This LONG chapter covers many topics including the following:
1. blaming the President for the woes of the country,
2. nonconformity leads to dangerous consequences,
3. the disintegration of the family,
4. and the slow death of the American Dream.
Choose one of these topics and show how this theme is true not only in the text (use textual support), but also in our modern times. Do not repeat anyone else's answer.
We're 2/3 of the way done. I hope you're seeing why this novel is one of the best in American literature. Steinbeck's style is amazing!
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2) When a person speaks up about the workers banding together to raise the wages they are immedieatly put in jail. If you try to get a group together to talk about fighting the low wages you will be put on a black list which goes around and no one will employ you and your family will starve. In today's world in America noncomfority makes life very hard. If you choose not to like the government, they would suspect your against the government and plotting evil schemes against them. The government therefore will make your life as hard as possible while they watch every move you make closely and put you in prison if you do the smallest crime.
During the Dust Bowl, many simply blamed the President and other high level officials for their problems. Although these people seemed like easy culprits, the true problem actually lies in middle and bottom level authority. Earlier in the book, one of the Joad's neightbors plows down others houses to make a living, and Tom wants someone to beat up, so he keeps asking who his boss is, and who his boss answers to. Each person in the situation feels that they are guiltfree because they are simply doing their job, and that problems can be blamed on those with more authority. This is faulty, everyone is guilty in this situation, as evidenced when the policemen arrest men on false charges in chapter 20. Today, the same problem is evident. People continue to blame Bush for all of the nation's problems, and although he certainly isn't perfect, everyone needs to stop blaming those higher up on the authority chain and realize that passivity or simply blaming others isn't going to make any progress.
2. nonconformity leads to dangerous consequences.
This is very true. When workers would go on strike for whatever reason, better hours, better pay, longer vacations, whatever it maybe, they were always in some way, shape, or form, punished. Which means for some of them, they cannot feed their families. If they cannot feed their families, then, all hope is lost, and they have to find another source of food, and income. Whether it be bum money off of someone untill you can pay them back, or find another job. In which case the first is unrealistic because that would mean you would have to pay them back, and they may want interest. The second may not be very realistic either because if you were the one who started the strike and/or riot, the "higher authorities" may contact other "higher authorites" and you may not have a job again.
Thus, the dangerous consequences
When a family is put under stress it will deteriorate either slowly or rapidly. The Joad family was together until Uncle John got drunk and wanted to stay and suffer till his death. THen Connie left to look for a job, but left the family unsure of his return. Even today if a family reaches hard times it might plit up into divorce or other ends.
1. During the early years of the Great Depression Mr. Herbert Hoover was the president of the United States. We can see in the book that the Hoovervilles were full of tragic conditions. These encampments of migrants are called Hoovervilles because a majority of American citizens were not satisfied with Hoover's actions to help the nation through. Today, many Americans are discontented by the way that Bush is handling the war in Iraq. Americans continually, sometimes wrongfully, accuse the highest man on the totem pole, who in this case is the president.
4) The slow death of the American Dream started for the Joad family when they finally realized that California wasn't what they had expected. The scenery was beautiful but there were no jobs that paid enough to support the whole family. Hunger and pain soon set in as they lived in the Hooverville. The dream of a new house and a prosperous job soon were thrown out the window. Today in society many things can come in between the American Dream. People may be rejected by the college that they want to attend which may lead to a lesser paying job. The love of your life may leave you lonely for another. Death may take ones close to your heart. There are so many factors that could keep you from the American Dream.
2. In the novel, Muley Graves is a great example of noncormity. He chooses to defy the government and live off the land. Unfortunately for Muley, this decision was not only dangerous it prevents him from ever seeing his family again. He has to hunt his own food, fight starvation, constantly run from authority, and live with the loneliness that can drive people to insanity. Noncormity in society today also can be dangerous. Those who go against the government, especially in Communist countries are punished, ultimately by death. Even those here in America who choose to put speak for what they believe, but what may not be what everyone else believes is taking a dangerous risk of criticism, and even worse, death.
Blaming the President, so many are guilty of this. I personally love to point my finger, just because like many other Americans, am not aware of the hundred other issues dealing with what I blame him for. So many people blame the President, because they forget there is other people who help make choices for our country. The President does not decided when a nature disaster will strike, or when a stock will crash. He decides what is the best as a whole, not the little things. Like in the book the President is blamed for the struggles of America, President Bush is blamed for the war,and being attacked on 9/11. No one ever has a real reson for blaming him, or atleast nothing better than "he is stupid," or "he is a Republican," or even because of his lacking of public speaking skills. No matter who the President is, he will always be blamed, that comes with the job.
Non-conformity leads to dangerous consequences. To go against the flow of what is considered the "norm" is not always popular. It is considered rebellion and sometimes odd. This often results of being outcast by those who do conform and this can result in losing the support of your family or the support of the community and country. I think about the Iraq war and the lady who made bad moral choices in her sons life when he was young. Now he went to fight in the war and was killed. Now the lady is boycotting the war and has caused division due to her choices of the past and is found standing alone in her cause. Those who don’t conform are sometimes left alone.
1)I simply can not agree with the before mention comments. If a president's job is not to lead America in times of peril then what is his purpose. Congress is to slow to take any effiecent action. It is up to the president to provide a solution in a crisis sitution. Steinback does blame the president for causing such unforeseeable disasters as poor crop turn out or drought, but does blame him for the failing to aid the migrants in their time of need and allowing society to succumb to the dark side of capitalism. As in today, Bush can not be blamed for the occurence of Katrina, but the fault does lye with him and FEMA -a committee under his jurisdiction- for their slow response, mismanagement of the situation, and lack of leadership. The point of the president is to lead his people out of the catastrophes. If he is not such prowess, then he need not aply.
"The role of the government is to provide the people with what they cannot provide themselves."
- Abraham Lincoln
The American Dream is hard to kill, because it is hope. It seems that the American Dream is getting ahead in life, getting a good job, providing for your family, owning a house and a car. The Joad family’s dream begins to die when they first hear news of the true California. Not the land of milk and honey, but of despair and filth. They cannot let their dream die however, because to do so would mean death. To chase after something that is not there is much easier to do than to accept reality and inevitable fate. When one has nothing to lose, then all is to be gained; even the smallest bit of hope. Many people today pursue the American Dream even if it may be unreachable. I would like to be a millionaire, will I reach the goal? Probably not, but with hard work, maybe I can.
The slow death of the American Dream is evident in this chapter, and in this chapter their dream life dies altogether for the Joads. To answer this question I must pose another question, what is the American Dream? I believe that it was different than it was back in the Dust Bowl Era. To the Joads the American Dream was living in California, being able to buy their own land, and make enough money to survive. The chaotic events that occur in chapter 20 do not leave any doubt that the Joad’s American Dream is over. The lack of a funeral for Grandma, the cruelty of the police, and the conditions of the camp where they stay are all examples of the chaos that shatters the Joad’s dreams’. As you can see the death of the American Dream was not an exclusive ordeal. The thousands of migrants staying in camps and Hoovervilles support the idea that the American Dream was dying. Not only was the American Dream dying but the hope of the American Dream was also dying because too many people were losing faith in it.
The American Dream is also dying today because the standards of the American Dream rose since the Dust Bowl Era. Today the dream consists of an upper-middle class family with two children, a white picket fence, and a dog named Spot. This fairy tale picture is not always the case. Nowadays there are more single parents, families torn apart by alcohol or drugs, and less reliability upon the family is more evident today. This is why I believe that the American Dream is set up on a pedestal so high that it is unattainable to reach.
1. Society will always contain those people who only know how to complain. It seems that all throughout history, Americans blame the leaders for anything and everything that goes wrong. In the past and present, people thrive on blaming others for their distress. People in the book were always looking to blame their misfortunes on someone, and no one was going to willingly stand up and accept responsibility. Fingers search for someone at which to point, until landing upon the president, because there is no one above him, and he is such an easy target. During the Depression, and now during the war, the president receives more criticism than anyone else, even though Congress plays a major role in the actions of our country. But, when put into perspective, why would the president intentionally put his country into a situation that would lead to such devastation? Humans are not perfect, and only humans can be put in charge. Once again, stability and control come into play. When people feel out of control of their life, they need something solid to cling to, in this case, the faults of the sole leader of our country.
In Chapter 20, the disintegration of family is a prevalent theme. Towards the end of the chapter, Ma herself claims that, "The fambly's breakin' up." The reason for this is derived from various causes. First, Noah stays behind at the river in Chapter 18. Proceeding throughout the novel, it seems the, "Family's fallin' apart," as Ma mentioned shortly after learning about her eldest child's decisions to stray away from the family. Connie mysteriously disappears in Chapter 20 leaving Rose of Sharon devastated. When the family wants to move once again, Rose of Sharon seriously contemplates going with the rest of the family, afraid that she will not see Connie again. Plus, Pa talks badly of Connie because he runs away from the rest of the family proving the irritability that is encompassing the family. Then, to make matters worse, Tom and Al have to run away from the authorities after a fight with a deputy. Ma worries that Tom and Al will not return leading the family to disintegrate even further. Plus, Uncle John which another head-honcho of the Joad family leaves to get drunk. When Tom finds him, Uncle John tells about how he wishes he were dead, sleeping forever. Therefore, many factors play a role in the degeneration of the Joad family.
Crumbling families are also becoming more and more common in the twenty-first century; many of the reasons the Joad family seems to break up are still present today. For instance, it is becoming increasingly common for family members to leave the family. As Connie left Rose of Sharon, exceeding numbers of fathers seem to be leaving the women who carry their unborn child. The cause of this may be the fact that it is becoming more common for people to have children without being married making it seem that there is not as strong of an attachment. Also, as Al and Tom fought with the deputy, many children are forced to live with the fact that one or both parents is in jail/prison for various reasons. These reasons can be similar to the fighting of Al and Tom to the use of illegal drugs. As Jessica Sheahon mentioned, American families are also being torn apart due to alcoholism. In Chapter 20, Uncle John gets drunk making the family more irritable and worried when he says he would rather be dead. Therefore, the problems that seem to be breaking down the Joad family in The Grapes of Wrath, are still present today in one form or another.
America has a reputation of being the best, the most powerful, the most advanced, and the land of opportunity. Many of the immigrants at the time of the Dust Bowl did not know of America's hardships. They came to work and support their families, but like the millions of other immigrants at the time, they were forced to get a low-paying job as a tenant farmer. The low wages of such positions cannot even begin to cover the journey of the immigrants into this country, and the weight of their debt slowly crushes the American dream. We find this to be true in immigrants today, who have to lie, cheat, and sneak their way into this country. They have to create new identities, avoid federal regulations, and sometimes cannot even acquire jobs, or put their children in school.
1. The president is the leader of this country and thus a natural choice for blame when the country is in bad shape. The president during the time of the Dust Bowl could have done more to help with the labor issues in the West because of the surge in population it should have been a priority. The president now has so many issues to worry about. The War in Iraq is a perfect example of people blaming the president for the woes of the country but it is not only him that is supporting such a war. Their are many others besides the president that support the war and did nothing to help the West during the Dust Bowl
Society point their fingers at the president simply because he is the most recognizable political figure. They may not know what they are critisizing him for, but they think that he is making stupid decisions. I don't understand why the majority of Americans accuse Bush of being ignorant when they are, in fact, the ignorant ones. The majority of Americans probably don't know anything about politics, they just know that they vote for who they want to be president.
Early in the novel we discovered that people wanted to be mad at somebody for their problems but they couldn't figure out who they were supposed to be mad at. The president has more power than any other one person in the country so he is an easy target to lay the blame on. Even when the fault is usally not actually his, people blame him so they have someone to be mad at.
1. In the book, Steinbeck consistently has the characters blaming someone higher, in a financial or power sense, for the problems that they cause others. Unfortunately for the President of the United States, he is regarded by the general public as the highest power. If they were thinking clearly, they would not only blame the president, but the whole system of checks and balances, all the way through Congress who legislates the laws and the Supreme Court who enforces them. However, in this time of hysteria, the public looked for one person to blame, not a plethora of scapegoats. Because of this, all of the blame was rested on the President.
This approach can be compared to any time of crisis in the history of the United States, especially if it could be directly linked the government. I think of the Vietnam War, when Lyndon Johnson was unpopular for his support for the war. Clearly this can be compared to the current situation with Iraq, as President Bush's ratings have noticeably plummeted from what we can assume as his support for continuous conflict in Iraq. It is technically unjust, but persists regardless.
1) This is definetly one of my favorite topics: blaming our "wonderful" president. First off though, the blaming of the president during the 1930s.
President Hoover was so disliked by his fellow Americans, that the squallid camps that many of the Great Depression area was knighted with the fouled name Hoovervilles, in honor of the President himself. The blatant disregard for Prez Hoover is quite relevant to American's increasingly low approval (or high disapproval rates) of President Bush.
Of course, blaming the President is one of the things we Americans do best, but that is one of the hazards (and sometimes, perk) of the Oval Office seat. The president mey be the most visible leader of the country, but so many others simply forget that there are TWO other branches of the government with the power to check the president's decisions, and ultimately, his power.
Of course, who would even bother remembering about those other people, who had at least equal say in the matter? Let's all just blame the president and get it over with already.
The slow death of the American Dream is illustrated in the chapter as the Joad family continues to realize that California isn't everything they ahd hoped. In society today, this is synonomous to the situation regarding the dreams of today. The American Dream is mocked as America performs contradictory actions. For example, violations of civil liberties destroy faith in core American values and disrupt faith in the government.
The disintegration of the family also leads to the fortification of the family. As more and more relatives leave, that just means that there is one less mouth to feed, and one less person to have to worry about.
the disintegration of the family
By this chapter, the Joad family is basically falling apart. Grandpa, Grandma, Connie, and Noah are all gone for one reason or another. It is kind of expected due to the hard conditions and the pressure of actually keeping the family together. I think that the hard they push to keep together the farther the family is going to spread. Al talks about running off and getting a job at a garage and getting himself a girl to get married to. And Tom wants to leave so he doesn't bring trouble to the family from his past.
The disintegration of the family is something that has been happening since the beginning of the book. When Tom was in jail, the family was split for some time, and it was about to be split for good but Tom managed to get out early. The family keeps disintegrating as the book goes along because first, grandpa dies, then, Noah leaves the family, next, grandma dies, and last, Connie leaves. Throughout the book, there have been times when members of the family have also wanted to leave. Ma even admits that the family is breaking apart.
Families that are being pulled apart are being pulled apart in similar but different ways. Divorce rates are high in the U.S. and thats definately a problem to the family. When there are many problems to be faced, some families give up. In the book, the first one to give up is Noah. Connie gives up because he seems to be afraid of what will happen to his life. Uncle John also feels like giving up but Tom does not let him. Ma has shown the group leadership, but it seems like she is starting to breack.
3) During the chapter, the situation facing the family began to worsen and the members of the family began to realize that they could possibly do better without the burden of the rest of the family. This caused Connie to leave, and tempted Al to leave the family also. Ma understood that in their current situation they would not last long at all without the comfort of the family unity to cling to when times get hard.
This same situation is faced today by many immigrant families, especially those from Mexico, who work low paying jobs such as meatpacking, and have large families to support. Often times, the main food producer in the family will realize that his/her life would be better if he simply left his/her family and attempted to make a living on his/her own. This may be true that it is easier to make money when one does not have a large number of mouths to feed, yet the remaining members of the family are greatly affected by such a loss and many times will fall into ruin. Leaving ones family also has a terrible effect on the individual in the event that they run into financial trouble or trouble with the law; without a family to turn to for support, the individual with quickly turn to other alternatives to deal with their problems such as alcoholism or drugs.
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