Independent Reading Grapes of Wrath 4

From what I have captured from this book is that life doesn’t go as planned, and there will be many obstacles in the way, but you just need to find what makes you happy and work things out.  Life moves on one way or the other.  The families struggles show that as long as you stick with your family and work hard, things will be okay.  Alike the symbol of the character’s name Rose of Sharon, she is very optimistic and believes everything will turn out great.  Even though the family experiences tragedy after tragedy, the family continues to do what is best for it.  They are constantly on the search for a job, or food, or shelter, anything to benefit and help the family.  Many of the other families in the same struggle are very brutal and harsh to each other, however the Joad family is very hostile to others, sharing food and shelter, and even taking along another couple on their journey to California.  In the end, the family is still strong and together from what is left and the book ends with Rose of Sharon yet again helping out another person and nursing a man to health.  I came to understand that this was the theme of the book since the mood of the entire book is gloomy and always has some tension until the last scene where after everything bad that has happened, especially to Rose of Sharon, it ends with a smile on her face. Some of the methods I learned from Nabakov, Prose, Foster, O’connor, and Perrine were to read using a dictionary, read word for word, and paying attention to sensory details.  Reading with a dictionary at hand made a big difference on how I understood the book.  Even though I can use context clues and know a fair amount of the words, have a dictionary changed the book.  The little details and understanding the exact definition and the proper definition can completely change the meaning of a sentence.  Also, reading word for word changed the reading experience for me as well.  Even though this seems pretty straight forward, most of the time I just read.  But when I read a little slower and make sure I read and understand everything, whole new ideas can be taken from this.  Reading the book word for word also helped extract the sensory details that I would have not otherwise noticed as well if I hadn’t been taking the time and focus while I was reading the book.  Certain details I would have most likely just skipped and wouldn’t take in, but the sensory details create a much more powerful image and got me more engaged in the book and a feel for the environment which helps to understand the book better.  “Two gasoline pumps in front, a screen door, a long bar, stools, and a foot rail.  Near the door three slot machines, showing through the glass the wealth in nickels three bars will bring.  And beside them, the nickel phonograph with records piled up like pies, ready to swing out to the turntable and play dance music…”  This quote was from the beginning of a chapter giving a setting of what the bars along the highway were like.  Most times I would breeze over this type of information, but these details helped me understand the setting and what it was like for the people and understanding the characters.  When a picture is drawn in my mind, it pulls me into the book and I make connections.  This specific scene reminds me of many old western movies and what the stereotypical bar on the highway down south would be like.  I would recommend this book because this book was written in a very different and engaging way.  There were times that the book was very slow and hard to read but somehow managed to keep me interested.  There was always a struggle somewhere in the book that made me want to know what was going to happen next.  I like books that are realistic where not everything always works out so you never know what to expect.  This adds some suspense and since everything is realistic, it doesn’t leave the reader upset or questioning whether something like that could actually happen.  The book also brings the reader to the time period and creates a powerful image of what life during the Great Depression was actually like.  I would give this book a 7/10.

Independent Reading Grapes of Wrath 3

“The Grapes of Wrath” written by John Steinbeck ends in an odd yet satisfying way.  The book ends with the oldest son returning to organize migrant workers while he is being hunted down for killing a police officer and the job had just killed his friend and role model.  The family has lost many members including the daughter’s husband who ran away and left her pregnant which later turned out to be a miscarriage.  The family has traveled from Oklahoma to California with many struggles.  Once they get to California, they find out there are no jobs but they keep trying.  In the end, they still don’t have a job and wont for at least another 3 months since cotton season is over.  I think this was the perfect ending for a book like this.  Even though it ends with many questions dwelling and no real solution to their problem, it stays in character.  The book ends with one of the only positive moments in the entire story.  The family remains jobless and without food and a small shelter in a boxcar.  This seems no way to end a novel, however, for this particular book, I enjoyed the ending.  If the story were to continue, I don’t think it would really lead anywhere and wouldn’t have much to live up to.  From what I see happening if the book continued, is that the police kills Tom and the family remains in the same position until everyone gets sick and dies.  This sounds awful but I think this would be the reality of the story.  All of the crops around are dead and the Joad family is not the type of family to steal crops of food from others.  They would continue to look for a job as they are the type of family that doesn’t give up, but unfortunately it wouldn’t provide them with a job since cotton season has just ended leaving thousands more jobless with thousands of others doing the same thing and working for a wage so low they couldn’t support a family.  At this point, the family truly has no other options.  Especially without someone like Tom, who helped make the journey to California possible.  They also have no other place to go.  They can’t go home because nothing remains in Oklahoma.  I think the book ended the best way possible.  The book had no other lead than to hopelessness and tragedy for the rest of the family.  With the last smile from Rose of Sharon, the reader is left satisfied yet curious.  I’m still curious to know what the smile from Rose of Sharon means.  Her name is another name for Jesus, so could her nursing the man back to health mean that this is the start of a new beginning?  

Independent Reading Grapes of Wrath 2

Tom is one of the main characters in the novel “Grapes of Wrath” written by John Steinbeck.  I found Tom to be the most interesting yet mysterious character in the book.  In the beginning, Tom’s actions are of no surprise and a lot like what you’d expect someone who was just released from prison like, however, as the story continues, Tom constantly surprises the reader with is actions.  The story begins when Tom is released from prison and comes home to his families farm only to find out that his family has left the farm behind for their journey to California in seek of jobs during the Great Depression when the crops were all dying from the lack of rain and no one had money.  One of Toms first encounters was with a truck driver.  The truck has a sign that says “no hitchhikers.”  Tom responds “sure—I seen it. But sometimes a guy'll be a good guy even if some rich bastard makes him carry a sticker.”  This quote shows Tom’s intelligence and his attitude.  This is something you’d expect from someone that has just been released from prison.  He is the stereotypical hard guy coming from prison.  Soon you start to see another side of Tom.  Tom also has a soft side and is a family man.  He does what he can to help his family and takes the role as a leader.  You see one of Tom’s first acts of leadership and handiness when the truck breaks down.  “’Well, we got to tear the pan off an’ get the rod out, an’ we got to get a new part an’ hone her an’ shim her an’ fit her.  Good days job.”  Tom is the type of person anyone would want when going on a trip like this.  He is extremely handy and the family would not be able to make the trip without Tom.  He is very protective of his family and leads them the way.  Tom becomes good friends with a former preacher and takes on many of his values and philosophies.  When the preacher is killed, Tom retaliates and kills a police officer.  Tom’s violence has been fairly mild until this point.  After Tom has already been safe and run away, Tom decides to return and once again put himself at risk to organize the migrant workers, what the preacher was doing before he got killed for it.  I wouldn’t say Tom developed immensely as a character through the story but more during the time he spent in prison.  Tom seems to have always been a leader, but the time in prison and meeting the former preacher, has made Tom more protective of his family and wanting to do good for other people.  

Independent Reading Grapes of Wrath 1

The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, is about a struggling families journey to California in seek of jobs during the Great Depression.  The family faces many troubles on their journey as they must leave their home behind, losing many loved ones on the way, and having to sleep on the side of the road with very little or no food.  Once they arrive in California they discover that there are no available jobs and must live in several different camps to survive.  In the end of the book, the family remains jobless and lives in a boxcar on a farm.  A reappearing symbol in the book is Rose of Sharon.  Although, I am not very familiar with religion, from what I understand, Rose of Sharon is another name for Jesus. The book is centralized around finding new beginnings.  Jesus is the mark of a new era, and the book is about a family seeking a new beginning.  She is married to a man name Connie.  Rose of Sharon is always speaking of how great their life will be together once the baby is born and they get to California.  She has it all planned out and believes everything will be okay.  “We got it all planned up what we gonna do…Ma, we want to live in a town. Connie gonna get a job in a store or maybe a factory. An’ he’s gonna study at home.”  Ironically, none of this occurs.  Connie runs away and suddenly Rose of Sharon realizes the responsibility of having a child and brings a lot of stress to her.  She is constantly worried about the health of her baby.  Surprisingly enough, she has a miscarriage.  When everything goes wrong, this was least expected to me because so much has gone wrong it seems like the baby is the one thing to bring light in the book and that her name resembles Jesus, which brings life to earth.  The book takes an odd turn as the family finds a starving man in a barn.  Rose of Sharon uses her breast milk to nurse the man back to health.  “Her hand moved behind his head and supported it.  Her fingers moved gently in his hair.  She looked up and across the barn, and her lips came together and smiled mysteriously.”  This is one of the only positive moments in the entire story and happens in the last sentence.  The family is still living in a box car, with no jobs guaranteed for at least the next 3 months since cotton picking season is over, and many people in their family either dead or gone, but yet the book ends with a smile.