The Grapes of Wrath Book Review

Despair, poverty, and determination take on a whole new meaning in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. The true emotions of the 1930’s American citizens are captured by Steinbeck as he follows one man’s journey through the infinite dust bowl. The effects of the Great Depression, the consequences of the Industrial Revolution, and the results of excessive cotton production have taken their toll on rural Midwestern farmers. As dust accumulates on dehydrated crops, money dissipates from people’s pockets. Thus, the giant move west occurs. Steinbeck gives the reader a genuine taste of life at this time.

The Grapes of Wrath won the Pulitzer Prize, and Steinbeck later won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 “...for his realistic as well as imaginative writings, distinguished by a sympathetic humor and a keen social perception.”. Steinbeck wrote this piece in California, where he spent much of his childhood. After working for nearby farms and truly getting a sense of the working class, Steinbeck went on to attend Stanford University. After discovering his love for literature, he moved to New York, only to discover that the publishing of his works there would be nearly impossible and returned to the West Coast. Many of his books were about the human psyche in relation to national events.

Although The Grapes of Wrath starts slow at first, it builds as one reads on, while at the same time engaging the reader. The detailed descriptions of life in the thirties are unsettling, yet also enlightening. As one reads the minute depictions of the “dirt crust [breaking] and the dust [forming]” (2), one begins to understand how treacherous life was at this time; the time when a penny meant a whole lot, and hard work stood for something. Steinbeck tells it like it was in a style that is entrancing. While marveling at Steinbeck’s imagery, one is also captured by his style of writing. Chapters begin to intertwine and sentences start to overlap, creating a puzzle-like feel throughout the novel.

This classic should be read world-wide, for it gives readers an idea of life beyond their own. An accurate depiction of 1930’s life in the Midwest, this book portrays what it was really like to be an American farmer at this time. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is willing to expand their range literarily.