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Man and Earth The Grapes of Wrath is a novel by John Steinbeck that exposes the desperate conditions under which the migratory farm families of America during the 1930 s lived. The novel tells of one family's migration west to California through the great economic depression of the 1930 s. The bank took possession of their land because the owners could not pay off their loan. The novel shows how the Joads family deals with moving to California, and how they survive the cruelty of the landowners that took advantage of them, their poverty, and willingness to work. In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck connects man and earth through three examples: the small farmer s need for earth, big corporation s need for earth, and the earth s weather according the migrants. The Joads family and other small farmers need the earth for nourishment.
The earth provides a means of survival. Through their blood, sweat, and tears, the Joad's provided their own family s wealth. They had a better understanding of the earth because all their effort was poured into it. They loved, hated, and cherished the earth. The connection was strong because the earth was part of them, one of the family. This is why it is so difficult to leave their land when forced off.
The Joad's know it is their land and no one has the right to take what they own. Another small farmer along with the Joad's is Muley Graves; Muley refuses to be driven off his land. Muley hides away from the police after his farm is taken away. Muley represents an unbelievable strong connection with the earth. He d rather live like a sneaky spy and give up his family than he breaks his connection with the earth. The big corporation need the earth for profits.
The first example is the bank. Contrary to the small farmer, the bank s connection to the earth is extremely weak. The bank is distant from the earth in corporate offices. It s connection to the earth is through the small farmer, who works on the earth while the bank owns it. Big money makes the big decisions De La Soul. The bank forces the people off of the earth when profits run low.
These superficial ideals are the cause of the fragile connection between the bank and the earth. The second example is the land owners in California. The owners manipulate the earth for profit. They drive off small farmers who cannot afford to harvest his crop. Like the banks, the owners connection to the earth is also frail; due to the fact that the owners hire chemists and other workers to make his land more profitable.
The migrants are underpaid and treated unfairly because the land owners only care about materialistic profits. Steinbeck depicts the earth s weather in the first and last commentary chapters. The opening chapter paints a vivid picture of the situation facing the drought-stricken farmers of Oklahoma. Dust is described as covering everything, smothering the life out of anything that wants to grow. The dust is symbolic of the erosion of the lives of the people. The dust is synonymous with deadness.
The land is a ruined way of life (farming), people uprooted and forced to leave. Secondly, the dust stands for profiteering banks in the background that squeeze the life out the land by forcing the people off the land. The soil, the people (farmers) have been drained of life and are exploited. The rains that come at the end of the novel symbolize several things. Rain, in that it is excessive, in a certain way fulfills a cycle of the dust which is also excessive- in a way nature has restored a balance and has initiated a new growth cycle.
This ties in with other examples of the rebirth idea in the ending, much in the way the Joads family will grow again. The rain contributes to the theme by showing the cycle of nature that gives a conclusion to the novel by showing that life is a pattern of birth and death. The rain is another example of nature against man; the rain comes and floods the living quarters of the Joad's. In opposite ways rain can be helpful to give life to plants that need it to live. Depending on which extreme the rain is in; it can be harmful or helpful.
This is true for man, man can become either extremes bad or good depending on his choosing. Steinbeck is portraying dissatisfaction for the huge corporations, and their corruption for materialistic entities. The reader can t help but feel the sympathy for the small farmers forced into poverty by the large business. This is still true in the current society. For example, Bill Gate s Microsoft multi-billion dollar company placing a monopoly on smaller, less-profitable companies.
One has to feel a bit of remorse for the little guy, and a sense of disapproval for Microsoft and its unlawful tactics. In the 1930 s and in the current society, money rules the world. Although this may seem to be a has thought, it is the realistic truth. Unfortunately people have evolved into believing that materialistic possessions are the heart of success.
Steinbeck tries to reveal that this couldn t be further from the truth. Will society ever realize that these superficial things don t control one s life? No, because that would ask for people to give up their prized possessions, and return to the simplicities of life, a task to difficult for man today. 326
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