The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck

In my unprofessional opinion, The Grapes of Wrath shouldn't be assigned to high school students.  I can’t imagine trying to relate to homeless farmers in the 1930s as a suburban teenager, without any experience as a working man.  The essence of this book is economic corruption and the strength needed to survive during times of misfortune, something that anyone without ever having a job and paying bills would not likely find important.  Even if they did, it’s written by such high standards that a teenager probably wouldn’t understand the real message behind it.  If you are a teenager and who happens to enjoy this for everything it stands for, then kudos to you, young scholar!  

The Joads are a highly symbolic American family, forced off their land and motivated to start new lives in the promising haven of California.  After the Dust Bowl, many mid-western families like the Joads were evicted because they could no longer farm and the land was owned by banks.   The Joads headed west on Route 66, finding typical family hardships more difficult due to the fact they have very little money.  The American banner of a better tomorrow gives them hope, but Steinbeck does an excellent job showing how that banner can be as much an illusion as a blessing.   

I liked Tom Joad a lot.  He reminds me of myself in some ways- angry when treated unfairly, looks out for his friends and family, isn’t afraid to get down and dirty, rebellious against the establishment, newfound spiritualism catalyzed by the ex-priest.  When I look back on this book, I can still imagine good ole’ Tom roaming the empty flatlands of America, boundless and free yet trapped and hungry, an emblem for all the generations of laborers and unionizers that have stood up to all the exploitative bankers, pinhead politicians, and brutal police forces throughout American (and world) history.  Tom doesn’t know exactly how things got to be the way they are, but he doesn’t like it, and he’ll do anything he can to get even.  His spirit lives on in the hearts of each and every one of us, even those in the upper echelons of society.  For if they were walking in his shoes, you know they’d do the same.