America - The Other Side: Reading CaliforniaJohn Steinbeck (1939): The Grapes of Wrath
...apters alternate with interchapters which provide general information for the reader and give an objective outlook on the contemporary situation 5. Introduction of Characters 1. Grampa (William James Joad): violent old man, like a naughty child, dies in the first night and is buried by the roadside 2. Granma: dies soon after her husband while crossing the desert, corpse is smuggled on the truck, matched perfectly to Grampa, blind reverence for the preacher 3. John Joad: feels responsible for the death of his young, pregnant wife, addicted to alcohol - especially in troubled situations, life-lasting guilt, generous to kids - 2 - 4. Tom Joad sen., Pa: head of the family in Oaklahoma, low-educated, works with his hands, loses more and more his position as patriarch 5. Ma Joad: major character in the novel, farmer’s wife, mother of six children, housewife who is bowing to mens’ decisions, well-organized, desperatly keeps the family together, turns into matriarch, reversal of character 6. Noah: first-born son, taciturn and mentally retarded, leaves the family at Colorado River 7. Tom jun.: major character, protagonist (?), second son, killed a man in self-defense and was imprisoned for manslaughter, was sentenced to seven years, but dismissed after four on probation, he becomes an apostle of Casy and guides like Moses his people into the Promised Land, after killing Casy’s murderer he has to go into hiding apart from his family 8. Al: third son, 16 years, young smart dude, tries to copy his brother Tom in behaviour and appearance, lives for engines and girls, dreams of a work in a garage, leaves the family and pairs off with a girl 9. Rose of Sharon (Rosasharn): name from the Old Testament, teenage girl, married and pregnant, soon left by her husband Connie, her child is stillborn as she suffered from malnutrition 10.Connie Rivers: 19 year old husband of Rosasharn, wants to study "radio" and to acquire education, dreams of a decent job, a little house and comforts for wife and child, doesn’t want to continue the farming tradition, prefers to live in a town, rather than in the country, can’t stand the miserable situation anymore and runs away 11.Ruthie: twelve year old daughter 12.Winfield: youngest child of the Joads, ten years old, besides Rosasharn he suffers most from malnutrition, In California both, Ruthie and Winfield ought to visit school, but reality forces them to work with their parents on the fields to contribute to the living of the family. - 3 - 13.Reverend Jim Casy: third major character, Christ-figure, declares himself to be an ex-preacher, because he is disillusioned with human moralities, eloquent speaker, talks a lot, his creed is: "You gotta do what you gotta do", impecumious, dependant on the family’s charity, the Joads take him along, wouldn’t refuse hospitality, primitive reverence for the preacher, unwilling saint, imprisoned as a sacrifice, kind of leader of a forming union, killed in a fight with the police 6. The Joads Family-Tree Oklahoma Dust-Bowl Sallisaw 1. Grampa 2.Granma (William James Joad) U.S. Highway Route 66 3.John Joad 4.Pa John Joad Sen. 5.Ma 6.Noah 7.Tom jun. 8.Al 9.Rosasharn 10.Connie 11.Ruthie 12.Winfield 13. Reverend Jim Casy Promised Land CALIFORNIA - 4 – 7. Summary of The Grapes Of Wrath Grapes Of Wrath is a novel about fight and change and describes the exodus of a family clan fom Oklahoma to California. What seems to be the Land of Promise turns out to be a land of deepest misery, conflict and disillusion. Grandfather Joad chased away the Indians and annexed the land to be the Joads’ property. After generations and crop failures the Joads have to sell more and more of their land to survive until they are only tenants of their former land. As other poor farmers and tenants the Joads have been brought to miserable ruin because of the forced development of machinery. After the Joads lost the farmland and their house was torn down by a modern tractor, the family decides to leave and to migrate to California. Thirteen people set forward for their journey to an unknown Eldorado. Handbills distributed in their native country promise plenty of work and good wages. Fruitpicking is what they are supposed to do. Fruitpicking also promises no more hunger or malnutrition. Unfortunately nobody is aware of certain Californian peculiarities in agriculture: as the fact that every fruit or vegetable has its special time in the year to be harvested, for the rest of the year, there is almost no work left. Californian crops are extremely perishable so that they must be harvested on the day of ripening - not sooner or later. Picking season is short and as a result there are workers in excess and migrant workers don’t return home like Mexican workers. With a surplus of workers dumping wages is easily possible. It takes just a rumour about available work and it will sweep like a wildfire through the areas of migrant camps. Another problem is that plantations are far scattered over the country. But although jobs are often of hundred miles distance two days later the area is swamped with so many workers in excess that a harvest which ordinarily takes a month is finished in a week. Most Californian farmlands are in great holdings, operated by corporations or so-called landbarons. Labor-contractors foster the surplus of migrant workers by distributing handbills which lure people even in remote areas for lowest income. But the Joads don’t know anything about these problems. They have sold everything unnecessary or what they simply can’t take anymore on their truck. Actually their vehicle is not a real truck, it’s more of a makeshift. Steinbeck precisely describes the geographical stations of the long journ...