Themes in the Grapes of Wrath

Themes in The Grapes of Wrath

The Joads are on their way to California. The land which seems to be a heaven with great work, little white houses, and many acres of land. But the Joads soon find out that California may not be the paradise they dreamed of. Their journey to California will be full of hope and despair along with keeping their dignity in the midst of all the wrath. One of the biggest problems they will face is how poorly they will be treated. The one thing that made the Joads successful is that they stuck together as a family and supported each other. . These things mentioned above reoccur throughout the novel. These are some of themes in the Grapes of Wrath.

In the novel The Grapes of Wrath the themes of hope and despair become evident. In the beginning of the book Tom was in jail and that was sad for the family. Fortunately Tom was released on parole and when he finally returned home the family was extremely happy. But not long after his great return the family had to pack up and leave for California. Of course they wanted to stay but they just could not, the banks had taken the Joad's land. Leaving was their only option the drought had ruined all their crops and without crops they were not making money. They heard about the wonderful job opportunities in California so it sounded like a great idea to go. They can start their life anew, have a nice house, and a great job that sounds absolutely wonderful. At the same time the Joad's were sad that they were leaving because this was their home land and the land they were born and raised on. Now they have to leave everything they have ever known. The Joad's had so much hope when they left for California but the hope would soon fade to despair. Grandpa had gotten sick and he ends up dying in the Wilson's tent on the side of the road. His death was very sad for them but it was even sadder because they could not give him a real funeral because they could not afford it. They had to burry him illegally in the ground and hope that no one would find out. They moved on because they knew they had to. Along the way they had problems money and food was low and the people they passed were not friendly. Amazingly the Joad's did not loose hope and they kept on moving. Grandma was getting sick and they did not know how much longer she was going to hold on. Grandma dose end up dying in the back of the Joad's truck. Grandma never did get to see California she died shortly before they reached the border. Ma Joad lied and acted like Grandma was very sick to get her across the border but in reality she was already dead. Ma Joad had to hold it together, even in a great moment of despair, she knew that is what she had to do. As soon as the family reached California two member of the group droped out. Connie, Rose of Sharon's wife and Noah one of the Joad's sons decided to stay at the river and not continue on. The Joad's were very surprised when they saw many other migrant families looking for work also. They did not understand if there was so much work why so many people did not have jobs. After all the bad conditions the Joad's had been living in they found a very nice government camp to stay at, it even had hot running water. Unfortunately Tom was the only one who could find work so after a while the family had to leave. They found a place that would let them pick peaches for 50 cents a basket, it was work so it sounded great to them. When they got there it was nothing like the camp they had just came from the people here were very cold. Tom had gotten in trouble he got into a fight and killed a man. The Joad's decide to leave to protect Tom and they found a cotton picking job. They were lucky enough to have a boxcar to live in. This is where Al gets engaged to Agnes Wainwright. Rose of Sharon also has her baby here. The baby was supposed to bring hope and a new beginning to the family but the baby was born dead. It was very depressing for the family. Mean while it was flooding so there was no where they could burry the baby so they had to through it into the water. At the very end of the book after all the struggling they had been through, it ends with hope. The Joad's find a barn to stay in because their boxcar was beginning to flood. There was a starving old man in the barn and Rose of Sharon Brest feeds him.

Another theme in the Grapes of Wrath is keeping your dignity in the midst of Wrath. Along the journey to California and even once they arrived they had a lot of unhappiness which turns into wrath. They always had to worry about did they have enough money. Was that money going to last them to buy the food that they needed. The Joad's also had to worry about did they have some where to live and a job. They had jobs but none of them knew how long that job was going to last, once the job was done they were out of work. Many families were angry because they were so full of wrath but the Joad's keep their dignity throughout all their struggles. Near the end of the book women watched their families work and they truly thought that all of their self-respect came from if their husbands had wrath. The women thought they would remain strong as long as they had wrath. At the very end of the book is where the Joad's dignity even though they had had so many bad experiences shines through. Three member of the group had dropped out, Rose of Sharon give birth to a dead baby, and no one had a job but still they let kindness show through them. Rose of Sharon Breast feeds the old starving man. It showed that even though the Joad's had had such a hard time when they saw someone in need they took the time to help them, even through people may not have helped them when they were in need.

Of course one of the main things the Joad's had to deal with was how poorly the migrant workers were treated. No one really like the migrant workers to begin with. The people hated them, even before they reached California. On the way to California a gas station worker told them this: " What the hell! You never been called a 'Okie' yet. Tom said, Okie? What's that? Well, Okie use' ta mean you was from Oklahoma. Now it means you're a dirty son-of-a-bitch. Okie means you're scum."(280) On their way to California they were not treated greatly but they moved on not knowing it would only get worse. Even the other migrant workers were unfriendly most of the workers did not want to be bothered. This story is mainly about the poor treatment of the migrant workers, Steinbeck wanted this to end. He wanted people to see that it was not right for people to think they owned people. The migrant workers were put through hell and back. They were paid but very little often it was not enough to even buy the