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March 2, 2009
Tom Bolshevisky
From the earliest chapters of The Grapes of Wrath I saw the socialist ideology emerging from the words of Steinbeck. Steinbeck writes: "If this tractor were ours it would be good--not mine, but ours. If our tractor turned the long furrows of our land, it would be good. Not my land, but ours"(151). Shortly thereafter: "Here is the node, you who hate and fear revolution"(151). Tom Joad's transformation from a law breaking convict into agragarian revolutionary willing to risk all for the good of all seemed rather shallow to me. The era of the great depression and those who struggled through the sad experience of the dust bowl affected not only those who made their living in the American Mid-West, but all over the country. It is of no suprise that Steinbeck used this communist ideology within his novel. During his lifetime he saw Socialist/Marxist regimes spreading all over Europe and Asia spreading the idea of agricultural reform--among others. Tom Joad is presented as something of a hero to the poor, however he has achieved this status by breaking parole and committing murder...again. At the end of the novel we see that the Joad family has fallen apart. To offset the failed ideology of the Joads, of Communists, Steinbeck offers a plethora of biblical symbolism to give some semblence of hope to an utterly hopeless and mis-directed group of people.
Posted by QuinnKerno at March 2, 2009 4:06 PM
Comments
That's the firsst time you got it? Really? Didn't you notice the constrasting red and gray of the landscape? Didn't you notice the RED ant biting the slow turtle? Didn't you notice that turtle crushing the ant and moving on?
Posted by: Kay at May 23, 2009 12:05 PM