The Grapes of Wrath (1939)

High Upper-Intermediate

Boring. I had to read the rest on Sparknotes. ( )

This book is such an important book and I don't know why it took me so long to read. ( )

The sad saga of the Joad family is the stuff of legend in the annals of American literature. Forced off their small Oklahoma farm near the end of the Great Depression, The Grapes of Wrath chronicles the clan’s arduous westward migration in a desperate quest to find regular work and a better life. California, their ultimate destination, becomes a symbol of all that is good in the world, but the reality they find upon arriving is fraught with everything but hope and prosperity. The way in which various members of the family maintain their dignity and humanity in the face of the tragedies, deprivation, violence, and contemptible biases they face creates the backdrop for a book that has been justly lauded as a classic.

Of course, this is a novel with a well-established economic and social agenda. John Steinbeck set out to produce a plain-spoken story that would lay bare the adverse effects that many years of exploitation, corporate greed, and technological advances in industry had on the common working man. While he stops short—just short, really—of espousing the Marxist vision of a rising social collective, the author makes no secret of his desire to see the coalescence of the labor force as a means of combatting unfair working conditions. Indeed, much of the tension in the novel involves the struggles of the “have nots” to overcome the repressive actions of the landed and politically powerful “haves”. (Opening the story with an historic drought and ending it with a flood of Biblical proportions says a lot about the author’s intentions in this regard.)

This was controversial material when originally published—the book was both burned and banned, as well as quite widely read—but it was not nearly as shocking when viewed in light of what has transpired throughout the world over the succeeding decades. Nevertheless, the author’s prose still resonates and provides surprisingly relevant insights into some of the national debates that currently rage. While now regarded as important historical fiction, Tom Joad, Ma Joad, and Jim Casy remain timeless characters who embody the best and most human qualities of so many countless others. The Grapes of Wrath has certainly earned its status as a contender for the mythical title of The Great American Novel. ( )

The modern American classic and a must read for all high school students. ( )