Grapes of Wrath
Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, illustrates the hardships of the common man in great detail. The one aspect of this book that displays life as it exists in the hostile real-worldis the third chapter, in which the human plight is displayed by a turtle, and his struggle to reach the other side of a road. As the turtle is about to reach his goal, it is returned to it's original location, but it does not waver in it's determination, and continuesacross the road until it reaches the other side. The characters mosteasily identified with in this book are the Joad family, and Jim Casy. Each character undergoes tremendous heartache and burden, yet they stay true to their plans, and never give up. While the Joad family is moving from Oklahoma to California, Ma Joad holds the family together, becuase her belief that a broken-family will not be able to accomplish their mammoth task, is true. This is displayed by her not allowing the two cars to split and arrive at California at different times, when one of the cars breaks down, as they are leaving Oklahoma. Pa Joad was a hardworking man, who is uplifted from his normal way of life, and is forced to ac . . .
The Joads incredible ability to over come all odds and keep going is epitomized in intercalary chapter three. Never digressing from their strait and narrow path to California. Steinbeck uses his rendition of facts, the "turtle" chapter, to parallel the Joads struggle to reach the promise land. All along the way he is hindered by ants, hills, and oak seeds under his shell. Tom Joad is a very complicated individual, who is a tremendous asset and at the same time, a tremendous burden. Just as the turtle searched for food, the Joads were searching for paradise, "the garden of Eden. He struggled back to his belly and kept driving toward his goal, just as the Joads kept driving toward their goal. His parole cuases his family an unneeded worry, while his ability to get work while very few people do, also benefited the family. From the onset of his journey, the turtle encounters many set backs. They were driven by great motivating powers - poverty and hunger. The Joad family along with Jim Casy show the benefit of people uniting in order to accomplish goals, and this is a lesson that the reader can take away from this "classic" American novel. In chapter three, Steinbeck emaculatly describes the long tedious journey of a land turtle across a desolate highway. He does not handle this move very well, and throughout the book, he is confused, and not as headstrong as Ma. Jim Casy has fequently been compared with Jesus Christ, and his lifestyle of preaching and leading people in a revolt, as well as sacrificing himself for Tom and the Joad family demonstrates this common held belief well.
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