The Grapes Of Wrath

The movie Grapes of Wrath was extracted from the novel by John Steinbeck, regarded as one of the best social articles of the 1930s.[1] John Ford, the director of the film, is well known for his work such as the documentation of the Westward Movement of American Settlement and the director of The Iron Horse in 1924.[2]

The movie is characterized by natural disasters right from the beginning to the end. For instance, it begins with a period of drought, but towards the end, there are numerous floods which are made human existence and survival difficult. The people of Oklahoma commonly referred to as the ‘Okies' greatly suffered depression that resulted from the dusk bowl that mopped their entire homes and all their belongings.[3]

They lost everything gained in all their lives to cater for their needs. The irresistible quality witnessed in the movie gives the viewers the urge to stick to the end as the life-threatening events unfold making endurance and survival the main issues at hand. This paper will explain in detail discrimination as a form of a social problem affecting immigrants as witnessed in the movie.

Reflection of the Society in The Grapes of Wrath

            Throughout the day to day activities of the human race in the society, various societal issues get encountered. Human beings are regarded as civilized creatures that have to face such global problems. There are those that express their opinions when faced with societal issues via media, while there are those that prefer utilizing avenues like literature to convey their personal views. The movie is one of a kind that strongly outlines the aspects of such issues in the form of writing that gets translated into a film.[4]

It zealously portrays such elevations by the employment of symbolism. For instance, the last part of the movie has a particular incidence of symbolism by John Steinbeck to outline the impacts of societal weaknesses during his time.

 The movie as directed by John Ford talks of how a son of a sharecropper gets converted into a union organizer. Characters in the movie use images and employ sympathy in a broadly such that the audience feels pity as they leave the theatre more other than anger. It is clear that the main purpose is to convey a certain message rather than a recruiting poster. It is during the 1930s where many Americans shifted to California from Oklahoma in an attempt to escape debts, drought, and misery from the Dusk Bowl.[5]

The story is entirely about Joad family and an overall highlight of the socioeconomic challenges of depression and the encounters of emigrant workers. The universality aspect witnessed in the movie whereby the Joads’ story is a representation of the kind of challenges encountered by migrant laborers during this time frame. Feminism, humanitarian, and religion are some other themes that appear in the movie. It aims at spreading awareness of the selfish ways of the society, and the hopes are that the entire community gets encouraged.

            Steinbeck advocates for humanity and good morals from the population throughout the story. There is a hidden meaning that is visible after the action by the Joads to help the Wilsons. The initiative by the Joads to help the Wilsons despite them being in dire poverty is an action that is contrary to the social paradigm of their days which got characterized by selfishness and egotism. Both the Joads and the Wilsons are in dire circumstances and are fleeing to California to avoid being persecuted by banks as a result of unpaid mortgages.[6] Nevertheless, they intend to sacrifice some bits in areas they have the upper hand and helping each other where they fall short. They support one another to ensure that each of them survives the way to California. The movie conveys the aspect of humanity and morality obligation to assist others the same way Joads and Wilsons do.

 During the great depression, egotism and individualism rose where more than 38 percent of the people in the United States relied on relief programs from the government.[7]

Steinbeck tried to urge the population to practice kindheartedness and take the problems of others as their own engage in cooperation for the improvement of the nation. It is such selfishness that resulted to speculation in stock markets, which led to failures in repayment of mortgages and great depressions. The call for cooperation resulted out of sympathy of ignorant people who got held up in such mindsets.

            The movie reflects the social phenomena of John Steinbeck's days where survival was for the strongest. Fraud, cries, and dreams are the primary activities as seen in the movie. The movie conveys the ideas of the ‘Oakies’ through their tears when fleeing from the financially unstable areas of the Great Plains as they head to California where they expect fertile soils.[8] There are so many false advertisements for job opportunities that make the people cling on to adverts with the hope of getting the jobs. Such situations can make an individual do anything. It is such desperate conditions that see a hungry man drink milk from a woman. The manner in which the movie highlights the issues wins the hearts of the audience. It was everyone hope that they would not fall into the adverse traps of the then human nature of the entire population in the 21st century where great depression was witnessed.[9]

            The movie gets justifiable praises, and it is right to relate it as a perfect definition of depression and hardships. The characters in the film are filled with vanity, selfishness, insecurity, and flaws, but their instinct for survival is powerful within them. It is these efforts that pull them past their tolerance and endurance of whatever that they imagined of doing. The family of Steinbeck is not altruistic or heroic by nature. All they want is what most people desire; a home, security, means to support themselves and an intact family.[10]

Their good intentions, what they believe constitutes a family and where they target to go end up in vain after they get stricken by multiple disasters.

            Steinbeck confronted and highlighted the challenges encountered by the landless population and argues the importance of organizing labor forces persuasively. Initially before the publication of the novel indicated that he intended to put tags of shame to the gluttonous individuals responsible for depression and the effects it caused. It is staunch for the working class that led to Steinbeck winning the admiration and praises from the society. The movie Grapes of Wrath produced in Hollywood in 1940 gained the same recognition after the novel got Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award the same year it got published.[11]

Man’s Inhumanity to Man

 Discrimination in The Grapes of Wrath as put by Steinbeck focuses on the economic state of the immigrants in comparison to those of landowners. The various section in the movie outlines the feeling by the California landowners when there is an influx of workers. The film gives in detail the desire by Americans for land and explains the way a horde of greedy Americans snatch land from Mexicans and guard it with guns as if it were their own. The small-scale farmers lost their pieces of land to the large-scale operators, there was the importation of workers, got abused and made to give labor on credit and to some extent, they owed money to their bosses. It is until when the people from the Dusk Bowl flee to the west seeking for jobs that the cycle gets broken. The capitalists who own land fear the incomers since they realize their histories that it is not "hard to grab land from a soft-hearted individual when you are hungry, fierce and armed.[12]

            The merchants also get filled with tension when they realize that it is impossible to gain any capital from the migrants. Racial discrimination directed towards the migrants gets clear when the rich say that they needed to be “kept in line” since their capabilities were beyond control. They got a comparison with the “niggers in the south” known as dangerous people.[13] The derogatory term ‘Okie' is used to describe individuals capable of challenging the wealthy farmers and the interests they have in agriculture. People suffer significantly as a result of the misfortunes caused by their fellow human beings. The poor and the rich only get differentiated from the social. Historical and economic situations. It is these situations too that term the people as tenants and landowners which sees the struggle for individuals with dominant roles to retain their status quo.

            The belief history terms the state as a resultant product of greedy squatters who grabbed from Mexicans, adding value to it to improve production and termed it as their own. After several generations, the landowners of California see the threat from the historical events from their belief that they would experience a repeat of history resulting from the influx of the farmers. Their thoughts drive them to create systems that see migrants receive the treatment of animals, deprived of their wages, flown out of roadside camps to the other and compelled to oppress fellow migrants for survival.[14] The simple line drawn by the movie is a divider of the poor from the privileged and emphasizes division as the cause of suffering and evil ways in the universe.

The Grapes of Wrath as a Proletarian Movie

 The movie can be watched as a proletarian film calling for social change indicating the harsh working environment the migrants interact with once they get to California. The landowners of California hold power and, their main intention is controlling demand and supply to enable them to evade payment of wages. Tom takes action after listening to Casy explain about unity where he decides to represent the workers in their fight against manipulation by the cartels.[15] In the long run, the Joads embrace a sense of community with the other proletarians in the verge of seeking an elusive American dream.

Attitude towards Land Use and Environmentalism

 The land is used in the movie to give characters a sense of belonging. It is land that gives the people an identity of history and future. The identity dissolves once these people lose their property. The movie depicts land to have a soul whereby working on those pieces of land enables the individuals to understand life. Wisdom is believed to ooze from the land and helps the farmers in their thinking to process and make decisions. The cruelty of tractors and eviction from their lands disrupts the bond of farmers to their lands.[16] These actions indicate romanticism where intellectuals such as Henry David and Ralph Waldo outline the way owning land and hard work is equal to self-reliance. It is also similar to a philosophy stated by Ed Ricketts who is a close friend to Steinbeck that people regard nature as giving ‘meaning and worth to their lives.’[17]

Modernization

            During the early 20th century, American life got a shocker from the Second Industrial Revolution as many people fled from farms to urban centers as a result of increased demands of the new economy. As time elapsed, improved labor methods and use of machines invaded the agriculture sector causing displacement of farmers. In The Grapes of Wrath, need arises to improve the farming methods as result of the drought that make farming almost impossible.[18] The industrialization negatively influences the farmers, giving financial institutions a monster look when they close unproductive lands. Steinbeck cites mechanization as a sex drive that replaces hands of loving farmers with discordance of a beast.

The farmers regard modernization as a thing that alters their way of life and hinders their romantic attachment to the land. The Joads encounter other trials once they get to California. The state of California does not suffer from the same calamities as those from Oklahoma. Here the industrial agriculture has resulted in only a few individuals owning land, and small-scale farmers get displaced. In all the scenarios, Jeffersonian view of land for the noble farmers and hardworking American figure receives a challenge since the new owners bear no emotional relation to the land, only acknowledging it through the paper.

Altruism and Selfishness

It is selfishness that is the main source of evils evident in Joad family and the migrants. The businessmen and landowners receive motivation from simple self-interests, and as a result, thousands of families sink into poverty. The behavior of the migrants towards each other is the only contrary thin to the selfishness. They are aware that their survival and livelihood relies on their loyalty to the combined efforts, unity and sharing problems with one another for survival. The film throughout stresses on self-interest and altruism as equivalent and opposing powers, proportionally aligned with each other. For instance, cyclical dynamics result to self-perpetuating of both greed and generosity.[19]

It is evident that gas companies have oppressed a gas attendant that the Joads meet. They get insulted by the attendant and refuses to serve them.

The Dignity of Wrath

Many circumstances conspire against the Joads that almost breaks them but they stand as an exemplary figure. Each turn of events finds Steinbeck intent where he shows dignity and honor. He stresses the need to maintain self-respect for the spiritual survival. The family suffers from incomparable losses where Tom, Connie, and Noah leave the family. Rose of Sharon conceives to a stillborn, and still, the family runs short of food and has a hope of getting work.[20] The challenging times are when the Joads manage to conquer hardship and extend kindness and generosity to others indicating that the family still has its sense of the worth of human life.

The movie gives a clear connection between dignity and range. People need to maintain their sense of injustice and a sense of anger towards individuals seeking to undercut the pride in them to retain their dignity. The notion is given a specific reinforcement in the images in the grapes of wrath whereby the women workers, as they watch their brothers, sons, and husbands bearing in mind that the men will retain their strength ‘as long as fear can turn to wrath.'[21] The certainty from the women is driven by the understanding that the wrath of men signifies their vigorous sense of self-respect.

Conclusion

The 1930s sees Americans migrate from Oklahoma to California to evade debts, drought, and desolation of the dusk. Although Grapes of Wrath is a movie about Joad family, it is also a representation of the socioeconomic hardships of the prodigious depression and the encounters of migrant workers.[22] The most outstanding aspect of the movie is its universality where the hardships and discrimination encountered by the Joad’s family is only a representation of common challenges that migrant workers face during this time frame. The shifting point of view emphasized by the movie is the inhumane treatment of the less fortunate. The prejudice against Oklahomans as denoted by Mimi Reisel when Steinbeck states that the ‘Okies got no sense and no feeling.’[23] They were regarded as dirty, miserable, inhuman and got compared to gorillas.

The overall irony of the negative stereotyping is that there was poor treatment of the migrants and wore often ridiculed due to their poor living conditions. Prejudice is clear even from the policemen who refer to migrants as ‘Okies' which leaves the Joads in puzzlement and shock after realizing the kind of discrimination faced by migrants. The lack of respect portrayed by a police officer who has taken an oath of office in upholding the law and promoting public's best interests shows prejudice at an exemplary level. In the modern days, prejudice gets little attention since it is a less prevalent problem but still is an important issue to date. The best remedy to curb prejudice is education. The Dust Bowl and the Great Depression were foundations of specific historical events. Discrimination, inequality, and discrimination between the poor and the rich and the dilemma of the jobless and homeless is still in existence in modern days where The Grapes of Wrath still has its relevance.[24]

Bibliography

Bloom, Harold. 2009. John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath. New York: Chelsea.

Krim, Arthur. 2011. "Russell Lee And The Grapes Of Wrath." Steinbeck Review 8 (1): 91-98. doi:10.1111/j.1754-6087.2011.01100.x.

Marshall, Rick. 2011. "Steinbeck's Cognitive Landscapes In The Grapes Of Wrath: The Highway As Commentary On 1930S Industrialization". Steinbeck Review 8 (1): 57-76. doi:10.1111/j.1754-6087.2011.01108.x.

Martin Chilton. 2018. "The Grapes Of Wrath: 10 Surprising Facts About John Steinbeck's Novel". The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/john-steinbeck-grapes-of-wrath-what-you-should-know/.

Napier, Elizabeth. 2010. "The Grapes Of Wrath: Steinbeck's Pilgrim's Progress." Steinbeck Review 7 (1): 51-56. doi:10.1111/j.1754-6087.2010.01077.x.

Newlin, Keith. 2011. The Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press.

Steinbeck, John. 2008. "The Grapes Of Wrath." Academic Medicine 83 (3): 266. doi:10.1097/acm.0b013e3181637a5b.

"The Grapes Of Wrath' | Critics' Picks | The New York Times." 2018. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYFJmm0aK-8.

YILMAZOK, Levent. 2014. "A CINEMATIC NARRATION OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION: RECALLING JOHN FORD'S THE GRAPES OF WRATH." The Turkish Online Journal Of Design, Art And Communication 4 (1): 16-24. doi:10.7456/10401100/003.

Yuhas, Alan. 2018. "The Grapes Of Wrath Is 75 Years Old And More Relevant Than Ever | Alan Yuhas". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/14/grapes-of-wrath-75-years-old-more-relevant-than-ever.

[1]

Napier, Elizabeth. 2010. "The Grapes Of Wrath: Steinbeck's Pilgrim's Progress." Steinbeck Review 7 (1): 51-56. doi:10.1111/j.1754-6087.2010.01077.x.

[2]

Bloom, Harold. 2009. John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath. New York: Chelsea.

[3]

Marshall, Rick. 2011. "Steinbeck's Cognitive Landscapes In The Grapes Of Wrath: The Highway As Commentary On 1930S Industrialization". Steinbeck Review 8 (1): 57-76. doi:10.1111/j.1754-6087.2011.01108.x.

[4]

YILMAZOK, Levent. 2014. "A CINEMATIC NARRATION OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION: RECALLING JOHN FORD'S THE GRAPES OF WRATH." The Turkish Online Journal Of Design, Art And Communication 4 (1): 16-24. doi:10.7456/10401100/003.

[5]

Steinbeck, John. 2008. "The Grapes Of Wrath." Academic Medicine 83 (3): 266. doi:10.1097/acm.0b013e3181637a5b.

[6]

Steinbeck, John. 2008. "The Grapes Of Wrath." Academic Medicine 83 (3): 266. doi:10.1097/acm.0b013e3181637a5b.

[7]

Martin Chilton. 2018. "The Grapes Of Wrath: 10 Surprising Facts About John Steinbeck's Novel". The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/john-steinbeck-grapes-of-wrath-what-you-should-know/.

[8]

Ibid

[9]

Newlin, Keith. 2011. The Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press.

[10]

Ibid

[11]

Ibid

[12]" Krim, Arthur. 2011. "Russell Lee And The Grapes Of Wrath." Steinbeck Review 8 (1): 91-98. doi:10.1111/j.1754-6087.2011.01100.x.

[13]

Ibid., 93

[14]

Krim, Arthur. 2011. "Russell Lee And The Grapes Of Wrath." Steinbeck Review 8 (1): 91-98. doi:10.1111/j.1754-6087.2011.01100.x.

[15]

Highway As Commentary On 1930S Industrialization". Steinbeck Review 8 (1): 57-76. doi:10.1111/j.1754-6087.2011.01108.x.

[16]

Yuhas, Alan. 2018. "The Grapes Of Wrath Is 75 Years Old And More Relevant Than Ever | Alan Yuhas". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/14/grapes-of-wrath-75-years-old-more-relevant-than-ever.

[17]

Bloom, Harold. 2009. John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath. New York: Chelsea.

[18]

Steinbeck, John. 2008. "The Grapes Of Wrath." Academic Medicine 83 (3): 266. doi:10.1097/acm.0b013e3181637a5b.

[19]

Steinbeck, John. 2008. "The Grapes Of Wrath." Academic Medicine 83 (3): 266. doi:10.1097/acm.0b013e3181637a5b.

[20]

Newlin, Keith. 2011. The Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press.

[21]

"The Grapes Of Wrath' | Critics' Picks | The New York Times." 2018. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYFJmm0aK-8.

[22]

Napier, Elizabeth. 2010. "The Grapes Of Wrath: Steinbeck's Pilgrim's Progress." Steinbeck Review 7 (1): 51-56. doi:10.1111/j.1754-6087.2010.01077.x.

[23]

"The Grapes Of Wrath' | Critics' Picks | The New York Times." 2018. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYFJmm0aK-8.

[24]

Martin Chilton. 2018. "The Grapes Of Wrath: 10 Surprising Facts About John Steinbeck's Novel". The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/john-steinbeck-grapes-of-wrath-what-you-should-know/.