Example Of Book Review On Review On The Grapes Of Wrath

Jane Doe

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The first few chapters of the book set the tone for the struggles that arise throughout the novel. One of the main characters, Tom Joad is released from prison after a four year incarceration for manslaughter. His return to life is unwelcoming with the grim realities that he will begin to grasp on his drive home from the prison. The Oklahoma landscape looks dry and desolate because of the horrible droughts that have devastated the region. Bankers have forced farmers to abandon their land and homes, forcing the majority of citizen to move west to California, where talk of opportunity exists. Tom catches a ride with a driver who carelessly fills him in on the pathetic situation that the folks of Oklahoma are in and have dealt with.
The setting of the book is poignant to the story because it is the driving force behind the trouble that the Joad family experience in their move to California. The Oklahoma atmosphere is lifeless and without much possibility, the emptiness that one can visualize while reading the book is exploited heavily in the writing style. Steinbeck does an excellent job of his display of a difficult time in history for the era known as the Dust Bowl.
Steinbeck uses a narrative point of view in telling the story. The tone he sets displays the image of desperation of a people living in a hopeless condition. The entire experience from start to finish gives the reader a genuine sense of the difficulty that these characters go through. His creation of the main characters in the book shows that conflict will arise because of the rebellious nature inherent in the individuals. Clearly John is a tough man with high morals, and not very fearful of much. We can see that John’s mannerism becomes a useful trait as the story develops. The preacher Casey is also a feisty individual who does not hold back much, and this also becomes a central point in the conflicts that arise.
Lastly, Steinbeck uses a turtle crossing the road nearly getting killed as a symbol during the earlier chapters of the book. The turtle that almost gets killed as it is slowly crossing the dry dessert road is symbolic of the travels and hardships of the Joad’s and other families during the Dust Bowl. Many of the individuals face death in their transition to the new state. The turtle is saved by John, which again is representative of John’s role as the savior for the people in California as the problems arise.

Reference

Steinbeck, J., & Herman Finkelstein Collection (Library of Congress). (1939). The grapes of
wrath.