John Steinbeck and "The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck, the acclaimed American author, penned the powerful novel "The Grapes of Wrath" which follows the Joad family, tenant farmers from Oklahoma forced off their land during the Great Depression. The novel vividly portrays their struggles as they journey to California in search of a better life, only to face prejudice, oppressive labor practices, and poverty. Steinbeck's writing prowess and social commentary shine in this Pulitzer Prize-winning work that remains a timeless classic.
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The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath by by John Steinbeck John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck Born Feb. 27, 1902, Salinas, California Died Dec. 20, 1968, New York, N.Y.
John Steinbeck John Steinbeck Attended Stanford University intermittently between 1920 and 1926 no degree Early in his writing career supported himself as a manual laborer Lived much of his life in Monterey County, California
John Steinbeck John Steinbeck After writing The Grapes of Wrath collected marine life in Mexico with freelance biologist Edward F. Ricketts. The two men collaborated in writing a study of the fauna of the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez) During World War II wrote government propaganda and served as war correspondent Received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962
John Steinbeck John Steinbeck Cup of Gold (1929) The Pastures of Heaven (1932) To a God Unknown (1933) Tortilla Flat (1935) First success Story of a strike by agricultural laborers instigated by a pair of Marxist labor organizers In Dubious Battle (1936) Story that ends tragically about the bond between two itinerant ranch hands, George and Lennie Of Mice and Men (1937) The Grapes of Wrath (1939) Won a Pulitzer Prize in 1940 and National Book Award
The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath Joad family Tenant farmers in Oklahoma evicted from their land Travel to California looking for work and a better life Find prejudice, oppressive labor practices, and poverty
The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath Tenant farmers in Oklahoma evicted from their land You ll have to get off the land. Pa was born here, and he killed weeds and snakes. Then a bad year came and he had to borrow a little money. An we was born here. There in the door our children born here. And Pa had to borrow money. The bank owned the land then, but we stayed and we got a little bit of what we raised. We know that all that. It s not us, it s the bank. A bank isn t like a man. Or an owner with fifty thousand acres, he isn t like a man either. That s the monster. Grapes of Wrath, page 36
21 21st st Century Evictions Century Evictions
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The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath Tenant farmers in Oklahoma evicted from their land We need 800 Workers! Midwest
The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath Find prejudice, oppressive labor practices, and poverty You ll see him [the person who sent out the hand bills] or somebody that s workin for him. You ll be a campin by a ditch, you an fifty other famblies. An he ll come in. He ll look in your tent an see if you get anything lef to eat. An if you got nothin , he says, Wanna job? An you ll say, I sure do, mister. I ll sure thank you for a chance to do some work. An he ll say, I can use you. Maybe he needs two hundered men, so he talks to five hundred, an they tell other folks, an when you get to the place, they s a thousan men. This here fella says, I m payin twenty cents an hour. An maybe half a the men walk off. But they s still five hundred that s so goddam hungry they ll work for nothin but biscuits The more fellas he can get, an the hungrier, less he s gonna pay. Grapes of Wrath, pages 190-191
The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath Travel to California looking for work and a better life But I like to think how nice it s gonna be, maybe, in California. Never cold. An fruit ever place, an people just bein in the nicest places, little white houses in among the orange trees. I wonder that is, if we all get jobs an all work maybe we can get one of them little white houses. An the little fellas go out an pick oranges right off the tree. Ma Joad Grapes of Wrath, page 93
The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath Find prejudice, oppressive labor practices, and poverty In their lapels the insignia of lodges and service clubs, places where they can go and, by a weight of numbers of little worried men, reassure themselves that business is noble and not the curious ritualized thievery they know it is Grapes of Wrath, page 156
The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath First view of California s fertile fields They drove through Tehachapi in the morning glow, and the sun came up behind them, and then suddenly they saw the great valley below them. Al jammed on the brake and stopped in the middle of the road, and Jesus Christ! Look! he said. The vineyards, the orchards, the great flat valley, green and beautiful, the trees set in rows, and the farm houses. Pa sighed, I never knowed they was anything like her. The peach trees and the walnut groves, and the dark green patches of oranges. And red roofs among the trees, and barns rich barns. Grapes of Wrath, page 227
Hoovervilles Hoovervilles
Kakaako Kakaako Homeless Camps Homeless Camps
The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath Response by Frank J. Taylor Response by Frank J. Taylor The experiences of the Joad family are not typical of those of the real migrants I found in the course of two reportorial tours of the agricultural valleys. Survey by Farm Security Administration : Average migrant family had 2.8 children Actually, no migrant family hungers in California unless it is too proud to accept relief. Few migrants are. When the harvest is on, the base wage for agricultural workers on California farms is $2.10 per day with board, as compared to $1.00 in Oklahoma, $1.35 in Texas, and 65 cents in Arkansas. These figures are from the U.S. Bureau of Agricultural Economics.
The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath Associated Farmer s Response Associated Farmer s Response 1939 annual convention in Stockton John Steinbeck denounced as arch-enemy, defamer, slanderer of migratory farm labor in California Carey Mc Williams, lawyer who served as Commissioner of Immigration and Housing for the state of California and wrote books such as Factories in the Field and Ill Fares the Land, was referred to as Agricultural Pest No. 1 in California
The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath Oklahoma s Response Oklahoma s Response Complaints about the vile language communistic propaganda The Grapes of Wrath sold very well in Oklahoma bookstores. Most stores considered it their best seller, excepting only Gone with the Wind (Martin Shockley) Of thirty libraries answering my letter of inquiry, only four, including one state college library, do not own at least one copy of the book, and the Tulsa Public Library owns twenty-eight copies.
The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath Oklahoma s Response Oklahoma s Response A few libraries restricted circulation to adults only. About half the libraries mentioned long waiting lists, Miss Sue Salmon of the Duncan Public Library reporting that Even as late as the spring of 1940 we counted 75 people waiting. (Martin Shockley) I have been asked quite often if I could not dig up some statistics capable of refuting the story of the Grapes of wrath It cannot be done, for all the available data proved beyond doubt that the general impression given by Steinbeck s book is substantially reliable. (Professor O.B. Duncan, Head of the Department of Sociology at A. and M. College, as quoted by Martin Shockley)
John Steinbeck John Steinbeck Branded a communist Won a Pulitzer Prize in 1940 and National Book Award Received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962
The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath Why would it be important for someone to read this book today?
