Welcome to the Grapes of Wrath Blog. Remember, for full credit you must reference the novel.
What does the setting of the opening scene suggest about the rest of the novel? What does it suggest about family structure?
Animals play an important symbolic role throughout this novel. What important qualities does the land turtle have as described in Chapter 3?
The opening scene describes a scene which originally is calm and at peace however it gradually is changed into a storm. The slow change in which the storm is formed and made apparent shows us the pace for event later on in the story. Steinbeck builds up to action as he does with the line "A gentle wind followed the rain clouds, driving the northward a wind that softly clashed the drying corn. A day went by and the wind increased steady and unbroken by gusts. Page 2" This slow movement into the coming destruction of the years crop is his effort to take time in the events occurring. Towards the end of this same chapter the description of a family reacting to the damage is shown. The general reliance on the man of the family is shown quite clearly.
ReplyDeleteThe turtle is a pathetic little animal his slow and ineffective movements seem to show the struggles of Joad. The turtle is described as slow but sturdy his awkward and difficult to manage however he gets where he is going. In addition to this he is durable after being hit by a semi he simply rolls back over and keeps going this is a crititcal statement.The idea that the turtle is able to recover and press on will obviously be important later on.
Because the setting of the novel starts out with flaring sun, withering cornstalks, weeds, and dust, the reader can almost immediately tell that the novel will base its plot, setting, and characters around the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s. “The surface of the earth crusted, a thin hard crust, and as the sky became pale, so the earth became pale, pink in the red country and white in the gray country.” This quote describes just how desolate and dry the dirt is. I predict the setting will give the characters many obstacles to overcome. As far as the family structures, Tom Joad is trying to get back to his father’s farm, only to realize that it has already been deserted. Like many of the families during this historic time, the harsh drought, industry, and fear of the future, caused many of the families to crumble as if made of dirt. Joad, newly released from prison after four years, has to reunite with his family who was living with his Uncle John, find some kind of a job, and somehow keep everything from falling apart.
ReplyDeleteThe symbolic role of the turtle represents the farmers and families who were so devastated by the Dust Bowl. The turtle makes treacherous journey across the road, much like the great migration to California during this time. Three important qualities the land turtle has are; its “old, humorous eyes”-always looking ahead, its “hard legs and yellow nailed feet”- strong in overcoming obstacles and always sticking to the path, and its hard shell- making a trail in the dirt, just to see the progress it’s made. Because the turtle was not killed, it will most likely be important to remember, or it will reappear later in the novel.
The setting of the opening scene is that of a calm oncoming of desolate dust storms. With the elegant description of constant death set by Steinbeck it is apparent to the reader of the stories potential intentions. He writes, “To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth. The plows crossed and redressed the rivulet marks…In the last part of May the sky grew pale and the clouds that had hung in high puffs for so long in the spring were dissipated.” These opening lines were obvious foreshadowing in the tolls that were soon to come. Later on in the chapter Steinbeck explains, “During a night the wind raced faster over the land, dug cunningly among the rootlets of the corn, and the corn fought the wind with its weakened leaves until the roots were freed by the prying wind and then each stalk settled wearily sideways toward the earth and pointed the direction of the wind.” As I read on, in my opinion this direct quote was a symbol for family and its structure. It speaks of roots being pulled out, and the stalks left facing toward in the direction from which the wind had blown, which correlates just to what the Dust Bowl had done to families. It had uprooted them, and the wind in the family’s case was facing towards the common word of California, which they wished to go but were stuck as if they were the corn stalk lying on the dirt, because of the lack of money. Suggesting the weakening of family structure, not being able to uphold.
ReplyDeleteThroughout chapter 3 Steinbeck writes an in depth description of the battles and hardships throughout a land turtles traveling. Amongst the hurdles that are physically thrown in its way such as the large cliff it has to climb, and the scurrying caused by the purposeful hit of a truck, the animal manages to always keep pressing on. Through these traumatic events and just in it’s traveling comes the obvious signs of the turtle’s important qualities. Such as, determination, the ability of not giving up despite hardships, and its constant fight to protect itself through all. It seems to me that all of these important qualities are not only shown throughout the land turtle but correlate directly into the important qualities in which Joad withholds.
Steinbeck describes the land of Oklahoma as "the red country and the gray country." He paints this intense picture of totally deescalated land. The dust is everywhere, “gophers and ant lions started small avalanches.” Its so try the corn has thin layers of dust on it and its “became less stiff and erect.” At the end of June they have the hopes of rain, but very little falls. Instead they got a great wind the pulled so much dirt into the sky that the next morning “the dawn came, but no day.” Dust was making its way into the houses though invisible cracks and leaving thin layers of dust on tables but no where else. The image is that Steinbeck is able to loge in you brain so effortlessly is completely depressing.
ReplyDelete“The woman studies the men’s faces secretly, for the corn could go, as long as something else remained.” The women knew they could face that drought as long as their husbands did not break. “The children stood near by, drawing figures in the dust with bare toes, and the children sent exploring senses out to see whether men and women would break.” The children are doing the same things their mothers are doing.
The opening scene of this novel imposes two distinctly different things upon the reader. The first is the hardship that will be present within the book. The dust is almost a foreshadowing of tough times to come. The sun is blotted out by clouds of earth in the air, leaving a shadowy land that portends nothing but privation and suffering. This first chapter also shows the strength of the family dynamic in the book. Children, wives, and husbands all seem to have a deep understanding of each other. The women are supportive of the men by leaving them alone to think, and the men do their best to support the women by working and worrying over their crops. Family will obviously play a large role in this novel.
ReplyDeleteThe symbolism of the land turtle is twofold. First, the nature of the turtle is meant to represent the dust bowl farmers. It struggles stubbornly along, never giving up even when there are obstacles in its path. The land turtle was able to overcome the obstacle of the road and hoist itself up onto the tarmac, even though its legs where stubby and its body heavy. The second bit of symbolism is when the light truck deliberately sideswipes the turtle. The turtle is attacked, in a sense, by modern technology (the automobile) and sent spinning off the road. However, the turtle is able to pick itself up and continue along its way. This is representative of the farmers who are being kicked off their land because giant tractors, plowing enormous lots, are far more efficient than small family plots which are plowed by mules and planted by hand. These Dust Bowl farmers are resilient though and so even though their house is sideswiped by a tractor, just like the turtle, they will pick themselves up, dust themselves off and continue stubbornly along the path of life.
I would also like to touch on the subject of the “spear-shaped seed” which the turtle transports from one side of the road to the other. It is my opinion that the seed is symbolic of the culture of all the families fleeing the Dust Bowl. This seed is taken with them on their long journey, which is symbolized by the hot tarmac that the turtle tries to make its way across as quickly as possible. Finally, this seed is delivered to the opposite side of the road (California) and planted by the turtle, clearly destined to grow and flower as the culture of Oklahomans would have prospered in California once given the chance to take root.
The second part of my blog post...
ReplyDeleteI was in portland for volleyball all weekend and just got home late last night so i finished it as so as i could.
The land turtle in chapter three represents the journey or migration to California. The turtle may represent the journey the Joad family is going to have to take, and I hope that it does because even though the turtle has a hard time trying to get to the other side he is able to turn himself right side up and he makes it safely to the other side. Even if Joad’s journey is hard its nice to know that it might end well.
Upon reading the first few chapters of this novel, I had the intuitive foresight that it would be an epic one, and one unorthodox. I feel that the setting and culture of the characters will make the story very interesting. It is very relatable. I am very intrigued by the writing style as well.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I feel that the first scene of the story gives my perceived foresight a gloomy twist. In this first chapter, it describes adequately the setting, and how the region they live in is plagued with terrible dust storms, as it takes place in the historic Dirty Thirties. The dust storms make life in the region extremely grueling and difficult for families residing there. It seems that it almost sets up a theme of hardship, for families and individuals; for everyone. Although the entire families were affected, it is particularly the men of the households who bear the brunt of the challenging tasks. They are the providers, the live-givers, and they have to wear the pants and make the decisions for the family. And these dust storms make it increasingly more difficult for them to fulfill this obligation to provide. Still, everyone perseveres. It mentions at the end of the chapter that "Women and children knew deep in themselves that no misfortune was too great to bear is their men were whole. ... The men sat in the doorways of their houses... thinking-figuring." In this, i think that there is still hope and courage for these people, even though the elements are against them. They still know everything will be alright. So, i thing the theme will be somwhat similar to hardship, and the guiding force is the characters' perseverance.
Another connection to this notion of hardship as a theme is chapter 3, with the exerpt about the turtle. In this chapter, the turtle struggles to make it's way up onto the road to continue its journey, but only to be faced with excruciating challenges. First, it must struggle up and over the concrete curb, and even once it does that, a truck clips it's shell and sends it careening down to the ditch again, this time on his back and helpless. This is a hardship even for the most seemingly trivial characters in the book; the animals. This, for me, just reinforces the thoughts i had before about the theme of hardship. This turtle is an indirect reference to the lives of the characters; they are struggling to get across the road of life in the midwest, only to be tossed into the ditch of oppression on their backs a few times first.
Also, another thing that i have noticed about this novel so far is how the characters and events of each chapter correlate in one way or another with eachother. From the driver of the truck taht picked up Joad, to the turtle, to Joad picking up the turtle; it is all very bizarre. I just felt that i needed to note on this matter.
The opening made me a little bit sad because the farmers haven’t anything to do. The dust comes into the farmhouses by night and during the day they can just stare at the fields full of dust wondering how the family can survive. So I would suggest the rest of the novel is about how they survive. In the family the man is the “important one”, like he is doing the work for money and the woman stays at home and cares about the children and household.
ReplyDeleteBefore we discuss the turtle chapter in school I couldn’t make the connection to the book. I thought the turtle was a person who is travelling and Joad is a person who is travelling and on the way to California to have the chance to begin new and have more luck with farming, because it’s dry in Oklahoma. I like how Lauren described it that both have a hard way to go the turtle just to the other side but its hard for her and the Joad family has a hard journey to California but it ends good hopefully