Many, many years ago, I had to read The Pearl by John Steinbeck. For what seemed like weeks, my junior high contemporaries and I dissected that story to the point that I never wanted to read anything by Steinbeck again. When this project came along, I knew it was time for me to buck up and give him a second chance but I was dreading it nonetheless. I now find I am going to have to read more Steinbeck to truly know what kind of author he is. On one hand, I have the awful memory of The Pearl. On the other hand I have the gripping and moving saga of the Joad family in The Grapes of Wrath.
Steinbeck writes this American classic as both storyteller and chronicler. His points of view shift between simple observations of simple people and sweeping narratives that tell the story of a nation in turmoil.
From the Joad’s point of view, everything bad that can happen will happen as they leave the land and the life they have known to search for the promise of hard work, fair wages and a good life. Tom Joad, fresh out of prison, finds the family being pushed off the property they've farmed for years by the forces of weather, economics and technology. Based on a handbill offering work the Joads decide to pack the entire family onto the truck and head for California. Along the way they struggle with their fellow refugees, naysayers, the law and the internal combustion engine. As they head west with other hopefuls, they meet those who went before them and are returning east. Ignoring the stories of strife and starvation they head on, crossing the desert and passing into the Promised Land.
Despite Ma Joad’s best efforts the travelling band dwindles. Death takes a few. Temptation ruins one. Another abandons those who need him most. The Sheriff takes another. Sickness and worry constantly plague the family. The land owners, the hirers, the locals and the law are all against the Joads and the thousands of “Okies” pouring into the state. The economic logic that forces acres of land to lay still while thousands starve, the corporate greed that pits one man against his friends and the bigotry of scared mobs drives the Joads’ frustration and Tom’s anger to slowly grow.
All this plays out against the backdrop of the depression and the migration of thousands into Southern California. Steinbeck explores the broader context by presenting the economic, political and emotional issues throughout the novel. But these are no dry history lessons. The passion Steinbeck puts into the Joad family he freely displays in his own descriptions. In one chapter, he tells of families having to choose between possessions they can take on the trip and those they will abandon:
In the little houses the tenant people sifted their belongings and the belongings of their fathers and or their grandfathers. Picked over their possessions for the journey to the west. The men were ruthless because the past had been spoiled, but the women know how the past would cry to them in them coming days…Suddenly they were nervous. Got to get out quick now. Can’t wait. We can’t wait. And they piled up the goods in the yards and set fire to them. They stood and watched them burning, and then frantically they loaded up the cars and drove away, drove into the dust. The dust hung in the air for a long time after the loaded cars has passed.
Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath after writing a series of articles in 1936 covering the depression, the dust bowl and the farmers’ migration west. He visited the roadside slums called Hoovervilles and the large land holding farm operations to witness the direct effects of corporate greed and political indifference. Yet he saw the helping hand of government at the federal camps set up throughout Southern California, where the families could enjoy a moment of peace, running water and decent food while looking for work. Published in 1939, it won the Pulitzer Prize and was made into a movie in 1940.
The Grapes of Wrath is a great novel, perhaps the most American story I have ever read. I highly recommend it to everyone wanting to understand more about our history, the human condition or if you are looking for great storytelling.
Next week: We both read Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man
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