Let's Be Hopeful in the The Grapes of Wrath

Let's be hopeful in the The Grapes of Wrath

Having reading the book " The Grapes of Wrath", I have been given the opportunity to realize the troubles that would have befell migrant workers during the Great Depression. Though the Joads were a fictitious family, I was able to identify with many signs of hope that they could hold onto. Some of these families who made the journey in real life carried on when all they had was hope. The three major signs of hope, which I discovered, were, overcoming adversity, finding jobs, and completing the journey.

The Joad family members were facing hardships from the beginning. Before the journey, Tom Joad had been in prison and that was a downer to everyone. In the chapters of overcoming this problem, Tom was released and his family was so excited and full of joy to see him. Before they could celebrate too much, they found themselves having to leave the land that most of them were born on, raised on and labored for. They decided that as shady as it was to be forced off their own land, the drought had shattered any hopes of prospering from it anyway. With the hope of a better life out in California and a flyer that said pickers needed, they set out for the proclaimed "Promised Land".

The trip had proved too much for Grandpa Joad early on and he passed away. As depressing as that was for the remaining Joads, they pressed on. They knew they needed to make it to California to have a better life and that hope empowered them. Vehicle trouble, low food and not much support from people they passed was not enough to make them give up.

Once they made it across the desert and into California, they were surprised to see that they were among thousands of migrant families looking for jobs. They got into a scuff with the local authority in a Hooverville where they were encamped. The former preacher was arrested. Although it didn't go through, the scuff began with a job proposition. The Joads left that night and in the morning, they ran into an orchard where they could make fifty cents a basket picking peaches. This brought hope to the Joads because it was a start. They even met back up with the old preacher. Trouble came knocking before too long there also and it was at the expense of the preacher's life.

They packed up and headed out in hopes of finding another job. It is a good sign of hope that the