The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck | Summary & Analysis

Course Hero Literature Instructor Russell Jaffe provides an in-depth analysis of the plot, characters, symbols, and themes of John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath.


John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is an indelible portrait of American agricultural life during the Dust Bowl 1930s.

Poor farming practices have left the formerly rich fields of the southern prairies desolate and unfarmable. Among the families affected are the Joads, who must leave their home in Oklahoma in hope of finding work in California.

Following a taxing journey across the country, they find that California is little better and must make ends meet as migrant workers. The Joads are tried and tested as their family is torn apart by poverty and instability.

They quickly realize they are among thousands of migrants flocking to California in search of work and housing, only to find that both are scarce, much to the pleasure of the big landowners.

To keep prices high, the big landowners destroy some of their crops instead of letting hungry migrants eat them. This waste and cruelty causes a "crop" to develop in the souls of the migrants—the grapes of wrath.

The jeremiad of the Joads is both an indictment of American class stratification and a testament to human resilience. It is filled with bleak images of one of the most devastating crises in American history alongside scenes of profound compassion and ingenuity.

American author John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath was first published in 1939. Steinbeck worked as a manual laborer during the 1920s, an experience that helped him portray migrant workers in The Grapes of Wrath. The book won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.

The novel The Grapes of Wrath contains many powerful themes, including selfishness versus kindness, seen in the selfishness of landowners and unselfishness of migrant workers; meekness versus wrath, seen in the power structure within which the characters must obey or rebel; and individuals versus community, seen in the characters who choose to follow their dreams and those who understand the bond of community. Powerful symbols include music, Rose of Sharon’s pregnancy, and the bank of monsters.


About Course Hero:

Master Your Classes™ with Course Hero!

Get the latest updates:

[wetyewruyrtsutrdhjfg]

One day, I shall write stories like Steinbeck. I shall call my stories:

The Oranges of Scorn
The Apples of Delight
The Bananas of Lust
The Watermelons of Greed
The Kiwi of Righteousness

And my magnum opus shall be

The Fruit Salad at Rand's House

[rockandbeer]

Everyone has their perspective. This guy did an awesome job summarizing the plot.

[robertvaughan]

This video is a fair summary of the book but it does not do justice to portraying this story. I was surprised by how captivating this book was. It felt like you were watching a family forced off their land in OK and make their way to Calif.. This book is based on actual historical events(The Great Depression, Dust Bowl, mass migration to Calif., labor movement, etc..) but made personal through a single family. It gives you a sense of many things we take for granted today, such as minimum wage, capitalism, need for government regulations, etc.. Steinbeck really threw me with the ending where the oldest daughter, who had just hours before given birth to a stillborn child, is about to breastfeed a man who is almost dead from starvation. Hence, this book has neither a happy nor a sad ending ending. I would highly recommend reading this book for its thought provoking historical relevant scenes and how it affected today's society. You will be hard pressed to put this book down.

[DaxRED-jn]

You know we are screwed when this book is on the banned list. This was my favourite piece of literature in high school. Thankful it wasnt banned at that point. Our future doesnt look good.

[Archfiend_Sushi]

Amazing video! Now we'll see how much of it I remember for my quiz over the book in thirty minutes XD
Thank you for enabling me, Course Hero

[chronicreptile]

What I'm getting is the main point of the novel is about capitalism and how no one can reach those lofty height or make any real money, and the waste of food is easier and more profitable than feeding people with it.

[sruthyprakash]

Could you take a lecture on Toni Morrison's Sula

[lasagna]

Grapes of Wrath final today is it over?

[ChillsWithSloths]

I do not enjoy the affectation this guy is putting on and I think they're ignoring some of the latent anti-cop, pro-womens empowerment, etc themes in this analysis and how it criticizes religion through that crazy old bat that terrorizes people for dancing. It's mostly a good video though.

[huhwah]

I'm not opposed to keeping this book unbanned, but we also must teach the governments role through the Agricultural Adjustment Act. The government in this time would purchase crops from the farmers and destroy the crops and work with farmers to not farm on certain plots of their land and fund this through government subsidies. Take the grapes of wrath from propaganda to full circle evaluation.

[HitchHikersBlues]

Why are they banning great works of literature?

[_Gondor_]

This was a truly terrible and overrated book. Your summary made Thessaly I had to write easier. Thank you so much!