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Themes in the Grapes of Wrath

             The first theme that I found while reading the Grapes of Wrath was that of perseverance. The Joad family encountered many different trials and hardships on their long journey from Oklahoma to California. First of all, they had very little money to do anything with. This caused many problems within itself especially when more terrible things started to happen such as Grandma and Grandpa dying off. In order to have a proper funeral for their loved ones they had to pay money so both of them died nameless. Through situations like this, the Joad family persevered and grew closer together because of it. .
             The second theme I found was that of the era of the Great Depression. The Great Depression was a hard time for most Americans. It especially was not easy for people who were making a long journey across the United States with quite a few people and limited amounts of money and food. The Depression was a way for Steinbeck to show the many needs of not only the Joad family, but also of the people in the United States during that time. .
             The third and final theme that was very apparent to me was that of the importance of family. Through the good times and the bad the one thing that the Joad's always had was each other. I truly believe that this is what sustained them for such a long time on their journey. Steinbeck is sending all of his readers a message in this theme saying that if you love and stick by your family, they will always love and stick by you. You should always anyway, but in life you never know what kind of twists and turns it is going to give you and if you have your family there then you need not worry about what is ahead. .
            


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1. The Grapes of Wrath Symbolism

... . Steinbeck uses a number of symbols in the telling of his story which parallel stories from the bible. Some of the biblical symbols he uses are in his characters which have qualities similar to people from the bible, and in parts of the Joad family s travels. The tractors (cats) that plow over the farmers' land and the actual animal are used a few times in the novel to represent the merciless banks. The symbols in The Grapes of Wrath help explain the themes of the novel. The turtle is used to ... represent hope for the trip ... ...

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2. John Steinbeck and the Great Depression (Research Paper)

... the cultural norm. The role of the family in Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath is very apparent. Although not technically family, Lennie and George are like brothers. Lennie is the muscle, and George the brain, Lennie the child, and George the father. Lennie has a blind devotion to George, and above all he values their companionship, which resembles closely a familial relationship. There is no doubt in The Grapes of Wrath that the role of the family is one of the central themes ... . Even as they break up along the way, Ma's "rise to power" and Rose of Sharon's coming of age all sh...

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... they still hailed it as a great piece of literature and gave it an A-. While the people at brothersjudd.com disagreed with the way Steinbeck portrayed certain things in The Grapes of Wrath they had nothing but praise for Of Mice and Men. "The relationship between George and Lennie is one of the most beautiful, and oft imitated, in all of literature and the themes of love, friendship, loyalty, courage and the dream of a better life are both timeless and ... compelling-. They loved this book and had nothing to disagree about. They gave the book an A+ rating ... ...

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In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck greatly depicts the themes of strong sacrifice and strength through the use of the characters Ma Joad and Rose of Sharon. These two characters represent the need for a feeling of unity and the desperation faced by so many people world-wide who struggle for survival. Throughout the novel, Ma Joad portrays the strength that many people fight to keep in hard times. Ma is seen as the foundation upon which the other family members stand ... her family in their fight for survival by any means necessary. Throughout The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck uses his characters ...

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... can to help others, illustrating the brotherhood theme. John Steinbeck utilizes various techniques in creating his masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath. Many other authors also use literary techniques to convey their themes in novels. An example of this is the author, Upton Sinclair of The Jungle. Sinclair uses imagery when he describes the man falling into the lard and then the company sells the can of lard. Sinclair also uses symbolism because the title shows how life was ... like living in a jungle and the workers had to fight ... ...

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... changed, even `shit-heels` must remain. `The Grapes of Wrath` is evaluated as a document rather as a novel. Even aside from this fact, the novel had the vulnerability of all social fiction - it was subject to attack on it facts. Steinbeck was accused of giving an untrue picture of migrants` life (for example in `Grapes of Gladness` and `The Truth About John Steinbeck and the Migrants`); however, professors of sociology, ministers and government officials put themselves ... John sets Rose of Sharon`s stillborn child in an old apple crate (like Moses in the basket); as the Israelites rece...

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... haunting their heads every day especially on the trip west. They did not know whether they had enough money to actually arrive in California. The Grapes of Wrath is realist fiction novel. The author has gone to great lengths in his thick description and inventive but realistic dialogue. This included with the very realistic themes makes good reading. John Steinback shows his disapproval of the bankrupt socio-political and economic system that ... led to the Great Depression of the 1930's that is so well depicted in this book. This novel is ... ...

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United equals power. John Steinbeck's classic tale of migrant farmers thriving to survive, The Grapes of Wrath, explores many themes linked to overcoming life threatening obstacles. Steinbeck enforces the idea that the unification of large groups can overcome their oppressors. Through clever narration every few chapters, Steinbeck, gives us a broader sense of views experienced during the novel. In one of these sections, the fear of the Californian landowners is portrayed. These wealthy landowners came into power only ... after a desperate necessity of farms and food, stealing ... ...

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Throughout John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck develops a protagonist, which in turn helps to develop the theme that people's greatest strength lies in numbers. Through the development of the protagonist Tom, Steinbeck is able to convey the novel's central meaning. Steinbeck first introduces Tom Joad on the side of a road looking for a ride back to his old farm just after getting out of prison. During his four years at prison, he became acquainted ... express one of the major themes in this novel that the greatest power of humans lies in their numbers. He shows this by ackno...

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