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The Grapes of Wrath Study Guide Author Biography 2 The Grapes of Wrath Study Guide by Course Hero migration of Oklahomans to California, and the life of the What's Inside migrants in California. These explanatory chapters are called intercalary chapters because they are inserted between other parts. j Book Basics ................................................................................................. 1 TENSE d In Context ..................................................................................................... 1 The Grapes of Wrath is told in the past tense. a Author Biography ..................................................................................... 2 ABOUT THE TITLE Steinbeck chose the title for the novel from a verse in "The h Characters .................................................................................................. 3 Battle Hymn of the Republic," which reads, "Mine eyes have k Plot Summary ............................................................................................. 7 seen the glory of the coming of the Lord / He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored." Explaining c Chapter Summaries ............................................................................... 11 the title—which was suggested by Steinbeck's wife—in a letter to his agent, Steinbeck commented, "I like the song because it g Quotes ........................................................................................................ 38 is a kind of a march and this book is a kind of a march." l Symbols ..................................................................................................... 40 m Themes ....................................................................................................... 41 d In Context e Suggested Reading .............................................................................. 42 While writing The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck had many doubts about the work. At one point, he wrote that he feared the book j was "going to pieces." During this time, Steinbeck was dealing Book Basics with financial problems and the death of his brother-in-law. Steinbeck wrote in his journal, "Did ever a book get written AUTHOR under such excitement? My whole nervous system is battered. John Steinbeck I hope I'm not headed for a nervous breakdown." He worried The Grapes of Wrath would end up being just a "run-of-the-mill YEAR PUBLISHED book." Rarely has an author's fears about his work proved to 1939 be so unfounded. The novel became a best seller in the United GENRE States. Although critics hailed it as a masterpiece, The Grapes Fiction of Wrath had its share of detractors and controversy. PERSPECTIVE AND NARRATOR The Grapes of Wrath is written from a third-person omniscient Critical Reception point of view, which allows the narrator to explore the thoughts and feelings of all characters. Even-numbered chapters tell the Published in 1939, The Grapes of Wrath became an instant story of the Joad family; odd-numbered chapters provide success, selling 428,000 copies within a year. Soon, background information about the drought and Dust Bowl, the The Grapes of Wrath Study Guide Author Biography 2 Hollywood came calling. The studio 20th Century Fox secured When The Grapes of Wrath debuted in 1939, the Great the rights to the film version and hired the notable American Depression had been ongoing for about 10 years. Economic director John Ford. Released in 1940, the film The Grapes of conditions had improved under the New Deal of President Wrath also became a huge critical and commercial success. Franklin Roosevelt, but these efforts had failed to lift the Steinbeck loved the movie, especially Henry Fonda's portrayal country fully out of the depression. Many people were fed up of Tom Joad. and angry. The novel therefore struck a chord with numerous readers. They could identify with the Joad family and were However, not everything was rosy for Steinbeck and his outraged by the unfair, selfish labor practices depicted in the masterwork. People in Oklahoma complained that the novel story. made the entire state appear poverty stricken. People in California did not care for its critical depiction of landowners. Steinbeck's novel helped to improve working conditions. After As a result, The Grapes of Wrath was banned by some libraries. Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, In fact, a few towns had ceremonial book burnings of the novel. read the book, she organized congressional hearings to reform Steinbeck was even the victim of death threats. J. Edgar labor laws for migrant camps. The novel also inspired many Hoover, the head of the FBI, was convinced that Steinbeck was labor reform leaders, such as Cesar Chavez, who organized a a Communist and put him under constant surveillance. union for migrant farmworkers in the 1960s. In fact, one of Chavez's best-known speeches calls for a boycott of grape Steinbeck, however, was very patriotic and attempted to enlist growers in California in an effort to win more rights for grape in the armed forces during World War II. Because they pickers. Eventually, Chavez succeeded in forming the United suspected him of being a Communist, the military refused to Farm Workers in America, a labor union that seeks to improve allow him to serve. Steinbeck ended up serving as a war the working conditions and wages of migrant workers. correspondent, writing a large amount of propaganda that supported war efforts. a Author Biography The Great Depression and Born on February 27, 1902, in Salinas, California, John Ernst Dust Bowl Steinbeck Jr. grew up in modest circumstances. His mother, Olive Hamilton, was a former schoolteacher, and his father, John Ernst Steinbeck, worked as a manager of a flour mill. Economic and ecological disasters in the United States Early on, he learned to appreciate agriculture. Salinas Valley provided the stimulus for writing The Grapes of Wrath. In had many prosperous farms and was known as the "Salad October 1929 the U.S. stock market crashed, sending the Bowl of the Nation." country into an economic depression that lasted for more than a decade. Suddenly, millions of people were out of work and Steinbeck's family faced financial difficulties when his father facing poverty. Many U.S. citizens became dissatisfied with lost his job at the flour mill, making young Steinbeck aware of how their government handled the crisis. the difficulties faced by people who had limited means. In 1919 he entered Stanford University. He took creative writing During this period, farmers suffered through severe hardships, courses and especially enjoyed classes in history, biology, and including crop failures and the falling prices of farm products. ecology. He was a largely disinterested student who did not These difficulties included the man-made ecological disaster complete some of his classes, however, and wanted to devote resulting in what's known as the Dust Bowl. Extreme drought his time to writing. He dropped out of Stanford in 1925. and soil erosion led to horrible farming conditions throughout Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and other states. Massive dust Steinbeck achieved his first literary success with the novella storms hit these areas, carrying away tons of soil. Crops failed Tortilla Flat (1935). Soon he began to use his writing to call and thousands of people lost their farms. Many of these people attention to unfair labor practices, a theme reflected in Of Mice became migrant laborers and traveled to California and other and Men (1937). areas of the country in search of work. In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck combines his experience Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc. The Grapes of Wrath Study Guide Characters 3 with economic hardships, concern about labor issues, and four sons. Ma is a strong, sturdy woman but is also gentle. She knowledge of farming and ecology to weave a rich, searing stabilizes and unifies the family. In this way, Ma acts as the story about a migrant family searching for work in California. In center, or heart and soul, of the family. As the story develops, preparation for this novel, he researched the migrant way of Ma's role shifts from backbone of the family to family leader. life in California for about two years. As the Joads face various hardships, the family threatens to break apart. To counteract this, Ma takes the reins of the The Grapes of Wrath became a financial and critical success, family, despite her husband's protests. At times, however, she earning both the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award in looks to Tom for leadership. 1940. He followed this work with the novels Cannery Row (1945), The Pearl (1947), East of Eden (1952), and The Winter of Our Discontent (1961). In 1962 he was awarded the Nobel Prize Pa Joad for Literature. Steinbeck died of heart disease on December 20, 1968, in New Pa Joad is married to Ma Joad. When the story begins, they York City. are tenant farmers in Oklahoma. He is a physically strong man who is the breadwinner of the family. Early on, Pa is seen as the leader of the family. However, as the story develops, Ma h takes on the role of family leader. Although Pa doesn't like this Characters change, he accepts it. Part of him realizes that Ma is better suited to leading the family during the difficult times they are facing. Although Pa is persistent in his efforts to aid the family, Tom Joad he realizes in a way that he has become a broken man. He becomes unsure and often second guesses himself. Tom Joad is the second oldest son of Ma and Pa Joad, tenant farmers in Oklahoma. He is a lean, tall man in his late 20s. Tom was sent to prison for stabbing and killing a man in self- Jim Casy defense. He has been let out early on parole for good behavior. Tom keeps to himself. He is an outsider who chafes against Jim Casy is a former preacher. He baptized Tom Joad when authority figures who try to push him around. Even so,, he is Tom was a boy, but Casy has since grown disillusioned and devoted to his family, especially his mother. Early in the novel, quit preaching. Casy has a long head with a high forehead and Tom is seen as a man who is not contemplative.
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