The Grapes of Wrath
by John Steinbeck
Quick synopsis: Due to the economic hardships of the Depression and the environmental terror of the Dust Bowl era, thousands of families were forced off their farms and headed out west to California, looking for jobs. This account follows particularly the Joad family, their particular times and travels.
After reading The Grapes of Wrath, I feel more American.
It's strange to think, feeling more American after reading a book about one of the most trying times in America, a book that is rife with segregation and bigotry, a narrative where being American means the land you own, and the land you own gets taken from you. But I do, because I've never read something more honest. Honest about American life, about the American family, about the American Dream, whatever that may be. And it's not pretty. It doesn't end well. What these people go through, what they are called, how they are treated and what they must do to survive--none of it's pretty.
But it's John Steinbeck, perhaps one of the greatest American writers of all time. So he takes humanity, as ugly and dirty and rundown as it was, and turns it into something beautiful, something marvelous.
Literarily (a word now!), this book succeeds because of its structure and technique. Steinbeck alternates each chapter using the "lyric mode," chapters mostly of exposition, where the main focus is either the land itself, the weather, or a collective "they," a group of people that are not particular nor distinct, but represent the overall condition typical of that time and those people. The action does not progress in these chapters; they are solely to take a respite, see it from up above. It's interesting that, although he makes these lyrical chapters anonymous, it still seems so applicable and personal.
I was most impressed with the use of 3rd person plural because I did something to that effect in one of my writing projects for last semester. I didn't do nearly as good of a job as Steinbeck, but this book proves it can be done (and what always gets me is that, I think doing something like that is so "new"--yet this was published in 1939!).
Another thing that Steinbeck does that I have not yet really attempted is the 3rd person omniscient point of view. He doesn't just limit the POV to one character, and he doesn't tell this story from the first person, but this story seems so personal. At times, I forgot it was from an omniscient, distant, disembodied narrator, how intimate it sounded. Of course, because this is Steinbeck, he has complete control over the scenes, so much so that it never felt heavy or weighed down by the many thoughts and feelings we are privy to; I never once was confused about who was thinking or doing what.
I questioned throughout reading this book why Steinbeck chose to do it in 3rd person omniscient, especially with the amount of characters that are on stage. It occurred to me that, had he written it limited to one person or from the first person account, so much would be missed; the bigger picture of the novel would be something completely left out due to the boundaries and restrictions of other POVs. Throughout the book, I felt Tom was the main character, but there are parts where he's not even physically present--how would those scenes be rendered if the POV was limited just to him?
Then the question remains: who is the protagonist in this book? Noah and Connie can be counted out. My sympathies lie most with Tom and with Ma (Ma being so feisty and fierce and crazy and loving and tender and strong, I love it). So does that make her the protagonist? Could the protagonist be the Joad family, as one entity? What about the 'Oakies,' collectively, all the thousands in the same boat as the Joads? Again: does it really matter?
I love this book for many reasons. One, I am fascinated by Route 66, and it is mine and my husband's dream to one day travel it from Chicago to Los Angeles. The chapters about Route 66 specifically made me giddy and excited for our future endeavor (and reading the very phrase "the Mother Road" in its original context was quite special, too). I also love the characterization of the many characters that come into play, how distinct they are just by what they say. And perhaps most of all, I love the honest humanity, the people and the life they lived, the tribute this book pays to the real families who made the trek westward, whose stories were probably never told.
I have more to say, but I don't even think I could conceptualize it all right now. I am glad I read it and finished it--throughout reading it, I was constantly reminded that I was in the presence of a masterpiece, and that alone made me want to keep reading.
John Steinbeck, this won't be the last book of yours I read.
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