Discussion for The Grapes of Wrath

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

Start discussion for The Grapes of Wrath here.

[Connie]

The Grapes of Wrath is one of my favorite books, and I just reread it for a mini-class on American classics. It is set during the Great Depression when times were terribly hard for the farmers in the Dust Bowl. Drought, inability to pay back loans, and the movement of large agricultural firms to take over the small farms all led to a bad economic situation. The Joads can no longer farm in Oklahoma, and they pile their possessions on top of an old truck, and head to California.

Steinbeck's writing is wonderful, and the characters seem very real. Tom Joad becomes a fighter for the less fortunate at a time when the government did not have the economic help that people can fall back on now.

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

I read this book for the first time during my early teens along with East of Eden and Of Mice and Men, and really enjoyed it. I read it again last year as an adult and enjoyed it just as much. The book follows the Joad family who are forced to leave their home in Oklahoma after misfortune to become sharecroppers in California. It is a vivid depiction of life during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression. It is one of those books that sticks with you long after you've read it.

[Missy J]

This book is also one of my favorites.
The Joads' are such goodhearted people!! Although they've encountered misfortune and their hopes get crushed, they still care for each other, they didn't turn into meanspirited people.
The ending was brilliant, too!

[[deleted user]]

I have never read The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck.

[[deleted user]]

Read East of Eden by Steinbeck. It's wonderful. Read it with the Oprah Book Club.

[Missy J]

Hattie, have you read anything by Steinbeck? If yes and you've enjoyed his writing, I truly recommend you read "The Grapes of Wrath"!!
It's really a good book, like the "Titanic" of books ^^

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

Here is a link to ReadingGroupGuides' questions for this book:

http://readinggroupguides.com/guides3...

[Amy]

Just read this for the first time. LOVE! What a story, what heartbreak, and the ending!!!! Wow. I liked the down and dirty details of what life was like in the Hoovervilles. But it was also still infused with hope and humor. Like when the kids see their first flushing toilet! If someone can read this book and not feel compassion, I'm not sure what would do it.

[Sam]

Agree. I have watched the film a couple months ago (with Henry Fonda, 1940), but reading the book is a much more intesive experience. I like also the alternating viewpoints (the Joads as an example and the bigger context and economic change).

[Amy]

Yes, the alternating chapters was a very effective tool to keep the larger context of the times in focus with the individual hardships people had to endure.

I almost want a sequel to see how these families came through the decade and how (if they managed) they got back on their feet. How many families did turn around and leave California? How many families of today are descended from those who stayed all those years ago?
What kind of family memory does that imprint upon the members to ensure this kind of devastation doesn't happen to the future generations of their family?

As a Canadian we have expressions like 'Grandma hoards odd things because she lived through the depression' but we weren't impacted the same way as the U.S and the Joads were. I cannot even imagine that type of upheval of your life and having to completely adapt your ways of survival. Would I be able to set snares and scrounge a living from the land? Probably not.

[Pepita]

This was a first time read for me although I had read another Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men many years ago. I found The Grapes of Wrath depressing but compelling; great development of characters and fascinating unfolding of family strengths and weaknesses in the face of such hardship; it had it all. The alternating chapter device worked well for context and served to underline the hopelessness of their situation for the reader. The saving grace was the resilience and hope of the family unit and I have a greater appreciation of the origins and importance of trade union movements.

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

Here is the link to the Book Drum page for this book. This is an awesome companion to the book. Especially check out the "setting" and "bookmarks" boxes.

http://www.bookdrum.com/books/the-gra...

[Alana]

Amy wrote: "Yes, the alternating chapters was a very effective tool to keep the larger context of the times in focus with the individual hardships people had to endure.

I almost want a sequel to see how these..."

I like how Ma often says that they are the kind of people who always survive and can't quite be crushed out. I think that's precisely because they (unlike me!) know how to live off the land and make the best of whatever life throws at them, and not turn their noses up at anything. They know when they're being cheated, but they also know how to muddle through. It's incredibly compelling because it's so darn raw and honest.