The Joad In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

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For many of the migrants from the mid United States in the 1930’s, the prospect of going to California inspired hope and promise. These ideas changed when the migrants found out that the Promise Land was not all that they had hoped for. The members of the Joad family are prime examples of this very experience in John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. The Joads, a family from Oklahoma, plan on leaving their native state to go seek work in the prosperous state of California where the sun always shines. The Joads and the other traveling families would soon change their mind when they see that California was a place of despair and poverty amongst migrant workers. While the other members of the Joad family felt the change in mood, Grandpa, Connie, and Rose of Sharon most outwardly shared their changed thoughts on California. Grandpa, who never reached California, was overenthusiastic about going at first, then after a night’s time changed his mind. Connie, with the high hopes of getting a job in radio, broke under the pressure of having a baby and a wife to take care of, and took off. Rose of Sharon, looking forward to starting anew in California with her husband and unborn baby, lost her passion for California when her husband left. With the rest of the family, there…show more content…
The Grapes of Wrath follows the difficulties of Joad’s and their journey into a land they thought was going to bring a better life. Their whole views change though when they saw what California was really like for the migrant workers. Though these ideas were more externally shown by some, the whole family felt the change. The Joad’s are a fictional family, but there may have been families just like them in the 1930’s traveling to find a better life in the West. The Dust Bowl was hard on many Americans from the mid Untied States and their stories maybe just the same as the Joad’s in John Steinbeck’s Grapes of

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