I am just curious as to ways you think he did or did not. Do you think the storyline follows historical conditions and experiences of that era? I think it does but it is a book and on some level, it was made to be entertainment, not a textbook. So how much is unrealistic or exaggerated? Thanks for your thoughts!
PS. My question is my thesis question for an essay I am writing. Do you think this is a strong thesis? Any suggestions for my essay?
2007-09-02 09:24:45 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
I'd say it's a good thesis question. I think Steinbeck did an excellent job of portraying the Great Depression, at least as far as "The Dust Bowl" and the "Okies" are concerned. The novel shows how the capitalist system wasn't working and it calls for reform.
In my opinion, The Grapes of Wrath gives an excellent portrayal of the life many families had to survive through during the turbulent times of the 1930s. It clearly shows how the culture and economy affected the lives of many, specifically tenant farmers.
2007-09-02 09:34:34 · answer #1 · answered by johnslat 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Your thesis premise sounds good. I didn't like the book when I read it. The Depression is how some one reflects on it today. My parents lived through it and their perceptions are different. Why, because they lived in New York and Indiana. People from other states were affected differently. It is all perception on some one's part. In order to really see the Depression in your mind's eye, you have to see how it affected other people all over the country. The Grapes of Wrath were to a point accurate, but only to a point. As you said it was made to be entertainment. In reality it was very hard on people who had no experience with poverty, hunger, and no place to live, as opposed to those same situations happening today. And that would make a great thesis too, comparing the homeless out of work today with those of the Depression era in America, don't you think?
2007-09-02 10:10:33 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That was one of the strongest things about the writings of Steinbeck, he was totally realistic. He didn't have to make up what happened during those times, he used the reality of the times to show how awful the conditions were. The book may be a work of fiction in the story of the people, but the struggles that they went through were real for the people at the time.
I'm not sure exactly what the thesis of your essay is, so it's hard to give you any direction. Sorry.
2007-09-02 10:18:47 · answer #3 · answered by lochmessy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What Steinback was trying to portray had nothing much to do with the depression. It did chronicle the migration of poor farmers and their families from the dust bowl states. The depression had very little to do with them. They never did have anything and after a few years of everything they planted being blown away they were starving, losing the land or their leases. They came from Oklahoma and Arkansas by thousands and both the book and the old black and white movie were very accurate representations of the trials and prejudices they faced. The ones that made it here in the mid-twenties like my family had never had as much or lived as well where they came from as they did out here in California through the depression. Never. You will understand this better if you will take a minute and look up "The Great American Dust Bowl". It will make you appreciate the strength, courage, and resilience of those familes a little better to know that they survived these last 90 years still families.
2007-09-02 09:56:20 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bob . one among my ALL TIME faves . living in the airborne dirt and dust bowl & then moving to California in the melancholy had to have been a tough life . Steinbeck's " East Of Eden " additionally replaced right into a winner . great author & made the pages come to life . Oh , Henry Fonda starred in Grapes : action picture . great actor for that area happy weekend D :)
2016-10-17 12:27:57 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Over the last five years I had begun to have increasingly withdraw into a downward spiral of depression..
But now with the method I can fully focus my energy and thoughts into a decisive line on how to make my life better constantly. And it works like magic! I'm beginning to attract people to me once again and things have just been looking up since then.
Helping you eliminate depression?
2016-05-16 11:42:40 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes I think he did. However he used a very interesting story wrapped around his descriptions. Pax - C
2007-09-02 09:36:06 · answer #7 · answered by Persiphone_Hellecat 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋