Grapes of Wrath

Describe how the balance between specific stories about the Joad family and broader description of the migration of Dust Bowl farmers impacts the novel as a whole.

The zoom out and zoom in effect that Steinbeck used throughout the book was a decent way to get me as a reader to think a little more about what was going on back then. First, I would read about the Joad family, and their personal struggles which sort of developed a connection between me and the characters. Then, when the chapter would be more broad, it would give me a chance to realize that the Joads were not alone in this. In fact, one fourth of the entire population was going through similar struggles. Each chapter would relate to the last in one way or another, so that you could see the connection between all of the migrants.

This technique was brilliant, but I didn't think it was very well established. The Joad family was displayed as "strong" by showing a lack of emotion throughout the book, although a little more emotion came out towards the end. However, throughout the book, these sad events were happening (such as granpa dying) and no one really seemed to care. This happened in the zoomed in chapters, which I'm guessing were meant to make me feel a more personal connection to the story. However, the lack of emotion made it difficult to relate to the characters at all. They didn't seem human. In books, important characters should seem realistic, like they're actually out in the world. These characters seemed to stay in the pages. At most, they were just ink on paper. So, the zoomed in chapters did not get the desired effect out of me.

The zoomed out chapters had more of an effect because they made me think more, and made more valid and established points. However, a lot of them were pretty dull, which sometimes made it hard to read through. But then there were the chapters such as Chapter 14 that basically said that the farmers would need to work together if they wanted to survive. At that time, it was a dog eat dog world. If that pattern continued, there was no way that things would change. Most of the zoomed out chapters got straight to the point.

So the technique was there, but in the case of Grapes of Wrath, it did not succeed. Half of the technique (the zoomed in half) failed, which all in all took away from the effect of the book. Had the book been a bit more personal, Grapes of Wrath would have been much more thought provoking and emotional. But this was not the case.

Character Sketches

Ma Joad

"Tommy, don't you go fightin' 'em alone. They'll hunt you down like a coyote. Tommy, I got to thinkin' and dreamin' and wonderin'. They say there's a hun'erd thousand of us shoved out. If we was all mad the same way, Tommy-they wouldn't hunt nobody down."

“Tommy, I got to ask you— you ain’t mad?”

Both of these quotes shows Ma’s compassion for the family. She thinks things through, and her worry is what lets her compassion and thought process show. She doesn’t want any trouble, because it only makes things harder.

"Well, Pa, a woman can change better'n a man. A man lives sorta - well, in jerks. Baby's born or somebody dies, and that's a jerk. He gets a farm or loses it, and that's a jerk. With a woman, it's all in one flow, like a stream - little eddies and waterfalls - but the river, it goes right on. Woman looks at it thata way."

Ma is a bit of a feminist. Sure, she cooks, and cleans, but she does it in a way that’s tough, and more because she wants everyone to keep up their strength. She’s proud to be a woman, and finds it the best way to live, which wasn’t very common back then.

“It ain’t kin we? It’s will we?”

This is another quote that shows Ma’s compassion, but this time, it’s her compassion for others, including strangers. When it comes to helping someone, she believes it’s a choice, rather than something a person has to do. And when it comes to Ma, she often chooses to help others. It show’s just how tough a house wife can be. And Ma is exactly that.

-She’s thick from child baring, but not fat.

A piece of evidence that shows she’s a mother, I suppose.

-She has strong arms.

Shows that she’s a hard worker, even if it mostly cooking and cleaning.

-She has sad eyes.

She’s been through a lot, but pushes through for others’ sakes.

-She seems to look off into the distance a lot.

Shows that she thinks to herself a lot.

A significant moment in Ma’s life: when her home was taken away.

This event got her thinking more about the world around her, and ended up making her have to become stronger, and work even harder to keep the family alive and together. She was tired, but determined.

-Her hazel eyes seemed to have experienced all possible tragedy and to have mounted pain and suffering like steps into a high calm and a superhuman understanding

This is simply more proof that Ma hasd gone through a lot of hardship, but was strong enough to keep moving forward. Maybe even too strong to be human.

“She looks tar’d…like she’s sick tar’d.” –Casy

Clearly, it’s obvious that everyone saw that she was tired in an extreme way, but no one really noticed why until a little later. She was strong, but certainly struggling. I’m guessing that being her would be like going to school and doing chores all day with only 3 hours of sleep.

Pa turned his head to Ma. “You’ll lay ‘im out?”

Even for tasks such as burying a man, people turned to Ma. Apparently, Ma could do anything without it affecting her too much. She could skin a pig, cook it, and give it a proper burial if she wanted to.

Tom Joad

-"It don't take no nerve to do somepin when there ain't nothin' else you can do."

This quote shows Tom’s nonchalant attitude. It’s sort of like he’s saying ‘I do what I have to, and it’s as simple as that’. With this state of mind, he got a lot of things done, but also made a lot of rash decisions. He doesn’t neccisarily always think things all the way through, which got into a bit of trouble throughout the book.

-“Homicide. That’s a big word—means I killed a guy. Seven years. I’m sprung in four for keepin’ my nose clean.”

Tom is a sarcastic and teasing character. His sense of humor is a little cruel, but in the smart way that sarcasm brings to a conversation, even if it is a bit hurtful. The other thing about this quote is that he is saying this little insult to the man who went out of his way to give him a ride. Plus, giving people a ride was against the rules, so the driver had stuck his neck out for Tom, and in repayment, Tom basically called him stupid. It’s not as if Tom as a deep compassion for others—at least not strangers. This also shows that Tom is not ashamed of what he did. In fact, it’s like he’s proud of it since he got out so early, and it gives him the ability to intimidate others. In a way, it also shows his immaturity because it’s like he’s always playing a game, and his past is one of his favorite weapons.

“That Casy. He might have been a preacher but he seen things clear. He was like a lantern. He helped me to see things clear.”

This simply shows Tom’s compassion and gratitude towards Casy. In short, it shows that Tom holds the same or similar beliefs to Casy.

"Seems like the government's got more interest in a dead man than a live one."

This was a very clever quote to me, thus showing more of Tom’s witty side. He has a good point here, and it’s the kind of thing that one would make up on the spot, because it’s so simple, but so true to the moment.

-Has broad fingers and nails.

I guess this shows that he uses his hands a lot.

-He’s pretty sarcastic, and has a way of making fun of people.

Shows his sense of humor.

-He doesn’t hesitate to say that he killed a man and why.

Shows that he’s not ashamed of it.

-He’s not very patient, especially when it comes to food.

Shows that he likes food, or didn’t always have it readily available, I suppose.

A significant moment in Tom’s life: killing a man (the first time).

By doing this, he was sent to jail, and was therefore hidden from the outside world for four years. He got off on good behavior, and he wasn’t ashamed to tell anyone. This showed Tom just what he can do, and how far his limits expand. His morals and sense of being seemed to come into more acceptance after he did this, and he ended up doing it again.

-And now Al, moving humbly near, saw that his brother was not a swaggerer as he had supposed.

It looks like a lot of people assumed that Tom was pretty tough and cool because he had killed a man and done time. But, to Al’s disappointment, he didn’t have that kind of walk. It was just a regular walk, because he was just a regular guy who happened to kill someone in self defense.

-Al knew he had inspired some admiration because his brother had killed a man.

Tom was admired throughout the town precisely because he killed someone. He was praised rather than looked down upon.

-“I wisht you didn’ do it”

However, even though Tom was admired by younger boys throughout the town, those who knew him personally, did regret that he had done that. They didn’t hate him because of it, and loved him just the same, but Tom’s arrest and current parole made life a lot harder for him and the family.

-His voice was teasing.

Jim Casy

“Maybe there ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue, they's just what people does. Some things folks do is nice and some ain't so nice, and that's all any man's got a right to say.”

“I figgered, ‘Why do we got to hang it on God or Jesus?’ I figgered, Maybe it’s all men an’ all women we love; maybe that’s the Holy Sperit—the human sperit—the whole shebang. Maybe all men got one big soul ever’body’s part of’‘’

Both of the previous quotes show Casy’s philosophy on life, and is evidence of just how much he thinks, and what he often thinks about. Most of what he seems to think about is how he plans to live his life, and why he thinks it’s most logical to live that way. As you can see, his thoughts hold a lot of logic, so now, rather than thinking religiously, he thought critically. He broke from thinking by the book (the bible), and gained a mind of his own, so-to-speak.

“I ain’t a preacher no more.”

He says this frequently throughout the book, and it takes most of the characters a while to accept this fact. He’s not a preacher, and he wanted to make sure everyone understood this. However, no matter how many times he said this, people still referred to him as the preacher, even though he had given up on that life path a long time ago, and for many reasons. He made up his beliefs through thought and logic, and he wasn’t going to return to his old way of thinking. He didn’t want to.

“I wouldn't pray just for an old man that's dead, 'cause he's all right. If I was to pray, I'd pray for folks that's alive and don't know which way to turn.”

I think this quote shows a lot about Casy. It shows us his compassion, sense, and honesty. Casy was a very honest man, and he wasn’t afraid to show and tell his beliefs, because they were what made the most sense to him. He still had a sort of faith, but, as I said before, they aren’t by the book. His compassion really shows through here too because he is talking about all of mankind rather than the afterlife, as many religions focus on.

-Wanders off a lot by himself.
Shows that he’s independent.

-Stares off into space a lot.

Evidence that he does a lot of thinking.

-He’s cautious/shy.

Shows the classic worrisome habit that many firm religious people have. I guess he couldn’t shake it. He’s very humble and polite, and doesn’t want to offend anyone.

-Really tries to make people understand that he’s not a preacher anymore.

This is proof of his honesty and his loyalty to his beliefs.

A significant moment in Casy’s life: when he started laying with women.

It was these ongoing events that got him to go through an identity struggle. In doing so, he questioned his beliefs, and ended up finding a very interesting and sensible answer. Through this struggle, he became more accepting towards others, and what seemed to be a happier, and more laid back and independent man.

-“That Casy. He might have been a preacher but he seen things clear. He was like a lantern. He helped me to see things clear.”

-“Talks a little wild sometimes, but he talks sensible.”

-Ma watched the preacher as he ate and her eyes were questioning, probing, and understanding.

All three of these quotes show how he inspired those around. He had an odd way of explaining his beliefs, and thinking, but eventually, everyone he knew came to understand him. They accepted him from the beginning but they were skeptical. Nonetheless, he had been an interesting character to all.

“I seen him walking down the road. He don’t like to pray no more.”

Casy often wandered off to think, which was an alternative to praying, supposed. I’m guessing that Steinbeck made this clear as a way to say that praying doesn’t do much for people’s minds. It’s more of ritual, rather than a thought process that might actually get them somewhere, much like Casy.

Honors Novel #1

Many works of literature deal with political or social issues. Choose a novel or play that focuses on a political or social issue. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the author uses literary elements to explore this issue and explain how the issue contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

I read Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen, which was based and focused on the great depression--in a circus. The book as a whole is all of the issues that went on back during the depression, all rolled up into one interesting and compelling book.

The main character, Jacob Jankowski, a soon-to-be graduating college student, goes through just about all the worst things a man could have gone through back in the thirties. Within the first 20 pages, his parents die in a horrible car accident, and he finds out that he doesn’t have a penny to his name because his father had been working for food rather than money for the past two years. And since his parents hadn’t been paying the mortgage, the bank was taking away the house and everything in it. Not only had he lost his family, but his home and belongings as well. He wanted to fight it, but it was brought to his attention that he couldn’t. He had nothing.

With such a tragic beginning to the story, one had to wonder if his life would get better or worse as time went on. The first chapter of the book took place in the circus, but it was as if we were looking into the future of the book. He witnessed someone dear to him murdering someone else. All signs pointed to life only getting worse. So, with this in mind, how was I supposed to expect there to be much happiness at all? The depression was apparently named so for good reason.

Even after he joins the circus, he has to deal with a paranoid schizophrenic, a longing to commit adultery, and dealing with not getting paid for all of his hard work as the veterinarian of the circus. Nothing seemed to be going right, and it didn’t seem to get any better. He ended up losing his closest friends in the circus as well.

Then, finally, the circus collapses. This would seem to be another unfortunate event, but it actually ended up fixing everything. After all of the hell Jacob had gone through, he could finally live his own life and start anew. Notice that it wasn’t until the big business collapsed completely that everything got better. I guess this goes to show that everyone has to go through extreme hardship before things get better, sometimes.

Piecing this all together, I recently realized what the moral of the story was: to not give up hope. Believing things will get better is what carried Jacob through, and it happened. Had Jacob not gone through all that he had, and pushed himself through it, he would have been on the streets. It is with this in mind that we learn that hard work and hope is what will carry us through.

Blog #10

Do you believe that the Grapes of Wrath successfully establishes sympathy for the plight of Dust Bowl farmers? Why or why not?

Well, I can't say I know too much about the dust bowl, but from what I do know, I'd have to say yes. The first chapter of the book has a tone of dreariness, which I'm guessing would match the tone of how the farmers felt when this happened. And as the book goes on, we witness anger, rebellion, depression, and what the hard times bring. All of these, I'm sure, match what the farmers and such were feeling back then. This book is not a favorite of mine, but someone pointed out to me that this book isn't meant to be exciting. It's more for relation. This is probably the reason why I don't enjoy it that much. Because I can't relate to it that much. But as far as sympathy goes, I can definately see the connection.

Blog #9

Post a thoughtful reflection on how you have performed within the numerous freedoms associated with Ampersand. Then post a thoughtful reflection on how you have performed within the numerous structures associated with Ampersand.

I'm not exactly what you mean by 'performed', but I am writing a poem about speaking up. It's hard to word exactly what my poem is about because it is still being written, and all the words haven't come out yet. I have been doing what I can in regards for my Ampersand writing, but I feel as though we don't get enough time in class to work on it. This is an important project for the 11th grade, so it would seem that we would all be working together on it in class more, but I'm managing so far. With all this freedom, it's hard to decide exactly how to get my words out. I just hope I can get a draft done by Friday.