Ideological Contradictions in The Grapes of Wrath (original) (raw)
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DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM: A MARXIST ANALYSIS OF JOHN STEINBECK'S THE GRAPES OF WRATH
Vidyabharati International Interdisciplinary Research Journal , 2021
The present study focuses on reading the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, in a Marxist perspective. The researchers have emphasised much on Marxian concept of 'dialectic materialism'. Dialectic denotes the contradictory opinions in the debate. Here, the conflict between Capitalist and Proletariat is seen as dialectic. The researchers use Marx's prediction of future history where the society will become socialist society. The research takes John Steinbeck as a socialist writer and perceives the novel as a 'political propaganda'. The researchers have analysed the work with different aspects of Marxism and especially the exploitation of the working-class and their way of resisting the injustice. Here, we see characters, Jim Casey and Tom are highly radical and therefore revolutionary. The novel moves towards a selfless society with humanity. Therefore, the researchers attempt to see a pattern of history which moves from a revolutionary form to a socialist form and eventually ends with a reconstruction, which is 'communist' paradigm.
The Dehumanizing Aspect of the American Capitalism in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath (1986
Himalayan Journal of Education and Literature, 2023
This study aims at examining the hardships undergone by a family of farmers, the Joads, evicted of the land they have been tied to for hundreds of years after being drastically affected by a drought. Being no longer able to stay in their homeland where they have no other source of survival than the land taken from them, they move to California during the fruit picking season to earn their living. Unfortunately, they experienced there harsher realities epitomized by hunger, rejection and injustice. Through the countless ordeals met by that family, Steinbeck uses the poor economic situation of the working class to unveil the inequalities that exist in the American society, and at the same time demystify the ideals that adorn the American dream. This work has followed a historical and descriptive analytical approach focusing on the aftermaths of the Great Depression and that of the Dust Bowl along with the description of the difficulties undergone by the Joads. In this analysis, realism and naturalism are also applied, the first one mirrors the true life of the American society, and the second one depicts the hard conditions of the working class. As far as the outcome is concerned, this analysis has revealed that people called capitalists in the novel, are financially rich but spiritually poor or even spiritually empty because they consider other humans as inhumans. In addition, the tough living conditions of the Joads family in the States has shown the dark side of the American dream.
The Seamy Side of American Capitalism in John Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath
2014
This article is an attempt to study Steinbeck’s vision of the American system of capitalism during 1930’s as causing the greatest economic crisis in American history. The study particularly observes the growth of materialistic values in this era. The main discussion concerns the dramatic journey of Joad’s family toward California as reflected in The Grapes of Wrath. With an interdisciplinary approach, the study examines the novel to comprehend the author’s view about his social phenomena. This is a kind of qualitative research in which the researcher applied library research on The Grapes of Wrath. The data gathered from bibliographical sources was analyzed and written descriptively to describe the seamy side of capitalism in America. The result of this research shows that material success is not the human’s only orientation in his life. The great depression and tragic life of Oklahoma tenant farmers were viewed by the author as due to the impact of uncontrolled American Capitalism ...
“We’re All Red” A Universal and Inclusive Perspective of Class Struggle in The Grapes of Wrath.
Although McCarthyism and the phrase “Red’s under the beds” had yet to be coined, John Steinbeck, in his novel The Grapes of Wrath, was able to illustrate an American society filled with fear of the Bolshevik Red menace. This menace was in a wholly different form though, that of the oppressed working class seeking basic worker’s rights. The Grapes of Wrath is as much a story about class struggles and oppression as it is a narrative on the complex economic turmoil during the Great Depression in 1930’s America. Steinbeck portrays the Joad family, abandoned by their current landowners, along with thousands of other families; they are part of a countrywide Exodus towards California - a promised land. Unfortunately for Steinbeck’s protagonists their story is as much about futility as it is despair. The Joads find that new conditions of oppression and new forms of struggles have replaced their old ones. The Grapes of Wrath is hardly explicit Marxist literature, but rather than being subversive the universal message and its infiltration into mainstream reading has made it a text that defines a whole generation of oppressed. In much the same way that Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels sought to enlighten the subjugated working class with The Communist Manifesto, a text that spoke to all Proletariat, Steinbeck’s is fundamentally a narrative that not only adapts Marxist theory but also reports it as a wider issue in its historical context. The fundamental social issue that Steinbeck portrays is class struggle and this message is meant to be as comprehensive as possible - including all that are oppressed.
John Steinbeck as a Radical Novelist
2008
The radical literary tradition of the 1930"s inspired many American authors to become more concerned with the struggle of the proletariat. John Steinbeck is one of these authors. Steinbeck"s novels throughout the 1930"s and 1940"s display a lack of agreement with the common Communist principles being portrayed by other radical novelists, but also a definite alignment with several more basic Marxist principles. The core of his radical philosophy comes in the form of his interest in group-man or the phalanx. An interest that is rather uncommon for the period, as most radical novelists were more concerned with illustrating the solitary nature of the proletarian worker. Over the course of his career this philosophy evolves, as can be illustrated through an analysis of In Dubious Battle, The Grapes of Wrath, and Cannery Row. In Dubious Battle is highly critical of Communist labor organizers, and sets Steinbeck apart form the radical tradition by questioning rather than supporting their motivation. The labor organizers manipulate the phalanx in this novel, and Steinbeck leaves the reader with the impression that the group-man is being corrupted. The Grapes of Wrath is also a socially motivated novel, with an abundance of Marxist undertones, but most importantly the novel provides Steinbeck with a better medium within which he can further examine the phalanx. Throughout this novel Steinbeck remains separate from other propagandists, as he supports his own agenda rather than that of the Party. Steinbeck"s communal exploration comes to fruition in Cannery Row. While the novel has received a relatively small amount of critical attention due to the common presumption that Steinbeck intended the work to be a diversion from war, the characters of Cannery Row provide Steinbeck with the ultimate vehicle to illustrate the importance of the phalanx. Together these novels represent the evolution of Steinbeck"s radical philosophy, particularly as it pertains to his vision of communal existence. While this vision of collectivity is what aligns Steinbeck with the most basic of Marxist principles, the mysticism he surrounds it with is what serves to set him apart from the more utilitarian communist appreciation of the phalanx. This argument will come largely in the form of analysis of Steinbeck"s mouthpieces, which are characters in the novels that illustrate Steinbeck"s philosophy either through speech or action. The conclusion of the analysis will show that Steinbeck is definitely a radical novelist, even though he is sometimes at odds with the tenets of the greater radical tradition.
langlit, 2018
Steinbeck's The GW describes in detail capitalist failure in the 1930s during the Great Depression with realistic manner of depiction. Starting from the bankers and landlords of Oklahoma, elucidating precisely the terror and horror of the rich over the poor farmers and tenants; to the camps and shelters of the migrants, referring with their name to the corrupt President Hoover; then after, explaining the bad condition of the poor in California as being immigrants in the state; and eventually, the novelist ends the novel up with the tragedy of the poor as they are starved and fought by the landowners of California who have imported foreign workers though the Okies are in an urgent need for work to live on with their children, nonetheless, their dirty treatment with the low class workers and the poor in general. On the other hand, Steinbeck further praises the human values and morals of the communism in the help and cooperation of one another and unification.
Racial Discrimination And Economic Inequality In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath
Int. J. of Aquatic Science, 2021
The present paper studies the theme of racial discrimination and economic inequality in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. The Grapes of Wrath portrays the plight of the working class during the Great Depression (1929). It highlights the problems faced by the farmers and migrant workers. The novel exposes the dehumanized and antipeople nature of the American economy, especially the financial institutions. The story is about the agricultural labourers whose livelihood has been taken away by machines and technology. They became jobless and shorn of resources for their survival. It is a story of the dispossessed Oklahoma family and their struggle to carve out a new life in California at the height of the Great Depression. Steinbeck is not openly calling for revolution or relying entirely on attacking the rich or supporting the poor; he is merely struggling to find a way to illustrate the necessity of one man to be willing and able to rely on another for support. The present paper focuses on the plight of economically underprivileged sections of society during the Great Depression era.