The Grapes of Wrath (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: John Steinbeck
- First Published: 1939
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: 1930’s
- Setting: Midwestern United States and California
- Principal Characters: Tom Joad, Jr., Pa Joad, Ma Joad, Rose of Sharon (Rosasharn), Jim Casy
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism
- Subjects: North America or North Americans, Suffering, United States or Americans, Social issues, Depression, economic, 1930’s, Despair, Hope, Poverty or poor people, California, West, U.S., Farms, farmers, or farming, Death or dying, Migrant labor
- Locales: California, Midwest (U.S.), Oklahoma
The Story:
Tom Joad, Jr. was released from the Oklahoma state penitentiary where he had served a sentence for killing a man in self-defense. He traveled homeward through a region made barren by drought and dust storms. On the way, he met Jim Casy, a former preacher; the pair went together to the home of Tom’s family. They found the Joad place deserted. While Tom and Casy were wondering what had happened, Muley Graves, a die-hard tenant farmer, came by and disclosed that all the families in the neighborhood had gone to California or were going. Tom’s folks, Muley said, had...
[The entire page is 2460 words long]
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