The Grapes of Wrath By John Steinbeck

Title of The Grapes of Wrath  “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” by Julia Ward Howe “Mine eyes have seen the coming of the glory of the Lord. He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.

Title of The Grapes of Wrath  Revelation 14:19 – “And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.”  Deuteronomy 32:32 – “Their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter.”  Jeremiah 31:29 – “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and their children’s teeth are set on edge.”

Title of The Grapes of Wrath in the novel  “Men ravenous for work, murderous for work... The granaries were full...And the anger began to ferment.” --Ch. 21  “In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.”--Ch. 25

Setting/Historical Background  Dust Bowl—in the1930s and 40s Texas and Oklahoma were devastated by a severe drought that dried up the crops and caused extreme dust storms  The Great Depression—poor economic conditions left the farmers even more devastated, often forcing them to borrow money that they couldn’t pay back. This led to farmers being evicted from their land with no prospect of making a living.  The Great Migration—California fruit pickers advertised (too much) for the need of fruit pickers in California. Hoping for a better life, Oklahoma farmers left their ruined farms and head to California in droves.

Layers of the novel  1. An individual’s struggle for survival—Tom, Jim Casy, Uncle John, Rose of Sharon, etc.  2.One family’s struggle for survival—The Joads  3. All migrant workers’ struggle from OK to Cali  4. The entire nation’s struggle  5. Mankind’s struggle to comprehend his commitment to his fellow man and the earth he inhabits.

Structure of the novel  I. Plot chapters—a slow narrative that chronicles the Joad family’s journey. Filled with realism, dialogue, and regional dialect, and colloquial language.

Structure cont.  II. Interchapters—fast-paced description Moves from specific to general (from the Joads to all migrant workers) Look for POV shift. Provides historical background of California, migrant labor, economic factors in Cali

Structure cont.  The interchapters allow Steinbeck to change styles to establish mood for each chapter. Pay attention to the style of each interchapter as it is juxtaposed with the plot chapters.

Interchapters Steinbeck revised these from a series of 1936 articles he had written after he visited the migrant camps. The articles were entitled “The Harvest Gypsies.” He also traveled with a photographer in 1937 throughout various migrant camps under the expectation of writing copy for the photos.

Literary Philosophy  Romanticism – “A literary or philosophical theory that tends to see the individual at the center of all life, and it places the individual at the center of art...”  “idealization of rural life...interest in human life, sympathy with animal life....” (Harmon and Holman 452). What elements of Romanticism do you see in Grapes?

Literary Philosophy  Realism – “Fidelity to actuality in its representation” “Realists are believers in democracy, and the materials they elect to describe are the common, the average, the everyday” (Harmon and Holman 428). What elements of Realism do you see in Grapes?

Literary Philosophy  Transcendentalism – ”an ideal spiritual state that 'transcends' the physical and empirical and is only realized through the individual's intuition, rather than through the doctrines of established religions.”spiritual The Universal Being (Oversoul) What elements of Transcendentalism do you see in Grapes?

Literary Philosophy  Naturalism – A response to the revolution in thought that science has produced. These works tend to emphasize either a biological or socioeconomic determinism.  Naturalism – a. Biological determinism (animal nature of man in brutal struggle for survival) b. Socio-economic determinism (man is victim of his environmental forces.) What elements of Naturalism do you see in Grapes?

Literary Philosophy  Modernism Experimentation in style and form Alienated characters Disillusionment of a corrupted society Allusive and symbolic What elements of Modernism do you see in Grapes?

Steinbeck’s style “No other American novel has succeeded in forging and making instrumental so many prose styles” (Bloom).  1. Diction and dialogue—natural and realistic  2. Narrative pace—changes frequently; syntax variation  3. Allusion—mostly biblical; some historical and political  4. POV shift—from “I” to “we”  5. Symbol—dust, turtle, bank, tractor, car, rain, erosion, one-eyed junk man, etc.

Biblical Allusions  The travel west to the land of milk and honey-> the story of Exodus and Moses leading the slaves to the Promised Land  Uncle John sending the stillborn downriver->inversion to Moses in the basket  Rose of Sharon-> “Earth Mother” and bride from “Song of Solomon”  Jesus->Jim Casy=J.C. Went into the wilderness Sacrifices himself dies a martyr's death, paraphrasing Christ's last words ("Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do") when he cries, "You don' know what you're a-doin." his teachings are delivered to the rest of the world as the result of this death; Tom is his disciple

Thematic issues  Connection to the land  Brotherhood of man  Primacy of family  Human being’s responsibility to one another  Man’s ability to grow  Shattering of the American Dream

“And there’s an end”  Entire book moves toward the ending—out of the greatest depths of despair comes the greatest assertion of faith  Intentionally ambiguous—”mysterious smile”  Lack of closure—why?  “ultimate triumph of a society based upon nurturing and creativity”