communication breakdown

Book Review: The Grapes of Wrath (1939)

[ 10 / 10 ] John Steinbeck's celebrated masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath is, quite simply, one of the best novels I've ever read. In retrospect, I'm as surprised by this as anyone, since I picked up the book with admittedly low expectations. Despite its status as a critical darling, oft cited as perhaps the greatest American novel, the subject matter seemed remote and dated enough to suggest that it might be a dry and uninteresting read. I couldn't have been more wrong. Steinbeck's epic telling of the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930's, seen through the eyes of the Joad family, stands as some of the most powerful and moving writing I've yet seen...

Written in 1939, America was still in the midst of the Great Depression when the novel was released, and the country was not far removed from the horrible events described in its pages. A scathing attack on ruthless capitalism and the exploitation of the common working man, Steinbeck's story pointed a righteous finger at the wealthy businessmen who were profiting at the farmers' expense. The novel caused quite a stir once it was published, eventually leading to political reform and an easing of the burdens spotlighted by the book. But The Grapes of Wrath would never have been as effective, or poignant, as it was without the classic writing and timeless story for which it has become famous.

On the surface, this is the story of the Joad family, Oklahoman farmers forced off their land due to failing crops and insufficient funds. Left with no home and nowhere to go, they pursue the only course that seems reasonable: having seen advertisements for work available in California, the family packs what they can and moves West to search for employment and opportunity. But it is hardship, not opportunity, that they meet at every turn. Oppressed from every direction imaginable, theirs is a story of unfathomable sadness and loss throughout the novel.

At the outset, the Joads are a large and proud family: 11 members strong, aged 8 to 80, and spanning four generations of hardworking American farmers. Steinbeck is faithful in his portrayal of this hardened, Midwestern family: his characterization of each relative could not strike a truer note than it already does. Each family member is flawed, utterly common, and ultimately beautiful. There is such a strength of will and character among the family that, to see it break down throughout the novel, is tragic and lamentable. They are such good people that, to see them mistreated, hated, and cast aside like animals is enough to instill anger in even the calmest of readers.

Slowly but surely, as the Joads make their way across the country to California, their plight worsens and their resolve is tested, though never broken. Family members die. Others leave with promises of a quick return, only to never be heard from again. Their small reserve of money finds its way into the hands of greedy salesmen, merciless farmers, and others who are (amazingly enough) more needy than they are. The weather and the elements bare down upon them and cause trouble when everything else has already turned sour. While, in the hands of a lesser author, the weight of the despair would be unbearable for the reader, the unshakable optimism of the family gives the reader a glimpse of hope throughout the novel.

Two characters are worthy of particular note: Ma Joad, the matriarch and true heroine of the Joad family, is as fine a protagonist as you will find in literature. Respectful and mindful of her role at times, she is the link which holds the family together throughout the novel. Steinbeck leaves little doubt that she is the moral center and ultimate authority of the family. She is warm, loving, compassionate, unwavering, and wise beyond her years. As far as mothers go, she's about as good as they come. The other key character is a man named Jim Casy, former preacher and social convert, whose tragic tale sits at the center of the author's true scope for the novel. He serves two purposes: to expouse Steinbeck's views that the world's real spirituality and righteousness lies in the heart of a collective society, not in a distant God; and to espouse the social manifesto which is the true heart of The Grapes of Wrath.

While the Joad family is the focus, the heart of the novel is in its passionate belief that socialism must necessarily crush capitalism for America to survive. His words border on cataclysmic prophecy, crying vehemently that, once the throngs of disenfranchised Americans learn to organize and care for the common good, the corrupt capitalist businessmen will be easily and mightily overthrown. He espouses this view in alternating chapters between the Joad story, and it is in these chapters that Steinbeck shows us what a master of prose he is. These sermons contain some of the most beautiful, powerful and convincing speech I've ever heard. Don't take my word for it - here is an excerpt from Chapter 14:

This you may say of man--when theories change and crash, when schools, philosophies, when narrow dark alleys of thought, national, religious, economic, grow and disintegrate, man reaches, stumbles forward, painfully, mistakenly sometimes. Having stepped forward, he may slip back, but only half a step, never the full step back. This you may say and know it and know it. This you may know when the bombs plummet out of the black planes on the market place, when prisoners are stuck like pigs, when the crushed bodies drain filthily in the dust. You may know it in this way. If the step were not being taken, if the stumbling-forward ache were not alive, the bombs would not fall, the throats would not be cut. Fear the time when the bombs stop falling while the bombers live--for every bomb is proof that the spirit has not died. And fear the time when the strikes stop while the great owners live--for every little beaten strike is proof that the step is being taken. And this you can know--fear the time when Manself will not suffer and die for a concept, for this one quality is the foundation of Manself, and this one quality is man, distinctive in the universe.

...

Is a tractor bad? Is the power that turns the long furrows wrong? If this tractor were ours it would be good--not mine, but ours. If our tractor turned the long furrows of our land, it would be good. Not my land, but ours. We could love that tractor then as we have loved this land when it was ours. But this tractor does two things--it turns the land and turns us off the land. There is little difference between this tractor and a tank. The people are driven, intimidated, hurt by both. We must think about this.

One man, one family driven from the land; this rusty car creaking along the highway to the west. I lost my land, a single tractor took my land. I am alone and I am bewildered. And in the night one family camps in a ditch and another family pulls in and the tents come out. The two men squat on their hams and the women and children listen. Here is the node, you who hate change and fear revolution. Keep these two squatting men apart; make them hate, fear, suspect each other. Here is the anlage of the thing you fear. This is the zygote. For here "I lost my land" is changed; a cell is split and from its splitting grows the thing you hate--"we lost our land." The danger is here, for two men are not as lonely and perplexed as one. And from this first "we" there grows a still more dangerous thing: "I have a little food" plus "I have none." If from this problem the sum is "We have a little food," the thing is on its way, the movement has direction. Only a little multiplication now, and this land, this tractor are ours. The two men squatting in a ditch, the little fire, the side-meat stewing in a single pot, the silent, stone-eyed women; behind, the children listening with their souls to words their minds do not understand. Then night draws down. The baby has a cold. Here, take this blanket. It's wool. It was my mother's blanket--take it for the baby. This is the thing to bomb. This is the beginning--from "I" to "we."

Absolutely stunning stuff. And you'll find such passion and faith in human dignity throughout The Grapes of Wrath. By revealing the depths of human despair and the horrors that are associated with the primal fears of hunger and disenfranchisement, contrasted with the amazing perseverence and fortitude of his main characters, Steinbeck portrays his unwavering belief that the spirit of mankind cannot, and will not, be held down for long.