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109 Grapes of Wrath Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

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The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is a classic novel that explores the struggles of migrant workers during the Great Depression. If you're looking for essay topics to delve deeper into the themes and characters of this novel, look no further. Here are 109 Grapes of Wrath essay topic ideas and examples to inspire your writing:

• Analyze the role of family in The Grapes of Wrath.
• Explore the theme of social injustice in the novel.
• Discuss the symbolism of the title "The Grapes of Wrath."
• Compare and contrast the characters of Tom Joad and Ma Joad.
• Examine the significance of the turtle in Chapter 3.
• Discuss the portrayal of women in the novel.
• Analyze the role of religion in The Grapes of Wrath.
• Explore the theme of hope in the face of adversity.
• Discuss the representation of the American Dream in the novel.
• Examine the impact of capitalism on the characters in the novel.
• Analyze the role of the government in the novel.
• Discuss the theme of unity and solidarity among the migrant workers.
• Explore the symbolism of the Hooverville camps.
• Compare and contrast the characters of Jim Casy and Tom Joad.
• Discuss the theme of survival in the novel.
• Analyze the symbolism of the dust storms.
• Explore the theme of sacrifice in The Grapes of Wrath.
• Discuss the portrayal of race and ethnicity in the novel.
• Analyze the role of education in the novel.
• Examine the theme of power and authority in The Grapes of Wrath.
• Discuss the role of nature in the novel.
• Analyze the symbolism of the Joad family's journey.
• Explore the theme of community in the novel.
• Discuss the portrayal of women's roles in the 1930s.
• Examine the theme of human dignity in the face of poverty.
• Analyze the symbolism of the California landscape.
• Explore the theme of exploitation in the novel.
• Discuss the impact of technology on the characters in the novel.
• Analyze the theme of resilience in The Grapes of Wrath.
• Discuss the portrayal of masculinity in the novel.
• Analyze the symbolism of the red color throughout the novel.
• Explore the theme of survival instincts in the characters.
• Discuss the impact of industrialization on the characters in the novel.
• Analyze the symbolism of the Joad family's car.
• Explore the theme of displacement in the novel.
• Discuss the portrayal of labor unions in the novel.
• Analyze the symbolism of the road in the novel.
• Explore the theme of desperation in The Grapes of Wrath.
• Discuss the role of music in the novel.
• Analyze the symbolism of the grapes in the novel.
• Explore the theme of community organizing in the novel.
• Discuss the impact of the media on the characters in the novel.
• Analyze the symbolism of the flood in the novel.
• Explore the theme of environmental degradation in The Grapes of Wrath.
• Discuss the portrayal of migrant workers in the novel.
• Analyze the symbolism of the migrant camps.
• Explore the theme of exploitation of migrant workers.
• Discuss the impact of consumerism on the characters in the novel.
• Analyze the symbolism of the oak tree in Chapter 19.
• Explore the theme of individualism versus collectivism in the novel.
• Discuss the role of government intervention in the novel.
• Analyze the symbolism of the land in the novel.
• Explore the theme of resistance and rebellion in The Grapes of Wrath.
• Discuss the portrayal of poverty in the novel.
• Analyze the symbolism of the number 66 throughout the novel.
• Explore the theme of solidarity among the migrant workers.
• Discuss the impact of social class on the characters in the novel.
• Analyze the symbolism of the rain at the end of the novel.
• Explore the theme of redemption in The Grapes of Wrath.
• Discuss the portrayal of religion in the novel.
• Analyze the symbolism of the handbills in the novel.
• Explore the theme of forgiveness in the novel.
• Discuss the impact of the Great Depression on the characters in the novel.
• Analyze the symbolism of the roadside camps.
• Explore the theme of resistance to oppression in The Grapes of Wrath.
• Discuss the portrayal of the American Dream in the novel.
• Analyze the symbolism of the tractors in the novel.
• Discuss the impact of consumer culture on the characters in the novel.
• Analyze the symbolism of the migrant worker camps. 71

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AP Assignments for The Grapes of Wrath

By tim roberts san dieguito academy encinitas, ca, 2009.

On a schedule in which there is never enough time and within a curriculum in which everything, at least on paper, has to be tied to the AP Language exam, finding a place for a novel the size of  The Grapes of Wrath  can take some doing. What follows are two suggested AP writing assignments that could be done with the book to supplement whatever other literary or response-based approach you may choose. As far as teaching to the test, the language exam has a number of qualities to recommend for it despite its necessarily superficial and abbreviated format. Rhetorical analysis promotes close reading, and the interchapters lend themselves well to such analysis. They are rich in imagery and figurative language, widely range in tone, and employ syntax to varied and dramatic effect. The synthesis essay calls on students to use research materials in forming a coherent argument; there are a number of topics in the novel that could be grouped with outside readings to provide the basis for such an essay. It’s an assignment that would lead students to examine the novel’s themes more thoroughly and explore their significance more deeply.

Rhetorical analysis

I’m familiar with  The Grapes of Wrath  as a staple in AP Language classes that had their roots in American literature courses. It’s still possible to invest the time to read the book with students while preparing them for the exam. I’ll assume that most students would have been introduced to rhetorical analysis already. The interchapters represent a stylistic tour de force on Steinbeck’s part, kind of the writerly equivalent of a jazz musician referencing Dixieland, swing, bop, and free jazz in a concept album. “Perhaps no aspect of Steinbeck’s accomplishment in  The Grapes of Wrath  has been overlooked as often as the sheer genius of prose style throughout the novel,” writes Louis Owens in  The Grapes of Wrath : Trouble  in the Promised Land . His excerpt on style, “From Genesis to Jalopies: A Tapestry of Styles,” is an adequate reference on the interchapters’ stylistic variety from the opening’s biblical cadences and epic sweep to the fragment-filled passages that render the confusion generated by the fast-talking used car salesmen.

The analyses could be approached in a number of ways. An entire chapter could be analyzed; the students could identify what they see as Steinbeck’s major purpose in the selection and explain what rhetorical elements uses to convey it. Alternatively, students could be given a section of the chapter, perhaps of a roughly equivalent length to an AP selection. For example, Chapter 23 has several short scenes depicting the migrants’ pleasures at the roadside camps, including telling stories, making music, dancing, getting drunk and getting saved. Any of those slices would be a suitable subject for analysis. Even a more seamless interchapter, such as Chapter 15, can be divided into smaller, more manageable units (the initial description of the diner, Mae and Al; the description of the “shitheel” couple). In another variation, the prompt could be focused to mirror some of the AP rhetorical analysis exercises. For example, students could analyze how Steinbeck conveys his criticism of the used car salesmen in Chapter 7, or his view of technology as expressed in the depiction of the tractor in Chapter 5.

Synthesis essay

In addition to the rhetorical analysis, the multitude of developed topics in  The Grapes of Wrath  could be used to give students practice with the synthesis essay. The essay calls for students to integrate at least three of six to seven given sources into a coherent argumentative essay. Teachers could choose topics and passages for the students to integrate into an essay supplemented by material that they have found or that students locate through research. In addition to the skills involved in crafting a solidly argued synthesis essay, the assignment could have students meet a number of other goals. For example, they could learn to identify thematic topics in novels such as are developed in  The Grapes of Wrath . They could also research supplementary works to complement their topics.

A few suggested topics with suggested supplementary works follow. (If you’re like me, you want to use your own. I usually find more reasons to reject people’s suggested titles than adopt them, preferring to find my own. An assignment of this nature might work best if the teacher or students chose works of particular interest to them. However, the suggestions are offered in the spirit of providing some leads and examples.)

The alienating nature of technology Steinbeck presents conflicting views.

In Chapter 5, the tractor is presented as an insect-like destructive force that rapes the land and separates its driver both from the land and the community. However, in Chapter 10, Al is described as closely in tune with the truck, monitoring it for problems. That close relationship is echoed in Chapter 12, the interchapter depicting the migrants’ “flight” along Route 66. Finally, in Chapter 16 Steinbeck gives nearly step-by-step instructions in how to replace a con-rod in 1925 Dodge that highlight the men’s intimate relationship with the machine. The intimacy that characterized the farmers’ relationship with the land now colors their relationship with machines. These alternative attitudes toward technology – intimate and alienating – can be found in a number of other works. I’ll suggest three:  Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance  by Robert Pirsig (that dates me);  “The Case for Working with Your Hands”  by Matthew Crawford, which appeared in the May 21, 2009 New York Times Magazine and is adopted from his book  The Soulcraft of Shop Class ,; and “ Brain Candy: Is pop culture dumbing us down or smartening us up? ” by Malcolm Gladwell, which first appeared in  The New Yorker .

The immorality of capitalism

Throughout the novel, Steinbeck presents an indictment of a capitalist system that allows people to starve, exploits them mercilessly and, ultimately, is complicit in their murder. That topic is explored in a number of short essays by eminent economists, philosophers and politicians entitled  “Does the free market corrode moral character? ” available at the John Templeton Foundation website.

The morality of working for the good of the group

In the novel, Steinbeck charts his characters’ growth from looking after their own self-interests to caring for the good of the whole, depicts their movement from “I to We.” This is a topic with a rich tradition in American literature from which to draw: Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance”; the poetry of Walt Whitman; aspects of Mark Twain’s  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . An interesting companion piece might be William Golding’s  Lord of the Flies , a staple of early high school years with an arresting counterpoint to Steinbeck’s view of the group behavior. For an interesting evolutionary biological view, try Natalie Angier’s  “Of Altruism, Heroism and Evolution’s Gifts ” from the September 18, 2001  New York Times .

There are a number of other lesser topics that can be followed and extracted out of  The Grapes of Wrath  that could make for engaging work: the crippling effects of guilt, sin and shame, as illustrated by Uncle John’s condition, the nasty shopkeeper that Ma converts in Chapter 26 and misery-dealing evangelicals; the nature of work, both satisfying and alienating, seen, again, in the alienated tractor driver in contrast with the pleasures of hefting a pickaxe in Chapter 22; the dangers and uses of anger, providing people with the righteous outrage to fight on bookended in the first and penultimate chapters but worrying Ma that it will reduce Tom to a “walkin’ chunk a mean-mad”; the advisability of taking life one day at a time and going with the flow suggested in Tom’s repeated strategy of just putting one foot in front of another and Ma’s ability to ride easily in the truck and adjust to the life changes, the latter explained to Pa in Chapter 28.

The above is not, by any means, intended to lay out a complete serving of topics in  The Grapes of Wrath . (I haven’t even broached the repeated references to road kill.) It does suggest ways to incorporate a lengthy novel in a curriculum hemmed in by the demands of the AP Language requirements.

The Grapes of Wrath

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Chapters 1-5

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Chapters 14-17

Chapters 18-21

Chapters 22-25

Chapters 26-30

Character Analysis

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Discussion Questions

How far is it possible for the migrants to “start over” in California given the loss of their homes?

“It is not the tractor, but the way the tractor is owned which hurts the tenant farmers.” What is the meaning of this quote?

Is it legitimate to kill in self-defense? Discuss this in connection with the characters of Tom and Casy.

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The Grapes of Wrath

John steinbeck.

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Humanity, Inhumanity, and Dehumanization

In The Grapes of Wrath, the most brutal adversity the Joads face doesn’t come from the unforgiving natural conditions of the dustbowl. Rather, the Joads and the Okie community receive the cruelest treatment from those most capable of helping them: more fortunate individuals, typically ones who wield institutional power. Throughout the book, establishments and technological advances are shown to corrupt the humans behind them. Steinbeck’s depiction of the state police shows that they’ve been perverted…

Dignity, Honor, and Wrath

Despite their destitution, Okies are shown to be extremely conscious of maintaining their honor. No matter how dire their circumstances, the Joads are unwilling to stoop to accepting charity or stealing. When they do accept help, they are quick to repay the debt—for example, when the Wilsons offer Grampa Joad a deathbed, Al repairs their car and Ma replaces the blanket used to shroud Grampa. With this strong sense of honor comes an equally powerful…

Faith and Guilt

At different times in The Grapes of Wrath , nearly all of the main characters endure spiritually trying times. Casy is the first to address this theme when he speaks of his reformed faith: instead of the black-and-white teachings of Christian dogma, Casy has come to believe in a natural unity of the human race. Tom , too, comes to this realization later in the novel, after hiding from the law in the woods. Finally…

Powerlessness, Perseverance, and Resistance

The novel often focuses on characters who resist in situations that seem hopeless. At the beginning of the novel, the Oklahoma sharecropper families are rendered powerless by the repossessing landowners. All the same, Muley Graves remains on his land, in spite of regular run-ins with law enforcement. He knows he can’t change his circumstances, but he refuses to let go of his heritage. The land turtle that appears in an early chapter, is a metaphor…

Family, Friendship, and Community

Time and again in The Grapes of Wrath , Steinbeck demonstrates the profound ties and nuanced relationships that develop through kinship, friendship, and group identity. The arc of the Joad family shows, on one hand, a cohesive unit whose love and support of one another keeps them from abandoning hope. On the other hand, however, the novel shows that this unity comes with complications. Ma Joad ’s assertive leadership strips Pa of his masculine identity…

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Theme Analysis: The Grapes of Wrath Essay

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The Grapes of Wrath is a perfect example of a political novel that narrates the experience of the Joad family after being evicted from their farm in Oklahoma and their discouraging journey to California.

In the first few chapters, the author gives the reader an opportunity to participate in the story of the Joads by exploring their experience in their traditional life and their new found life, but in the last sixteen chapters; the author takes a broader look at the experience of displaced migrants in America as a whole. As a result, the novel portrays the issue of land ownership in California and America at large, the conflicts between the Haves and the Have-nots, people’s reactions to injustices, and the strength of a woman (Steinbeck ix).

It also delves into the impact of the Great Depression and the nature of parity and fairness in a larger context regarding America. Thus, this essay presents an in-depth analysis of The Grapes of Wrath, which reveals that the novel develops upon a wide range of themes including hope, class conflict, fanaticism, and commitment as described in the preceding discussions.

The theme of hope develops through the character of Ma Joad who struggles to keep her family together despite that the Joads have encountered many deaths, hardships, and deprivations. In fact, at the end of the narrative, the author describes the family as barely surviving (Steinbeck 455).

Conversely, the Joads display an optimistic mood because as the family expands, the family members get to recognize the need to identify with the group, and thus, they begin to realize the importance of group consciousness. Hope is also derived from the family’s long and challenging journey, whose experience enlightens some family members such as Ma Joad, Pa Joad, Tom, Jim Casy, John, and Rose of Sharon.

Actually, the family members are optimistic that the end of their long journey will come after realizing the American dream (Steinbeck 65). As a result, the desire to have a good life coupled with other motives encourages some family members to fight harder as opposed to those who are unable to see the end result of the journey including Al, Connie, and Noah.

Moreover, the family is determined to experience a different way of life, which gives them a broader perceptive of the world compared to their traditional life. In the end, it is obvious that the family has succeeded in terms of understanding and exploring life-time experiences in the face of different challenges.

Another major theme in The Grapes of Wrath entails class conflict. A conflict exists between the poor migrants, native Californians, and the powerful business people (Steinbeck 23). This conflict presents a clear picture of the characteristics of economic injustices in America during that time.

From a social perspective, the novel describes the economic disasters that arise after the migrants are forced to forgo their agricultural activities not only because of the natural disasters, but also because of the establishment of larger farms by the landowners, business people, and the banks.

Actually, at the beginning, the author notes that the land owners and banks evicted the tenants from the farms thereby making them to move to California in large numbers (Steinbeck 13). Thus, it is apparent that the business people and landowners are insecure in some way because they understand that the presence of migrants in their farms is a threat to their business and financial establishments.

Here, the migrants symbolize increased government interference, labor unions activism, and increased taxes on privately held property. This form of class conflict is the cause of the violence observed between the two groups and even the torching of government camps by state residents in California who are of the idea that the presence of migrants in their land is a threat to their financial interests (Steinbeck 305).

Moreover, class conflict can also occur when hardships, materialistic interests, and problems within the family are personalized. For instance, within the Joad family, Rose of Sharon is obsessed with her pregnancy and the future dreams instead of helping in the journey while her husband, Connie is still angry that they left Oklahoma, and thus he prefers to disappear rather than help in the family hardships (Steinbeck 45).

Fanaticism is also a major theme developed in The Grapes of Wrath. From both the religious and the social perspectives, it is obvious that fanaticism should be condemned because it is a trick used by a certain class of people to deny life, happiness, and advance economic deprivation in the society.

For instance, the former preacher, Jim Casy tells Tom that religion denies different aspects of life such as sexuality. Furthermore, in the camp, a fanatic religious woman claims that dancing is sinful, and thus, poor people should not dance but instead they should wail and moan because they are sinners (Steinbeck 55). On the other hand, religious fanatics claim that religion allows for economic classes within the society including the poor class.

Additionally, the experience of the Joads and their American counterparts shows that social fanaticism and prejudice causes fear and lack of faith among the migrants. As a result, this phenomenon led to instances of violence between the migrants and the native Californians, homelessness, starvation, and malnutrition among other shameful events. Therefore, it is certain that fanaticism, be it religious or social, is not a good thing after all.

Lastly, the novel develops on the theme of commitment in an extensive manner. Here, we note that the members of the Joad family were committed to certain goals and values, which kept them going and finally led to their success.

For instance, Tom and Jim Casy were committed to making Christ-like sacrifices for the rest of the family. As a result, Jim decided to surrender to the authorities to replace Tom and Floyd in order to show his commitment to loving all. Additionally, Jim becomes a labor activist and he dies while fighting for the rights of laborers.

Conversely, despite that at the beginning of the Journey, Tom does not want to identify with the group, his experience and friendship with Jim makes him to realize the need to fight for social justice and the significance of group consciousness within the family and in the society (Steinbeck 445). Therefore, commitment is a virtue that should be emulated by each member of the society if at all collective tasks and goals are to be accomplished.

Steinbeck, John. The grapes of wrath . New York: Penguin Books, 2002. Print.

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IvyPanda. (2018, October 12). Theme Analysis: The Grapes of Wrath. https://ivypanda.com/essays/theme-analysis-the-grapes-of-wrath/

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IvyPanda . 2018. "Theme Analysis: The Grapes of Wrath." October 12, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/theme-analysis-the-grapes-of-wrath/.

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The Grapes of Wrath

By john steinbeck, the grapes of wrath essay questions.

How does the dialogue in The Grapes of Wrath work to illustrate the setting of the novel?

Steinbeck uses broken language and colloquialisms in the dialogue between his characters, and (as written out) the conversations are littered with misspellings. The dialogue can be difficult to read at times, but it serves to illustrate the mood and atmosphere of the characters and their lives: although the Joads and their companions are not prosperous or highly educated, they talk in a way that they can understand easily among themselves. Even though it takes patience to decipher, Steinbeck's dialogue is key to an accurate portrayal of how migrant workers spoke and interacted with one another.

Provide and explain instances from the novel when the characters realize the enormity of the systemic injustices perpetrated against them.

There are many examples of moral awareness in the novel, and such awareness occurs in monologues, narratives, and conversations between characters. All of these are important to answering this question, and it would be best to include a variety of examples in order to compare and contrast different episodes. For example, it would be effective to include a passage that does not include major characters (such as the scene in which an unnamed tenant argues with an unnamed tractor driver), and contrast such a scene with Muley's monologue about profit margin. In this exchange, Muley addresses two very important characters, Casy and Joad, shortly after seeing them for the first time.

How does alternating between generic and specific scenes further the plot and the emotional effect of the novel?

The answer to this question should explain how the novel alternates between narrative descriptions of generic scenes, where no characters are known or named, and lengthier chapters that deal with the characters that have been formally introduced to the reader. Because the generic scenes come first, they provide backdrops for the events that are about to face the major characters, such as Tom Joad, Ma, or Jim Casy. In Steinbeck's novel, the use of juxtaposition highlights the universality of certain experiences and allows the reader to see the far-reaching effects of what the Joad family is experiencing.

Describe the relationship between the people and their land in The Grapes of Wrath .

The answer to this question should delve into the many passages in the beginning of the novel that discuss the primal connection between man and the land. When the tractor destroys homes and removes people from the land, this machine is excising portions of human livelihood and memory. Additionally, when a person is forced to leave and will no longer know whether there is a willow tree out front, then that individual has been forced to leave behind an essential part of his or her being. The process of moving is a process of upheaval, both physically and emotionally, since the people are forced to leave behind the things that they hold dear.

How do the Joads handle the uncertainty of their future in California?

While the Joads, and many other families, have been promised a land of plentiful produce and good employment in California, these families are still unsure about whether the handbills are telling the truth. Each of the Joads handles the uncertainty differently: Ma focuses only on each day and on taking care of her family from moment to moment, Tom tries to think of nothing in the future (just as he did in prison), and Pa thinks fondly of the produce that he will be able to pick and eat in California. Even though the Joads all discuss the future in different ways, a basic anxiety and uncertainty lies beneath all of their conversations about the future.

How do the Joads handle the difficulties of the journey to California? Exactly what obstances must the family face?

The Joads must take care of their limited money and must make due with small living spaces as they travel to California. They have 12 people and many possessions packed on the back of an old jalopy, and the physical elements make the journey unpleasant: the family is exposed to weather conditions constantly. Emotionally, they face obstacles as well: they lose Granma and Grampa en route, and Ma also becomes very sick. In addition, they meet a handful of people who tell them that California doesn't actually offer all that the handbills claim. Despite the doubts introduced by other people and despite their own personal doubts, the Joads continue on. They remain optimistic and believe that, even if other families have faced difficulties, they will be able to find work, save money, and create a better life.

Why did the number of handbills printed exceed the amount of work available? How does this relate to capitalism and organized labor?

When answering this question, keep in mind that almost every family traveling west has seen the orange handbill which declares that hundreds of field workers are needed. The Joads refuse to believe that an excess number of handbills would have been printed because printing handbills costs money, but other travelers explain that all this is part of a larger strategy. If there is an excess number of workers, the owners of the land have leverage and can drive pay rates down because men are desperate for work and need to feed their families. Without the organized labor that could stand up to the capitalist owners, the laborers are at the mercy of their bosses. The struggle between capitalism and organized labor is a prominent theme in The Grapes of Wrath , and this theme should be expanded upon in the answer to this essay question.

Why do the wealthy landowners feel threatened by the government camp, and what do they do about it?

The wealthy landowners and businessmen have built a formidable opposition to the demands of the laborers, who seek essential human rights and basic lifestyle improvements. In Steinbeck's narrative, the business interests have accumulated an enormous surplus of workers, so that now these interests can easily control labor wages. But because the laborers are staying in a government camp where they are able to elect their own leaders, have their voices heard, and live in a dignified manner, the landowners are concerned that the laborers' frustration with the economic system will grow into a rebellion. In order to stop this, the landowners have planned for a fight to happen at a labor camp dance, which will enable police officers to enter and end the tranquil and confident life of the camp.

What is the meaning of the title, The Grapes of Wrath ? Where does it appear in the novel?

The answer to this question should explain that the title of the book appears at the very end of the novel, in a long narrative quote. The answer should also explain the phrase's origins in the Book of Revelation and the Battle Hymn of the Republic. In addition, an effective essay on this topic should acknowledge that there have been different interpretations of the title; still, try to offer an explanation that points to the broader themes of the novel, such as oppression, greed, suffering, and justice.

How does labor organizing bring the hope of better labor conditions?

For the migrants depicted in The Grapes of Wrath , wages have been driven down by a high supply of laborers and a low demand for work. Internal competition for jobs has driven these wages even lower. Laborers who form organizations are able to communicate with one another and to call attention to wages that are lower than they are willing to accept -- wages that they cannot survive on. By gathering together, laborers have greater leverage against powerful landowners.

The Grapes of Wrath Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Grapes of Wrath is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

The land owners were building their empires off the backs of slaves.

Now farming became industry, and the owners followed Rome, although they did not know it. They imported slaves, although they did not call them slaves: Chinese, Japanese,...

Grapes of Wrath Chapter 6 and 8 Questions

1. What are the preacher's plans? Casey wants to find the people who have went out on the road to help them.

Please submit each of your questions one at a time. Thanks.

What are two things that cause the Joad's problems?

• the industrialization of agriculture

• corporate greed

Study Guide for The Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath study guide contains a biography of John Steinbeck, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Grapes of Wrath
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Essays for The Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.

• Contrasting the Movie and Novel Form of The Grapes of Wrath
• Four Pages of Fear, Hostility, and Exploitation
• All in the Family in The Grapes of Wrath
• The Importance of Chapter Twenty-Five
• Grapes of Greatness

Lesson Plan for The Grapes of Wrath

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The Grapes of Wrath

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• National Geographic - The Grapes of Wrath
• Academia - Critical Analysis of " The Grapes OF Wrath"
• Internet Archive - "The Grapes Of Wrath"
• National Endowment for the Arts - The Grapes of Wrath
• The Guardian - The 100 best novels: No 65 – The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (1939)
• Oklahoma Historical Society - The Grapes of Wrath
• The Grapes of Wrath - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
• Table Of Contents

The Grapes of Wrath , the best-known novel by John Steinbeck , published in 1939. It evokes the harshness of the Great Depression and arouses sympathy for the struggles of migrant farmworkers . The book came to be regarded as an American classic.

The narrative, which traces the migration of an Oklahoma Dust Bowl family to California and their subsequent hardships, is interspersed with prose-poem interludes that explain the wider circumstances of the world with which the protagonists contend.

Tom Joad, newly released from prison after serving a sentence for manslaughter, makes his way home, and along the way he is joined by Jim Casy, a former preacher. Tom learns that his family has been evicted from the farm and has moved in with Uncle John. When the two men reach Uncle John’s home , they find the family, enticed by handbills advertising farm-labour jobs, preparing to drive to California . The Joads and Casy head out along Route 66 , joining an exodus of poor tenant farmers heading west. They encounter many obstacles on the journey, as well as warnings that the jobs they expect in California are illusory. Grampa and Granma Joad die along the route, and Tom’s elder brother, Noah, decides to abandon the enterprise.

Upon arrival in California, they find that their trials are far from over. They stop in a migrant encampment, where they speak with a man named Floyd Knowles, who informs them that jobs are scarce, available pay is poor, and families are literally starving to death in the makeshift migrant camps. Connie, the husband of Tom’s pregnant sister, Rose of Sharon (called Rosasharn by her family), abandons her. When a man arrives seeking workers to pick fruit, Floyd asks for the proposed wages in writing. A policeman accuses him of communism and tries to arrest him. A fight breaks out, and, when the policeman shoots at the fleeing Floyd, Casy knocks him out. Casy is arrested, and the Joad family heads to another town, where they are met by a hostile crowd gathered to keep “Okies”—migrants from Oklahoma and nearby states—away. However, they later find the government-run camp Weedpatch, which is kept clean and organized by committees of residents, and Tom finds work.

After a month in the camp, Ma Joad declares that they must move on because of the scarcity of work. They soon are offered jobs picking peaches, but the pay is so low that they cannot afford an adequate dinner. Tom finds Casy, who is now organizing striking peach pickers—the Joad family was hired to be strikebreakers. A group of men approach the meeting under cover of darkness, and one of them strikes Casy with a pick handle, killing him. An enraged Tom kills that man before returning to his family. Fearful that Tom will be arrested, the Joads leave the peach farm.

They subsequently find good work picking cotton, as well as a home in a boxcar that they share with another family. Tom, who has gone into hiding, decides to become a labour organizer. When the season for cotton ends, the Joads again struggle to find work. Endless rains cause flooding, and Rose of Sharon’s baby is stillborn. When the rising waters begin to fill the boxcar, the Joad family leaves. They soon reach a barn, in which they find a small boy and a starving man. The book ends with Rose of Sharon feeding the man her breast milk.

The families and workers are exploited by organized business, and Steinbeck uses Christian religious imagery to press his arguments that using cropland as a source of profit for business rather than food for people causes widespread suffering and that political and spiritual unity is necessary to overcome the forces causing the dispossession of farmworkers. Ultimately, the migrants learn to rely on one another, and the insularity of the Joads—Ma’s obsession with family togetherness, Tom’s self-centredness, and Rose of Sharon’s materialism—gives way to a sense of universal community , a shift from an emphasis on “I” to “we.”

Steinbeck masterfully depicted the struggle to retain dignity and to preserve the family in the face of disaster, adversity, and vast, impersonal commercial influences. He based his epic on his visits to the migrant camps and tent cities of the workers, seeing firsthand the horrible living conditions of migrant families. His novel, with its easily accessible, colloquial style, was widely welcomed and hailed by working-class readers, though it was just as widely panned by business and government officials who took umbrage at its socialist overtones and denounced it as “communist propaganda”; some local areas, including Kern County, California, where the Joad family settles, branded the book libelous and even burned copies of it and banned it from libraries and schools. Nonetheless, it was the top-selling novel of 1939, and it won a Pulitzer Prize in 1940, the year of John Ford ’s acclaimed film adaptation of the book. The Grapes of Wrath also did much to earn the author the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. Steinbeck plainly stated his purpose in writing the novel: “I want to put a tag of shame on the greedy bastards who are responsible for this [the Depression and the plight of the worker].”

“The grapes of wrath”, analysis of the novel by John Steinbeck

Introduction.

The grapes of wrath, a book that was published in 1939 by American novelist John Steinbeck. The book was so well crafted that it received the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction. It gained popularity and became an American classic. It courageously highlights the severity of the Great Depression and the challenges of migrant farmworkers. However, being popular did not save the book from being banned in a couple of cities. One of them is Kern County, in California, because of its border to Mexico. Some speculate the ban was politically motivated.

Idea of the book

We follow the Joad family as they move from city to city, facing all kinds of hardship. Steinbeck depicts man’s inhumanity to man in a masterful way. Migrant farmers are forced to turn against their brethren just to survive. They are treated like animals by landowners, and there is a clear divide between the rich and the poor. The migrants and poor people are identified as the source of evil and suffering.

We witness the saving power of family and fellowship. When the Joad’s meet the Wilsons, they merge as one. Through hardships, they commit to one another. One loss becomes their loss. Their livelihood depends on their union.

Steinbeck shows us the dignity of wrath at every turn. They refuse to be broken by the challenges they face, from some members leaving the family to others dying. The multiplying effects of selfishness are brought out clearly in this text. We see the greed of people who are only persuaded by self-interest. As a result of this, thousands of families sink into absolute poverty and destitution.

Detailed plot of the book

After being released from prison, Tom Joad goes back to his farm and home in Oklahoma City. He meets Jim Casy, a former preacher, whose beliefs are not what they used to be. His only idea at the moment is equality among people. When they get to Toms’s home, they find no one. An old neighbor, Muley Graves, passes by to inform them that everyone has been forced off the land. Most families have now gone to California to look for work.

Tom and Jim make their way to Toms’ uncle Johns’s place. He finds his family in the activity of packing up their belongings for the long journey to California. On the exhausting trip to California, a bitter Grampa Joad passes away. He did not want to leave his land behind.

The Joad family meets Sairy and Ivy Wilson. They are invited to travel with the family, and at the California border, Sairy becomes unable to continue with the journey. She is sick.

The first days in California prove to be quite tragic. Granma Joad dies, and the job market is depleted. Moving from camp to camp, the family struggles to find food. Connie, the husband to Tom’s sister, Rose of Sharon leaves, and so does Noah, the eldest of the Joad children.

In California, they are labeled “okies,” because of the flood of newcomers and migrants. The available work pays so little that it is hardly enough to buy a decent meal for a whole family. Tom and several other men get into an argument that turns very aggresive. Jim Casy strikes the sheriff unconscious and is promptly arrested.

A government-run camp proves to be hosting to the Joads, and they find work and accommodation. Upon learning that police want to shut down the camp, Tom alerts and prepares other men. They avert the crisis. However, the Joads have to move on.

Their next employment comes in the form of picking fruit and along with a decent wage. Tom runs into Jim, who has been released from jail. Jim has made a few enemies among the elite landowners. The police soon kill Jim in the presence of Tom. Tom retaliates and kills a police officer.

Tom goes into hiding, and the family moves into a cotton farm. Fearing for her sons safety, Ma Joad finds Tom and sends him away. Tom takes on Jim’s previous work of organizing workers. The end of the cotton picking season means the end of work.

The floods set in, and Rose of Sharon gives birth. Unfortunately, her child is stillborn. Forced through grieving, Ma Joad is desperate to find a safe place for the family. She finds a barn for the family. In the barn, there is a dying man and his son. He is starving to death.

Realizing that Rose of Sharon is producing milk, Ma Joad instructs her to nurse the dying man off of her breast milk.

Problems of the text

Profanity, communism, and sexual depictions. Parents and teachers do not accept the book as literature suitable for teaching. It is full of foul language, violence, and obscene sexual content. Formal objections by religious organizations have been made to protect young readers.

The novels’ promotion of labor unionization led to riots of workers everywhere. Landowners and local business people advocated for the burning of this book because of the negative consequences it had on businesses.

The book has been proved to be historically inaccurate in rendering historical facts, misplaced Oklahoma Geography, and stereotyped characterizations of various characters.

Description of main characters

• Tom Joad . The main protagonist of the text. He is the favorite child and a fierce protector. He earns the respect of his family and the workers he organizes.
• Grampa Joad . Armed with a foul mouth and a cruel temper, Tom Joads’ grandfather delights in shocking others with sinful talk and tormenting his wife. His family is forced to drug him to get him to leave the land.
• Granma Joad . Toms’ grandmother delights in casting hellfire at her husband. However, she soon dies after her husband dies.
• Ma Joad . She is the healer and arbitrator of the family arguments. She keeps the family together. She is the matriarch.
• Pa Joad . Toms’ father is a good-hearted man. Unable to find work after directing his family to California, he finds himself looking to Ma Joad for strength and leadership. It shames him.
• Jim Casy . In the book, Jim articulates unity. He is a true friend of Tom Joad and even goes to prison while protecting his friend.
• Rose of Sharon . Ma and Pa Joads’ eldest daughter. She is also Connies’ wife. She begins her journey in the novel, pregnant and has dreams of having a grand life. However, harsh realities ground her when her husband leaves the family, and her baby is stillborn. She emerges stronger and becomes like Ma Joad.
• Al Joad . The youngest son of the Joad family. He is a competent mechanic and idolizes Tom. However, we see him emerging as his own man when he falls in love.
• Connie . Rose of Sharon’s husband. He leaves and abandons his pregnant wife and the Joads. This act of selfishness surprises no one in the family. Rose of Sharon, however, gets the shock of her life.
• Noah Joad . The eldest of the Joad siblings. He is slightly deformed. He is slow and quiet and leaves his family behind at the California border. He feels that his parents do not love him.
• Uncle John . Tom’s uncle who never forgives himself for his wife’s’ death.

Steinbeck clearly states his reason for writing the novel was to bring everyone who brought about the great depression to shame. To quote the book, ” for man, unlike any other thing, organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, and emerges ahead of his accomplishments.”

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"The Grapes of Wrath": Structure Analysis

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Discussion Topics and Writing Prompts by Chapter

• Students will be able to fully understand each section of the novel and provide specific examples to support their own opinions.
• Students will be able to discuss the novel and with 100% participation.
• Students will take notes on all class discussions.
• Students will listen to and comment on the opinions of others (including the teacher).

Class discussions are at the heart of any novel, especially The Grapes of Wrath . The page references here are from the 2006 edition of The Grapes of Wrath (Penguin Books). In other editions, page numbers may vary slightly.

Discussions should, first and foremost, be interactive. The teacher should not “tell” students what a book means. The best teachers know that any book has a different meaning for each student, and each supported opinion is valid. The role of the teacher, here, is to facilitate and guide, as necessary, a lively discussion of the previous reading assignment.

• Generally, teachers should have some specific objectives/guidelines for the discussions—for example, in the opening section, discuss and identify figurative language, characterization methods, use of description, early conflicts, and so on. Teachers can also provide advance organizers or conversation maps to help students to prepare for discussions.
• Encourage students to cite page numbers and read brief passages when discussing the novel. Other students will be able to follow along more easily.
• All students should be taking notes during class discussions in their notebooks. Teachers should, as practical, spend the last five minutes of each literature period checking students’ notebooks.
• Ideally, students are encouraged to listen to the comments of others and comment upon the comments of their fellow students. This is incredibly valuable in maintaining a lively discussion.
• Teachers should require daily participation (up to two times daily, depending on the size of the class) and keep a record of participation each day. "Talking slips" or "chips" are one method that can help ensure that each student has participated.
• Consider using the fishbowl method for group discussions. Fishbowls allow students to observe a conversation being modeled as well as participate. This is a creative, yet structured alternative to a traditional discussion.
• Consider providing non-traditional roles for group discussions. These roles provide students with a specific focal point during a discussion. Similar to the Jigsaw method for challenging readings, providing specific "frames" or "Lenses" narrows the specific information a student is responsible for and can stimulate thoughtful discussions.
• Consider allowing students the opportunity to rehearse or prepare their ideas prior to discussion. This can make students feel more comfortable about speaking to the class.
• Teachers should emphasize that there are no “correct” or “set” answers in literature, and that all supported opinions are valid (unlike a subject such as math, where responses are uniform).  For example, when asked, “Who is the most important character in Of Mice and Men ?” there may be several valid responses.
• Another successful (when teachers think students are ready) device is to have students lead/facilitate discussions. Let the class know that three students will be in front of the class asking questions about the previous reading. The students do not know who will be on the “panel,” so everyone in the class must be prepared with written questions to ask the class. Teachers should have a minimal role here.
• Also, when students are ready, teachers may lead discussions in organic ways by opening up the discussions in a free-form style about whatever the students wish to discuss about the previous reading. For experienced and sophisticated classes, this is generally a rewarding experience.

Materials Needed/Preparation

• The Grapes of Wrath

Estimated Time

Lively discussions are ongoing throughout the course of the unit.

The Grapes of Wrath is broken into thirty chapters. Each chapter is one of two different styles. First, the “general” or intercalary chapters. These passages step back from the main narrative about the Joad family and address the plight of people like the Joads. Here the reader sees the universal nature of the struggle faced by the main characters. In Working Days: The Journals of The Grapes of Wrath , Steinbeck wrote about the final general chapter (chapter 29), “The last general must be a summing of the whole thing” (88). The intercalary chapters were just that, a summation of the challenges faced by the Joads.

The majority of the novel, however, is a traditional narrative. Like the turtle in chapter 3, the main narrative works its way steadily, intimately through the upended lives of the Joad family. Each character is revealed in his or her own time. Hopes grow and fade as the Joad family’s prospects rise and fall. The dialogue is written to be realistic, not simplistic. It was Steinbeck’s aim, as he wrote to his publisher, Pascal Covici “…to write this book the way lives are being lived, not the way books are written” (Steinbeck: A Life in Letters, 178).

The below list of topics and passages from the novel can be used as discussion topics, warm up journal exercises, writing prompts, or even debate topics. Although a thorough list, it is by no means an exhaustive list.

General themes of the novel can also be discussion topics and writing prompts. See the handout Themes by Chapter.

• Steinbeck’s descriptive style (opening a novel with a description of the environment is a method he often used).
• Causes of the Dust Bowl
• What is the tone and the mood of this chapter?
• Does this chapter create a feeling of hope or of despair?
• How did the truck skinner know Tom had just gotten out of prison?
• How did Tom know what the truck skinner was asking about?
• What kinds of impressions do you have about the two men?
• ~Like, dislike, trust, etc.?
• How does Steinbeck compare the two men? How does he create sympathy and/or empathy towards them? Between them?
• What does the turtle symbolize?
• ~Revisit this topic after the Joad family is on the move.
• Why does Steinbeck use a turtle for this scene?
• Why include this scene?
• What symbols can you identify in this chapter?
• How do you feel about Tom?
• How do you feel about Casy?
• Should Tom feel ashamed of his crime? Why/why not?
• Is prison for punishment or reform?
• What is sin? Are there things that are good and things that are bad?
• Do you agree with Casy’s idea of sin?
• Tom leaves the road, each step he drifts back into his old life. How does Steinbeck show this?
• What makes someone part of the land?
• The tractor driver says only look after yourself and your family (37), do you agree? Disagree?
• The tractor driver says times have changed and the farmer needs to move on (37). How do you feel about this? Do you agree? Disagree?
• How do you feel about the tractor driver?
• Should the farmer get to keep his land and his home?
• Why is this scene in the book? Predict what will happen in the next chapter.
• How does this scene connect to other economic crises?
• What happens if the farmer does shoot at the tractor driver?
• Discuss, create and act out a scene, or write dialogue that follows the last lines of the chapter. How do the farmer, his wife, and his children react? How do they feel?
• Memory and the land
• ~Personal examples of your connection to the land.
• ~Connection to the land, being part of the land is a recurring theme in many of Steinbeck’s works. Do you believe this concept is as important today as Steinbeck felt is was? Explain.
• What does Casy think Muley “...got a-holt of…” (49)?
• Muley talks about Willy Feeley (55). What is the message of that paragraph? Do you agree with Muley? Explain.
• ~Try to see things from Willy’s perspective.
• ~What themes does this passage touch on?
• How does this chapter compare with stereotypes of salespeople today?
• What is this chapter foreshadowing?
• Predict what will happen in the next chapter.
• Compare and contrast the car salesman with the tractor driver in chapter 5 and with Willy Feeley in chapter 6.
• “I don’t give a damn if you don’t make payments. We ain’t got your paper” (65). What does the salesman mean?
• ~Connect this with the mortgage crisis in 2008
• Predict what happens to Muley after the Joad family leaves.
• Write a narrative about what happens to Muley after the Joad family leaves.
• Compare the family members:
• ~Ma and Granma
• ~Pa and Grampa
• Ma does not have a name. Why?
• ~This is a recurring discussion topic. As the students get to know Ma, their opinion may change.
• ~Steinbeck does this in other novels as well. Curley’s Wife in Of Mice and Men , Mrs. Tifflin in The Red Pony .
• “If we was all mad the same way, Tomm – they wouldn’t hunt nobody down –” (77).
• ~What is Ma suggesting?
• ~How do you think different people reacted to this in the 1930s. Consider:
• ~~Small farmers
• ~~Growers associations
• ~~Californians (in contrast to the “Oakies”)
• ~~Government officials
• ~Predict: is this foreshadowing some later events?
• ~This is a recurring theme. Return to this passage later in the novel when similar statements are made, especially chapter 26.
• Do men and women think/feel differently about the past?
• Why are prices so low when the farmers sell their possessions?
• If you had to take only necessities, what would you leave behind and how would that affect you?
• ~If students have read Farwell to Manzanar , there is a similar scene when Mama is choosing what to pack when they are being forced to head to the camp.
• ~Compare and contrast what the women consider and what the men consider in deciding what stays and what they bring.
• ~“How can we live without our lives? How will we know it’s us without our past?” (88).
• ~~What does Ma mean by this?
• ~~What defines someone’s life? What defines your life?
• ~~Pair this with the Identity Charts activity.
• Compare and contrast how each character handles leaving.
• Discuss personal experiences of moving, leavings, or moving on.
• “They were afraid, now that the time had come – afraid in the same way Grampa was afraid” (112). Explain. What are they afraid of?
• Modern conveniences and appliances are not seen in chapter 10. How much different were the lives of the Joad family compared to our lives today?
• ~Consider this: there are homeless people who still have a cell phone.
• Why did Ma burn the box of keepsakes/memories (108)?
• ~If students have read Farwell to Manzanar , there is a similar scene when Mama is choosing what to pack when they are being forced to head to the camp. Additionally, are Ma Joad’s actions similar to when Papa burned his Japanese flag and papers?
• What is Steinbeck saying about Muley by using similar descriptions of the life of abandoned cats (116)?
• “Wrecks along the road, abandoned. Well, what happened to them? What happened to the folks in the car? Did they walk? Where are they? Where does the courage come from? Where does the terrible faith come from?” (122).
• ~Speculate on what happened to the people who abandoned their cars.
• Interstate commerce an emigration.
• ~What are the laws?
• ~Why did Los Angeles police patrol the California borders?
• ~Was this legal?
• ~Do you agree with their actions?
• ~Do you feel the same about the Border Patrol at our international borders?
• Steinbeck considered this chapter the first in the second part of the novel. In Working Days Steinbeck wrote “…the first general and it must have the meat of the whole second volume in it” (37)?
• ~Why was this chapter so important?
• ~What themes, ideas, feelings, etc. is Steinbeck trying to get across?
• ~Predict what will happen in the coming chapters.
• In Working Days , Steinbeck says that the characters “…must be an over-essence of people…” (39).
• ~What does he mean?
• ~Why does he need the characters to be like this?
• ~Does he succeed? How does this affect the story?
• In Working Days , Steinbeck says that the Joad family’s first communication with other migrants is “very important” (39).
• ~Why is this scene so important?
• ~What do you see as important in their communication and interactions with the Wilson family?
• Casy says “But they’s somepin worse’n the devil go hold a the country, an’ it ain’t gonna let go till it’s chopped loose” (129).
• ~What do you think Casy is referring to?
• ~Is Casy anti-capitalist? Is he anti-American?
• ~How do you think different people would react to this statement today?
• What are your feelings/impressions of Rose of Sharon? Of Connie?
• Compare and contrast the Wilsons, the fat man, and the salesman.
• Discuss Casy’s prayer on page 144.
• ~What is Steinbeck’s message in this prayer?
• ~What do you think about Casy’s message?
• Why did Grampa die?
• ~Would he have died if he had stayed home?
• ~Did the conditions of the trip kill him?
• Why was there fear of and resistance to the New deal?
• “For man, unlike any other thing organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments” (150).
• ~Do you agree with this idea?
• ~Is this a positive or negative trait?
• What does Steinbeck mean when he writes “results, not causes” (150, 152)? Do you agree?
• Discuss the idea of “from I to We.” This is a big theme in the novel (and part of the Five Layers).
• ~What does Steinbeck mean?
• How was the social unrest of the Great Depression similar to that of the Great Recession of the early 2000s?
• ~Think about unions, protests, Occupy Wall Street, the 99%, etc.
• How are the different economic and social classes portrayed?
• ~Blue collar
• ~White collar
• Why are truck drivers so great?
• Which classes approve of FDR? Why?
• What is the fat man in the car worried about?
• At the top of page 158 Steinbeck writes about how a nickel “…has actually done a job of work…” unlike most other money.
• ~What is he alluding to?
• ~What is he placing more value on?
• “…an’ after them shitheels” (161).
• ~Does this erase the compassion that Mae showed?
• Who is more a preacher: Casy or Tom?
• Compare Ma and Rose (164-165).
• Ma’s revolt: “She was the power. She had taken control” (169).
• ~Is this true?
• ~Or had Ma always been in control?
• ~Predict: is this a turning point in the novel?
• ~Do you agree with Ma?
• Compare Casy’s method and Tom’s method. Climbing fences vs. putting one foot in front of the other (174, 176-177).
• Was Tom cruel to the man at the wrecking yard?
• ~What message is Tom trying to get across?
• Compare California dreams: Connie & Rose vs. Ma & the Family.
• ~Later, after Al begins to discuss his own ideas, separate Al from the family and return to this discussion.
• Steinbeck describes a social structure that is being built and rebuilt as the migrants move west. Describe/summarize the process.
• ~How do you think Steinbeck feels about rules, laws, and governments based on this chapter?
• ~How do you think different people would react to these ideas today?
• What is ostracism? Do you agree with Steinbeck that ostracism is worse than fighting (194)?
• Compare California as the Joad family had hoped it would be versus what the men in the river describe (204-208).
• Why does Noah leave (208-209)? Why does Tom not try to stop him?
• ~If keeping the family together were so important (think of Ma’s revolt in Chapter 16), then why didn’t she make the family look for Noah?
• Write about what happens to Noah after he leaves the family.
• Ma’s description of life, death, and birth (209-210).
• What do you think of Ma’s reaction to the sheriff (213-214)? Do you agree with her actions? What, if anything, could she have done differently?
• Is Tom becoming the leader of the family?
• “We ain’t never been dirty like this. Don’t even wash potatoes ‘fore we boil ‘em” (217).
• ~What is the importance of this statement and the image it creates? How does it compare to what people said and thought of “Oakies?”
• ~Return to this idea in chapter 22.
• What is courage (221)?
• Compare the description of the land on pages 221-222 with the description on page 227.
• ~Why does Steinbeck create such an image of hope on page 227 and then immediately follow it with the news of Granma?
• ~Which is stronger in the Joad family? Hope or despair?
• “Casy said gently, ‘Sure I got sins. Ever’body got sins. A sin is somepin you ain’t sure about” (224).
• ~What does Casy mean?
• ~Do you agree?
• ~What do you think about “Them people that’s sure about ever’thing an’ ain’t got no sin…” (224)?
• ~~How do you think readers at the time reacted to this idea?
• Write about what happens to the Wilsons after the Joad family leaves.
• Is Steinbeck calling for a revolution?
• Is Steinbeck anti-capitalist? Is he a socialist? A communist?
• How do you think different people reacted to this in the 1930s. Consider:
• ~Small farmers
• ~Growers associations
• ~Californians (in contrast to the “Oakies”)
• ~Government officials
• How do you think different people would react to this chapter today?
• Why was there no revolution by nonwhites?
• Why did socialism not develop and take hold in the United States as it did in parts of Europe?
• Was there a revolution as Steinbeck predicted? Was there a different kind of revolution?
• Read the descriptions of the different camp sites near the river (241-242). How does this compare to the migrant life the Joad family has endured thus far?
• ~Why are the two different campsites different? What causes one to be worse than the other?
• ~Extension: read chapter 2 of The Harvest Gypsies . Discuss the causes and effects found in the chapter.
• How does Steinbeck build tension in this chapter?
• In what ways are people held back? Held down?
• ~Examples: division, vagrancy laws, greed, wage exploitation, abuse of power by police
• Why did Casy have “…a look of conquest” (267)?
• Do you agree with what Casy did? Was it a good thing? A bad thing?
• Why does Connie leave? What are your feelings on this?
• Predict/write: What happens to Connie after he leaves the family?
• Why does Tom lie to Rose about Connie (277)?
• ~What do you think about this? Was it a good or bad thing to do?
• Tom complains “They’re a-workin’ away at our spirits… They’re workin’ on our decency” (278-279).
• ~Who are “they?”
• ~How are “they” working on the spirits and decency of people like the Joad family?
• ~Extension: read chapter 4 of The Harvest Gypsies where Steinbeck talks about dignity. How does his definition of dignity apply to this passage?
• Did Connie betray the family when he left? What about Noah? Casy?
• Write a scene where Casy is in jail. What happens to him? Does any of the advice Tom gave him about prison help?
• Extension: for a different perspective of “Reds” and violence, read Steinbeck’s short story “The Raid” in The Long Valley .
• Compare the fear of “Oakies” with the fear of illegal immigrants today.
• What makes everyone in Weedpatch camp so kind?
• Timothy and Wilkie Wallace help Tom get a job (293). Why do they do this? Should they have?
• “There’s always red agitators just before a pay cut” (295).
• “Those folks in the camp are getting used to being treated like humans. When they go back to the squatters camps they’ll be hard to handle” (296).
• Tom’s pride when working. How does this compare to FDR’s ideas about the WPA and the New Deal?
• Read the third paragraph on 298 which culminates with Timothy saying “…we’re all reds.”
• ~Why does Steinbeck include this scene?
• ~What is his message?
• ~How do you think different people would react to this passage today?
• The life of the poor and farmers in the 1930s. The Joad family had never seen a modern flush toilet before!
• “The Committees are good in this camp because they do know” (305).
• ~What does this mean?
• ~How does this connect to chapter 17?
• The importance of appearance. Ma wants the family washed and looking as good as possible. Why?
• ~How does this connect to what she said in chapter 18 about the family being dirty?
• What does Steinbeck think about government?
• What are the different sources of dignity shown in this chapter?
• What is the difference between charity and the poor helping each other? Why is one bad and the other good?
• The Protestant work ethic vs. charity and failure.
• Extension: In Working Days (70) Steinbeck says “I want to show how valuable Ma is to society – and what a waste there is.”
• ~What is Ma’s value? How does Steinbeck show this?
• ~What is the “waste?”
• Extension: Read “Breakfast” in The Long Valley .
• ~How does this compare to the scene on page 289 when Tom joins the Wallace family for breakfast?
• ~~Note: the scene on page 289 is a rewrite of “Breakfast.”
• ~How does this compare to the scene on page 192 in the roadside camp?
• Extension: Read pages 51-55 in Travels with Charley .
• ~How does this scene compare with the breakfast scene in The Grapes of Wrath (289)?
• Extension: Read pages 66-69 in Travels with Charley .
• ~Compare Steinbeck’s views on government to his commentary on government and governing in Weedpatch camp (and outside of it).
• How important is music and entertainment?
• Even though the country was in the Great Depression, people still went to the movies, still held dances, and still listened to popular music.
• ~Go deeper into this idea with the activity Period Music.
• Arming and organizing the people (345). What are your thoughts on this?
• ~Is this a dangerous, revolutionary idea?
• ~~How does this idea compare to the idea of “open carry” states? With militias?
• “I been thinkin’ maybe we ought to git up a turkey shootin’ club an’ have meetin’s ever’ Sunday” (345).
• ~Compare this to the Black Panthers, militias, and the NRA.
• ~What if these same statements were made, not by poor white people, but by nonwhites?
• “In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage” (349).
• ~Why does Steinbeck call the novel The Grapes of Wrath .
• ~~Note: It was named by his first wife, Carol, after a line in “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
• ~What is the message Steinbeck is sending with the title of the book?
• ~Why is the title of the novel revealed in the narration itself?
• “Every’thing you do is more’n you” (353).
• ~What does Ma mean by this?
• ~Do you agree with her?
• “Horse is a hell of a lot more worth than a man” (358).
• ~This is an important concept throughout the novel.
• “Learnin’ it all the time, ever’day. If you’re in trouble or hurt or need – go to poor people. They’re the only ones that’ll help – the only ones” (376).
• ~Ma is finding this to be true. But is it true in the real world?
• ~What is the overall message of this statement?
• Casy and his new calling – to lead the people, to lead strikes.
• “Jus’ goin’, an’ getting’ goddamn sick of it” (402).
• ~What does Al mean here?
• ~Predict what happens in the following chapters
• “It’s need that makes all the trouble” (382). Casy tries to explain to Tom something he has figured out. What is he trying to say? What has he learned?
• Casy compares his journey to that of Jesus (381). Is this inspirational, or blasphemous?
• “Gives ya a funny feelin’ to be hunted like. I’m getting’ mean” (403).
• ~Ma says this. Who in the novel would you have expected to make this statement?
• ~Is it more important or does it make a stronger impact being said by Ma?
• What are Casy’s religious, spiritual, and social influences?
• ~Christianity, Buddhism, socialism.
• Extension: Read “The Raid” in The Long Valley . Compare this to the attack on Casy’s group and the way the gate guards talk (377-378, 381-387).
• Extension: Read about company camps in The Harvest Gypsies (chapter 3).
• California dream of working, buying a piece of land, and farming versus the reality of saving for winter and facing months of no work.
• How have the hopes and expectations changed up to this point in the novel?
• Predict: What do you think will happen to the Joad family in the next chapters?
• How and why did Ma become the leader of the family? Or was she always the leader?
• Tom’s speech on page 419 is one of the most famous passages in the novel. Is this speech the peak pinnacle of the story?
• ~What other powerful speeches and moments in the book compare?
• Ma talks to Pa about how women and men handle change differently (423). Do you agree? What are your thoughts on this?
• This chapter began with hope. How does it end?
• How does Steinbeck change the pacing and create tension in this chapter?
• Why does Rose of Sharon react the way she does to hearing about Al and Aggie?
• Discuss this further after completing the novel.
• Once again Steinbeck returns to a scene where the women are watching the men to see if they break (434-435). Compare this to the original scene on pages 3 and 4.
• ~Compare the conclusions of each scene. In both scenes the women remain unbroken, but the reasons are different.
• ~As the reader, are you left with hope or despair at this point?
• Extension: In Working Days Steinbeck writes of this chapter “The last general must be a summing of the whole thing. Group survival” (88).
• ~Does chapter 29 accomplish this goal?
• ~Is it an effective summary?
• Predict: How will the novel end?
• Is Pa to blame for the family being stuck?
• Did Rose of Sharon know that she was going to lose the baby?
• Uncle John sends to set the baby’s body into an apple box and floated it down stream (448).
• ~This is a graphic scene. What is Steinbeck trying to accomplish with it?
• ~Do you agree with what Uncle John did? Is he sending a message? Is he doing something cowardly? Mean?
• Write/Predict: What happened to Tom? He is never mentioned after Ma left him in his hiding place.
• The last words of the novel describe Rose of Sharon as she nursed the starving man. “She looked up and across the barn, and her lips came together and smiled mysteriously” (455).
• ~What are your thoughts on this ending? On this scene?
• ~What does it mean that she “smiled mysteriously?”
• Steinbeck insisted that the ending to the novel not be changed, he refused to alter it. He insisted that the dying man be a stranger and that he be an anonymous character.
• ~Why? Why is the man a stranger? Why end the novel in this way?
• Compose a newspaper article, letter, journal entry, poem, or song about the flooding.
• Write your own general chapter to end the novel. Does it end in hope or despair.
• Extension: Dive deeper into the ending by reading Steinbeck’s letter to his publisher Pascal Covici ( Life in Letters , 178-179).
• ~“I’ve done my damndest to rip the reader’s nerves to rags, I don’t want him satisfied.”
• ~“…I tried to write this book the way lives are being lived not the way books are written.”
• ~Do you think Steinbeck achieved these aims?
• Does the novel end with hope, or despair?
• The Grapes of Wrath was banned in Kern County, California (where the Joad family spend their time once reaching California).
• ~Why was the novel banned?
• ~What particular themes, scenes, or ideas may have prompted the banning?
• ~Who wanted the book banned?
• How does Steinbeck treat Oakies in the novel?
• ~Some people complain that they are treated poorly, as if they are stupid.
• ~Some people claim that they are the true heroes of the book.
• Is The Grapes of Wrath still relevant today?
• ~Why or why not?
• ~Have working conditions changed?
• The Grapes of Wrath warns that change is coming – revolution perhaps.
• ~Did change come? Was it revolutionary (even if it was not a revolution)?
• Why read The Grapes of Wrath today?

Post Activity/Takeaways/Follow-up

• Takeaways have been included above.
• Teachers can have students write an evaluation of the project and what they have learned.
• Students can write short papers based on discussions.

Periodic tests/quizzes and short papers on each section would be useful.

Common Core State Standards Met

• Reading Standards for Literature 6-12
• ~Key Ideas and Details: 1, 2, 3
• ~Craft and Structure: 4, 5, 6
• ~Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: 7, 9
• ~Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity: 10
• Writing Standards 6-12
• ~Text Types and Purposes: 1, 2, 3
• ~Production and Distribution of Writing: 4, 5, 6
• ~Research to Build and Present Knowledge: 7, 9
• ~Range of Writing: 10
• Speaking and Listening Standards 6-12
• ~Comprehension and Collaboration: 1, 2, 3
• ~Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas: 4
• Language Standards 6-12
• ~Conventions of Standard English: 1
• ~Knowledge of Language: 3
• ~Vocabulary Acquisition and Use: 5, 6
• Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 6-12
• ~Key Ideas and Details: 1, 2
• ~Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: 8
• Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects 6-12

Additional Information

Additional Steinbeck resources listed above:

Steinbeck, John. Steinbeck: A Life in Letters. New York: Viking Press, 1975. Print.

Steinbeck, John. The Harvest Gypsies: on the Road to the Grapes of Wrath . , 2017. Internet resource.

Steinbeck, John, and Robert J. DeMott. Working Days: The Journals of "The Grapes of Wrath", 1938-1941 . New York: Penguin Books, 1990. Print.

Related Lesson Plans for this Work

Introduction.

Introduce students to John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, its characters, the setting, and the contextual background, including the Great Depression.

Controversial Topics

Prepare students for the controversial issues they will encounter in the classroom while reading The Grapes of Wrath.

Farming Changes

Examine the transition from small agrarian farming to the large mechanized, industrial farms prevalent in California.

Setting the Context - The Great Depression

Set the novel into the broader context of what was happening around the country in the 1930s.

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