The Grapes of Wrath Analysis

Whoever said a road is just a road has not read The Grapes of Wrath. From the minute we watch Tom Joad return home after four years in prison, roads take on great meaning. His "dark quiet eyes beca...

(Click the map infographic to download.) They don't call them migrant workers for nothing—these guys are perpetually on the move. We really want to jump into the story, Mary-Poppins-in-the-chalk...

This narrator is shifty. No, he's not untrustworthy or scheming—he just seems to like to hop around.When telling us about the Joads, this narrator is all-knowing and all-seeing. He dips in and ou...

The Grapes of Wrath created an insane stir when it came out. People were furious. They thought John Steinbeck made the whole thing up. They refused to believe that migrant workers were really livin...

Steinbeck's passion seeps through the chapters that depict the general landscape and life of Dust Bowl America. One could argue that if Steinbeck were to weed out some of his repetitive images and...

The Devil Is In The DetailsSteinbeck loves details, and he certainly doesn't deprive us of them as he describes the Joads' daily lifestyle and routine. We know everything, from where Ma Joad keep...

Wait: whose truth, now? What is this "truth" that we're talking about? And how does truth march, anyway?The title The Grapes of Wrath, is pulled directly from "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."...

You will probably remember the ending to this book for the rest of your life. Thanks a lot, Steinbeck. No—really. Thank you. This ending is incredible.The image of Rose of Sharon nursing the half...

The land is changing.There's been a drought, dust storms are rampant, crops are dead, the economy is weak, and landowners have to kick tenant farmers (like the Joads) off of the land.The Joads mu...

The Joad family has to move.Tom returns home to find that his family has been kicked off of their land. The whole family has to pack up and leave Oklahoma.Tom and the Joad family leave town.The J...

The Joads travel west on Route 66, in search of a better life in California.The Joads discover that there are very few jobs to be had in California, and that wages keep dropping. California is not...

The Dust Bowl drought was the worst in United States history, affecting 27 states—75% of the country. (Source)Over 14 million copies of The Grapes of Wrath have been sold in the last half century...

These Joads talk a good talk about getting busy. Lots of references are made to "tomcattin," "billygoatin," and rolling around in the grass. There may or may not be a joke about mating cows. But th...

Thomas Paine (14.4)Karl Marx (14.4)Thomas Jefferson (14.4)Vladimir Lenin )14.4)The Winning of Barbara Worth, (10.7) Dr. Miles Almanac (10.8)Bing Crosby, Benny Goodman "Ti-pi-ti-pi-tin" and "Thanks...