john steinbeck's novel the grapes of wrath

In the United States, the 1930s were a decade that is particularly remembered for three coinciding phenomena of great magnitude: the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal policy. The Grapes of Wrath is a novel which, both with regard to its making and to its content, is firmly embedded in its historical context. Background Information on The Grapes of Wrath 2.1 Historical Context Before ending this paper with a short conclusion, I will very briefly deal with the question of whether the novel lends itself to a film adaptation and how director John Ford handled the subject in his classic film version from the year 1940. This will be followed by a closer analysis of the novel with regard to such aspects as setting, structure, characters, themes, and symbolism. In this paper, I will first present some background information concerning the making and the reception of The Grapes of Wrath. Leaving such considerations aside, however, it is safe to say that none of Steinbeck’s later works had as strong a political focus as The Grapes of Wrath, and that none stirred as great a reaction.

It is interesting to note that even Steinbeck himself, while publicly assailing those same critics, was privately never quite sure of the quality of his work, feeling like it was somehow not worthy of a truly great author (cf. Many critics claimed that, although published at a relatively early stage in his career, The Grapes of Wrath was the pinnacle of Steinbeck’s literary output and that his later work never really measured up to it. While Steinbeck continued to be commercially successful, The Grapes of Wrath turned out to be a heavy burden in that the literary value of all his subsequent work was continually compared to that milestone. Although it was Steinbeck’s intention from the start to create a highly political novel that would provoke a lively public discussion, he did not anticipate that The Grapes of Wrath would actually cause an uproar similar only to some of the most controversial novels in the history of American literature-in that respect, it seems justified to mention Steinbeck’s epic novel alongside such works as Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (an account of the deplorable conditions in Chicago’s slaughterhouses, published in 1906) or Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) nor did he anticipate that, apart from bringing him fame and fortune, it would cast a long shadow on the rest of his career as a writer. Officially published on April 14, 1939, The Grapes of Wrath is the novel for which John Steinbeck received both his greatest acclaim and his sharpest criticism. The Grapes of Wrath and Its Adaptability to the Big Screen Changing Conditionsģ.3.4 Steinbeck’s Social Criticism and Roosevelt’s New Deal PolicyĤ. Background Information on The Grapes of Wrathģ.3.2 The Individual vs.

John steinbeck's novel the grapes of wrath