Grapes of Wrath 6

There are a lot of reasons why we still read The Grapes of Wrath. It is a story of hard work, determination, and a large migration to the west. Considering most people alive today did not live at this time, the story teaches about the way many people had to get by in the 1930’s. They did not have the luxury or comfort to sit around eating snacks and watching television. They were working their asses off just trying to survive. This is an amazing story that should be read for generations to come. The characters are so realistic and the message will always be important. It is a message of family and togetherness. The Joads are a family who stick together from Oklahoma to California. Things always turn out better when people work together, whether it is family or otherwise. All people are supposed to work together. It does not matter if they are rich or poor, everyone needs to pull together to make this world a better place. It is not just for us, but also for our children to come. Steinbeck said this about The Grapes of Wrath “My whole work drive has been aimed at making people understand each other and then I deliberately write this book the aim of which is to cause hatred through partial understanding.” This is a book of understanding because it puts the reader in the footsteps of a family in an unbearable time. It is easy to tell why they do what they do. They really do everything that they do because they have to. They work together, and try to accomplish the difficulty that is life for an average person in the Dust Bowl. The final part of the book is really amazing. After Rose of Sharon has lost her baby they run into an old, starving man who needs milk. They have no money and almost no options. Rose of Sharon then proceeds to breast feed the man. This truly shows how rough the times are. It is similar to the potato famine in Ireland. They had no food and the people actually had to resort to eating grass because they had no other choice but to starve to death. There would actually be dead bodies with green around there mouths which really shows the unimaginable hell that was that time. It is worse than the times that are happening in Grapes of Wrath, but they are definitely comparable. They live in a rough time, and you have to sympathize with that. This story truly is a timeless classic.

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.