"Gonna get me a whole big bunch of grapes off a bush, or whatever..."

I felt like I was watching a movie. Generally, this is what it’s like when I read a book. But this movie, titled The Grapes of Wrath, was in slow motion. Adjective after adjective, adverbs upon adverbs. Initially, I struggled. Steinbeck’s style is so descriptive, it took some getting used to. Though I feel the story could’ve been less floral, the storyline made me recognize how fortunate I am.

The novel begins with dust layering precious crops. From there, hardship branches out into families and businesses. There’s little money, little food, little everything. How fortunate are we today, to live in a society where opportunity is in abundance? As I read, I kept thinking to myself, what would I do in this situation? How would I survive? If I was literally starving, I wouldn’t be able to easily get a job then, like I could today. I wake up and take a hot shower, brush my teeth, put on clean, decent clothes. This would be considered a luxury in those times, like when the Joad family is at the government camp and are thrilled at the idea of flushing toilets. So many people take things for granted now, but these people were so incredibly thankful for what they did have.

The Joad family provides the story with main characters. They’re forced to leave their Oklahoma residence, in pursuit of a better life in California.

“Gonna get me a whole big bunch of grapes off a bush, or whatever…” said the Grampa in chapter 8. This quote first made me laugh at the man’s ignorance, because grapes don’t come off of a bush. But I think that this quote encompasses this families desire to go to California. They were in pursuit of their “whole bunch of grapes”; like jobs, money, and nice white houses. However, they were expecting to get them off of a “bush”. They didn’t know what they were getting themselves into. This quote foreshadowed their many instances of hardship to and in California- death of the grandparents and Rose of Sharon’s baby, times of starvation, Noah and Connie’s absence, the list could continue for pages.

“But how could such courage be, and such faith in their own species?”

Throughout the hardships though, selfless acts also inspire faith in many individuals. Mae and Al sold bread and candy for fractioned prices to a family with young boys, and they were able to continue West with fuller stomachs. A family of 12 was fed and harbored to California by strangers. Rose of Sharon breastfed a complete stranger, saving him from starvation and restoring the stranger’s son with faith in the future. This recurring theme shed light on the darkness and depressing nature of the hard times the people of this time endured.