What is the significance of the setting in the opening chapters of The Grapes of Wrath?

The first five chapters are designed to set up the narrative technique Steinbeck will use during the course of the novel. He will give a large picture of masses of people who left the Dust Bowl and relocated in California This begins in the first chapter by describing the harsh dust bowl conditions in Oklahoma. The setting shows the physical problems the families face if they want to stay of the land their families have farmed for years. The "ruined corn" and the "dust covering the earth like a blanket" show how unsuitable the setting has become for human habitation. In the second chapter, Steinbeck begins to tell the personal narrative of one family caught during these terrible conditions. The scene first takes place at a truck stop where Tom tries to find a ride home. He is totally unprepared for what he finds when he gets home. His family has been forced off their property and have moved in with his Uncle John. The third chapter returns to the larger story with the story of a turtle trying to cross the road. Although this chapter may seem out of place, it serves to show how the turtle, who is a symbol for the Joad family and other like them, are able to deal with the harsh setting. Because of their "hard shells", the Joads are able to deal with the harshest environments, even with people like the truck driver, who tries to kill the turtle on the road. Chapter 4 returns to the traditional narrative as Tom sees the horrible dust covering the land and meets Jim Casy, who will play an important role later in the story. Chapter Five, which occurs at another tenant's farm, once again shows how the conditions of the land have changed so that tenant farming in no longer profitable. As one family looks on they are horrified to see their home totally destroyed by a tractor operated by one of their own people. By describing the setting and horrible conditions of the setting, Steinbeck sets up the reasons why the Joads and other families must move and try to settle somewhere else.

Which era in American history is The Grapes of Wrath set in?

John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath takes place in America during the 1930s. This was a tumultuous and terrifying time for many Americans. People all around the country were dealing with the Great Depression and people in the Great Plains were also confronting the Dust Bowl.

Let's start with the Great Depression. The 1920s were a prosperous period for many Americans. However, by the end of the decade, stock prices were getting out of control. There was no reasonable way that these stock prices could correlate to how much money there actually was.

Prices quickly declined until October 24, 1929, when the stock market crashed altogether. This date is now known as Black Thursday. The crash led to years of economic hardship. At one point, twenty percent of Americans were reported to be without a job.

Now, let's move on to the Dust Bowl. In the 1930s, over-cultivated land, lackluster land management, and an extreme drought resulted in a series of dust storms across the Great Plains. Also referred to as "black blizzards," these storms forced families off of their lands. Many left for California, where they thought they could find employment.

As the Joad family demonstrates, the period of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl was one of remarkable exploitation and hardship.

When was The Grapes Of Wrath written?

The Grapes of Wrath was written in 1938 and published in 1939. It is set in Oklahoma's dust bowl era of the 1930s, and the images that the book portrays of sun-baked, dusty terrain terribly unsuited to growing crops are historically accurate.

While it is not a true history, because the Jord family are figments of Steinbeck's imagination, it portrays a historically accurate view of the tough choices which would have been faced by many families in Oklahoma at the time.

Steinbeck's masterpiece tells the story of the Jord family, who depart their home in the dust bowl of Oklahoma and head to California hoping to find proverbial greener pastures. The family suffers much along their journey, including the death of Grampa, and they do not even have the money to pay for his burial. Granma later dies as well.

Upon arrival in California, they learn that there are camps full of people looking for work just like them, with bosses more than happy to exploit laborers and pay them next to nothing. The rest of the story is one of devastation, with nothing ever working out for the Jord family or their companions. Life in California proves to be a typical story of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.