The Grapes of Wrath (Masterplots II: Drama, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Frank Galati
- First Published: 1990
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: The 1930’s
- Setting: Oklahoma and California
- Principal Characters: Tom Joad, Pa Joad, Ma Joad, Rose of Sharon, Granma Joad, Grampa Joad, Ruthie, Uncle John, Noah, Winfield, Connie Rivers, Al Joad, Jim Casy
- Genres: Social realism, Drama, History play, Tragedy
- Subjects: Family or family life, 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, Oklahoma
The Play
The Grapes of Wrath opens during a dust-obscured dawn, depicting the Dust Bowl conditions of Oklahoma during the Great Depression. Two unidentified tenant farmers, one on each side of a worn barbed-wire fence, survey their ruined crops as their wives watch them anxiously. This general setting then shifts to a narrative of the Joad family, with the preacher Jim Casy singing “Yes, sir, that’s my Saviour.” Returning home after four years in McAlster Prison for a homicide committed in self-defense, Tom Joad enters the scene and renews his acquaintance with...
[The entire page is 2224 words long]
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