as an equal is a sacred endeavor. Jim accompanies Tom to his home; when they find it deserted, fronted by withered crops, they travel to Tom’s Uncle John’s house, where they find the Joads preparing for a long trip to California in search

  • The Grapes of Wrath - Beauty in the Midst of Hopelessness

    1822 Words  | 4 Pages

    ownership, not a paper with numbers on it (p.45). Steinbeck follows the Joad family as they leave their farm to forge a new life in the land of opportunity - California - where life is golden and jobs are abundant . . . or so they think.  They are met with distrust and dislike by the residents of the cities they pass through, and they have little success in finding jobs with salaries that they can survive on. Once the Joads reach California, they discover that the situation there is much the same;

  • The Grapes of Wrath

    617 Words  | 2 Pages

    ‘families’ in that the Joads are a factual one and the body of migrant workers as the other. The Joads are actual blood together, but their loyalty to one another is the true essence of their family-hood. The Joads stand as ideal figures in their refusal to be broken by the circumstances against them. Each character undergoes tremendous heartache and burden, yet they stay true to their plans and never give up. While the Joad family is moving from Oklahoma to California, Ma Joad holds the family together

  • Making Hard Choices in The Grapes of Wrath

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    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. In fact, one principal character who was involved in a difficult situation was Ma Joad.  She was a wife and mother whose only occupation in life was a housewife.  She lived in an unfair time period; women were forced to do almost everything that the man commanded.  However, Ma Joad was different.  Ever since the