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The Grapes of Wrath 71053 Views


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Description:

The Grapes of Wrath is one of the longest—ahem, most important books in American literary history. But what's with the title?

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:07

The Grapes of Wrath a la Shmoop As opposed to what -- The Blueberries of Sloth?

00:17

Picture this . . . . . . you've just written a novel . . .

00:19

. . . but not just any novel; a great novel. Like... a "100 books you need to read before

00:24

you die" bucket list great novel. Trouble is, you have no idea what to call

00:29

it. You toss around a few possibilities:

00:34

Okie Migrants?

00:35

The Road to California?

00:38

Dust Bowl Farmers? But nothing thrills you.

00:43

So, how did you -- er, Steinbeck - come up with The Grapes of Wrath as a title?

00:50

Where did it come from and what the heck does it mean?

00:54

Some writers say they get their inspiration from dreams . . .

00:56

. . . movies . . .

01:00

... muses... . . . or songs.

01:17

Grapes of Wrath is part of a lyric from the Battle Hymn of the Republic . . .

01:20

. . . which may have inspired Steinbeck's wife when she suggested it.

01:25

True story.

01:26

Even though the hymn was written about the Civil War . . .

01:28

...its message of God taking vengeance on greedy oppressors . .

01:33

. . . seems every bit as much about America in the 1930s . . .

01:38

. . . as America in the 1860s.

01:40

And likely the 2060s. But Battle Hymn's author got her inspiration

01:45

from another source . . . . . . The Book of Revelations . . .

01:47

. . . and it used the words as an appeal for divine deliverance for the oppressed when

01:54

humanity is judged. Steinbeck himself used the phrase near the

01:58

end of the book when he wrote . . . . . . "In the souls of the people the grapes

02:02

of wrath are filling and growing heavy". <<DS Scholar voice>>

02:05

So... the wrath is building up inside of people and, sooner or later, the oppressed are going

02:11

to explode.

02:13

Probably not literally, unless they've seriously eaten too many grapes.

02:18

Steinbeck said he wanted to put a tag of shame on the greedy people responsible for The Great

02:21

Depression . . . . . . and the title could be a symbol of what

02:24

he thought would happen when the oppressed had had enough.

02:28

So is Steinbeck suggesting the Noah approach...

02:30

That is ...we wait for God to take care of the bad guys?

02:38

Or is he encouraging the Nike approach...

02:40

... where the little guys have to take matters into their own hands?

02:44

Shmoop amongst yourselves.

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