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JOHN STEINBECK (1902-1968) - Coggle Diagram
JOHN STEINBECK (1902-1968)
LIFE
born in Salinas, California
left university and started his writing career, then back to California
denounced in Congress for his radical social criticism and Transcendentalist views
1962 was awarded the
Nobel Prize for literature
WORKS
1929
Cup of gold
based on the life of the buccaneer Sir Henry Morgan
1932
Pastures of Heaven
during the Great Depression
1933
To a God unknown
1935
Tortilla flat
public attention
1937
Of Mice and men
1939
The Grapes of Wrath
about the trip from Oklahoma to California with a group of migrant workers. He lived and worked with them in a camp
1945
Cannery row
1947
The Wayward bus
1952
East of Eden
The Grapes of Wrath
PLOT
Tom Joad
has served a sentence in the Oklahoma state penitentiary for killing a man in self-defense. On his way back home, he meets the former preacher
Jim Casy
and they reach Tom's home together, but they find it deserted because all the neighbourhood families are looking for work in California.
The character of Tom Joad inspired a lot of singers
Rage against the machine
Bruce Springsteen
Tom and Casy meet Tom's family and join them on their way to California. Granpa Joad dies of a stroke at the first stop, Tom's brother Noah runs away, Grandma dies during a night trip across the desert.
They move into Hooverville migrant camp but they find it hard to find a job. Rose of Sharon, Tom's sister, pregnant, is abandoned by her husband. The family moves to a government camp, where they are treated as human beings.
They move on to a large farm where workers are protesting against exploitation. Casy, who was the leader of protesters, is killed and Tom kills a deputy. Tom hides and, before leaving to fulfil Casey's dream to organise the workers, has a last conversation with his ma.
The Joad family joins other workers in abandoned boxcars, but as the rainy seasons begin they are forced to leave. Meanwhile, Rose of Sharon gives birth to a baby boy. They walk until they reach a barn where they find a baby boy and his starving father. Rose of Sharon feeds the milk with her breast milk.
TITLE
a quote from the American patriotic song
The Battle Hymn of the Republic
, in which God is summoned to make justice
Grapes: the promised land of California, from grapes of hope to grapes of wrath and anger
SETTING
The Great Depression years and the American states devastated by the Dust Bowl, a drought that left farmers with few crops
THEMES
journey as a quest for a better land
family and brotherhood
preserving self-respect
rage and dignity: man can't lose his dignity if he keeps the sense of injustice
NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE
anonymous narrator
shifts of points of view
characters as types rather than individuals, described from the outside