The Grapes of Wrath is a movie that was originally a novel by John Steinbeck that exposes the desperate conditions under which the migratory farm families of America during the 1930’s live. The movie tells of one family that migrates west to California through the great economic depression of the 1930’s. The Joad family had to abandon their home and their livelihoods. They had to uproot and set adrift because tractors were rapidly industrializing their farms along with the erosion of topsoil to create “the Dust Bowl”. The bank took possession of their land because the owners could not pay off their loan. The movie shows how the Joad family deals with moving to California, how they survive the cruelty of the landowners that take advantage of them, their poverty and willingness to work. The government, and political figures also abuse their powers to maintain such a lack of balance of power between the workers and businessmen, and yet some branches of the government protect the workers.
During the Dust Bowl, hundreds of thousands of southerners faced many hardships, which is the basis of the movie. John Steinbeck wrote this fiction novel to portray the harsh conditions during the Dust Bowl. The
Dust Bowl occurred in the mid-west part of America, especially in Oklahoma.
Such people in Oklahoma who lost their jobs from the Depression and eventually the Dust Bowl were called “Okies.” The mistreatment of the
“Okies” in The Grapes of Wrath can be concluded as being valid. During the
Red Scare, Americans mistrusted other Americans, especially certain government organizations. When one man was telling the “Okie” group that the pay and jobs are minimal in California, an aristocratic or government official accused the person of being a communist. This represents the hate of the communists in the view of the government.
In The Grapes of Wrath, the Californians wanted to rid the “dirty” Okies from California because they were afraid of them. They were afraid that the
Okie would take their land. Even the California police beat them for no just reason because they wanted the Okies to leave the state. The police, shown as corrupted thugs, killed Casey because he was “agitating” the public.
Certain government organizations were aware of the harsh living and pay conditions that was upon the Joad family, and yet they tried to suppress it.
Essay on Themes of House on Mango Street, and The Bluest Eye
Disturbing Themes of House on Mango Street, and The Bluest Eye
Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago and grew up in Illinois, the only girl in a family of seven. Cisneros is noted for her collection of poems and books that concentrate on the Chicana experience in the United States. In her writing, Cisneros explores and transcends borders of location, ethnicity, gender and language. Cisneros writes in lyrical yet deceptively simple language, she makes the invisible visible by centering on the lives of Chicanas, their relationships with their families, their religion, their art, and their politics. Toni Morrison, born as Chloe Anthony Wofford in Ohio in 1931 changed her name because it was hard for people to pronounce it. She was the second of four children, and both of her parents migrated from the South. Morrison is best noted for her novels, short fiction, being a lecturer, teacher and public servant. She writes using deft language and her lyrical writing, exploring the African-American middle classes and folk culture.
Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street, written in 1984, and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, first published in 1970, are both aimed at adolescent audiences but deal with deep, often disturbing themes about serious social conditions and their effects on children. Both books are told in the first person; both narrators are young girls, living in destitute neighborhoods, who witness the harsh realities of life for those who are poor, abused, and hopeless, although the narrators themselves manage to survive their tough environments with their wits and strength intact. The books are more than simple literary exercises written merely to amuse or delight their audiences.
Both authors attempt to provok…
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Of the two books, Morrison’s is by far the more effective for both adolescent and adult audiences. Its characters and settings are fully, painstakingly drawn, it has a powerful thought-provoking theme, and it has a clear plot which can inspire its audience to laugh or cry. A reader can get deep into the minds and actions of the characters as well as the environment they live in in The Bluest Eye and find a series of newspaper articles, sometimes vaguely touching or thought-provoking, capable, perhaps, of inspiring discussions about some of the issues it touches on, but essentially too minimal and impersonal to inspire any deep emotional reaction in it readers.
Works Cited:
Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. 1stVintage Contemporaries ed.New York: Vintage Books, 1991.
Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1993.