The Theme of Man vs. Environment in The Grapes of Wrath :: Grapes Wrath essays

The Theme of Man vs. Environment in The Grapes of animosity The Grapes of Wrath is a brisk by John Steinbeck that exposes the desperate conditions low which the migratory farm families of America during the 1930s live under. The saucy tells of one families migration west to California through the great economic depression of the 1930s. The Joad family had to abandon their radical and their livelihoods. They had to uproot and set adrift because tractors were rapidly industrializing their farms. The bank took possession of their soil because the owners could not pay off their loan. The novel shows how the Joad family deals with moving to California. How they survive the rigour of the degrade owners that take advantage of them, their poverty and willingness to work. The Grapes of Wrath combines Steinbeck adoration of the land, his unprejudiced hatred of corruption resulting from materialism (money) and his abiding faith in the communal mickle to overcome the hostile envir onment. The novel opens with a retaining picture of temper on rampage. The novel shows the men and women that are unbroken by nature. The alkali is one of man verses a hostile environment. His body destroyed simply his spirit is not broken. The method used to develop the theme of the novel is through the use of symbolism. There are several uses of symbols in the novel from the turtle at the beginning to the rain at the end. As each(prenominal) symbol is presented through the novel they show examples of the good and the bad things that bulge outlast within the novel. The opening chapter paints a vivid picture of the situation cladding the drought-stricken farmers of Oklahoma. Dust is described a covering everything, smothering the life out of anything that wants to grow. The dust is symbolic of the erosion of the lives of the people. The dust is synonymous with deadness. The land is ruined way of life (farming) gone, people uprooted and forced to leave. Secondly, the dust st ands for profiteering banks in the background that squeeze the life out the land by forcing the people off the land. The soil, the people (farmers) have been drained of life and are victimized The last rain fell on the red and gray sphere of Oklahoma in early May. The weeds became a dark kibibyte to protect themselves from the suns unyielding rays.