The Grapes of Wrath

             All of us have made journeys at one time or another. They may be from home the grocery store, or from Cape Canaveral to the Moon. Some people must overcome enormous odds to make this journey. For example, Moses needed to cross the Red Sea and many miles of desert while leading his people to the land promised him by God. Drive and fortune are qualities that the Israelites and astronauts must have in order to accomplish their goal. In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck shows the Joads' endurance and drive by his use of metaphors and the intercalary chapters.
             In chapter three, Steinbeck describes the long journey of a land turtle across a desolate highway. From the onset of his journey, the turtle encounters many setbacks. All along the way, he is hindered by ants, hills, and oak seeds under his shell. The turtle's determination to reach his destination is most apparent when a truck driven by a young man swerves to hit the turtle. The turtle's shell was clipped and he went flying off the highway, but he did not stop. He struggled to get right side up and kept going. He kept driving towards his goal, just as the Joads kept driving towards California.
             Much like the turtle's Journey across the desert, the Joads had to face many great hardships and toils to reach California. In the plains of Oklahoma, they meet the Wilsons and they buried their grandfather. With the other cars heading east and west, they try to make their way quickly to find the 'promised land.' The sickness that the family encountered was the ants that the turtle endured. The trip across the mountains into California can be compared to the hills that the turtle thought he could not climb, but finally got to the top and down the other side.
             When the Israelites traveled to Israel from Egypt three thousand years before the Joads traveled to California, they suffered many of the same problems. The Wastelands and seas from Exod...

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The Grapes of Wrath. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 12:26, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/36957.html