The Grapes Of Wrath

THE GRAPES OF WRATH
by John Steinbeck

 Awards: National Book Winner 1939, Nobel Prize Winner 1939, Pulitzer Winner 1940

 Dates Read: February 2, 2003 & June 17, 2017

 Few writers get me all hot and bothered and Steinbeck is one of them. He is one of my favorite authors of all time and I am so glad he won the Nobel Prize. I vividly recall the first time I read this novel and how the ending stuck with me. A second reading recently highlights for me this novel's staying power, particularly in light of our current political climate.

 The Grapes Of Wrath follows the Joad family as they try their best to make their way in this world. All they truly desire is enough money to feed their family and have a modest home, yet even these basics are nearly impossible to achieve. Escaping Oklahoma's Dust Bowl, bank foreclosures and agricultural consolidation, they set their sights on the promised land of California.

 Risking it all on a car that's about to gasp it's last breath, they load their possessions and set out. After arriving in California, they realize that the mass of workers already there are just as desperate and fair wages are hard to come by. 

 The Grapes Of Wrath has withstood the test of time and still remains relevant today. Modern day Americans still find themselves in the same situation as the Joad's, tirelessly working and still not able to meet basic needs. In preparing to write this novel, he stated "I want to put a tag of shame on the greedy bastards who are responsible for this [the Great Depression and its effects]." And shame he did bring. By the end, I was about to wring the necks of the landowners who milk their labor for every last drop.

 The Grapes Of Wrath is rich in imagery, economic and political criticism, religious implications, family ties and selflessness. This novel created such a stir that it was banned and even burned by those who disagreed with its social and political message, denouncing Steinbeck as a socialist. I'm not sure how advocating for a living wage is socialist, yet here we still find ourselves 70 years later.

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