The Grapes of Wrath Assignment

The Grapes of Wrath Assignment

In The Grapes of Wrath, author John Steinbeck chronicles the life of Tom Joad and his migrant labor family as they journey to California to find a new life there. I believe in writing this story, John Steinbeck's message was about how the migrant laborers had an incredibly difficult time surviving the Dust Bowl, and also how big business was still taking advantage over their workers.

When the Dust Bowl hits, the Joad family cannot grow enough crops to survive and eventually have their farm foreclosed and bulldozed. No matter what they do, the bankers demolish the farms, leaving them no choice but to leave. They hope to build a better life by moving to California, where work is plenty and pay is high. The journey west is filled with sadness for the Joad family, as two members die along the way. All of this is rough for the Joads, but nothing prepares them for what is next.

They hear a man telling stories about how work in California is scarce. They try to ignore him, but they know what he says might, and probably is, true. When they arrive in California, they find no work, and stay at a camp with other migrant laborers. The movie shows the plight of these fellow migrant workers when the children come up to Mrs. Joad asking for food. When she finally does, they run up to a hill of old leftover cans, pick some up, and run back to collect their food.

When the Joads do find work, they end up at a large, heavily guarded farm. They stay in houses provided by the owners, and work all day picking fruit. The houses are old and deteriorating, and their pay is subject to immediate change, even though they already earn barely enough to eat. Just like in the old stockyards of Chicago in The Jungle, these farm owners knew the desperation of the migrant laborers, and aren't afraid to abuse this fact. They knew plenty of workers exist, and if they lowered the pay and workers left, there would always be more of them to hire. This is the burden of the migrant laborer and the exploitation of the farm owners.

At the end, Tom Joad leaves his family, promising to help other people in need. This is a complete change from his earlier life, when we first saw him being let out of jail for homicide. I think Steinbeck purposefully wrote this in to show the impact of these difficulties that Tom Joad faces during his story. As time goes by, he