John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath

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John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath

"And this I believe:

that the free, exploring mind of the individual human

is the most valuable thing in all the world.

And this I would fight for:

the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected.

And this I must fight against:

any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual."

In 1939, as the United States was nearing the end of the Great Depression, John Steinbeck had finished the infamous novel, The Grapes of Wrath. Although most of his works were based upon the poor, lonely and exiled, Steinbeck's biggest success came with The Grapes of Wrath, a story that honed in on migrant workers searching for their place in society as well as a place to call home. After he had written the book, many in America were able to comprehend the travesty of the Great Depression along with the devastating drought in the mid-west.

These events Steinbeck had written about were real.... the characters.... maybe not, but the way people were forced to live in that time period, was extremely real.

Steinbeck wanted to collect and research material for his novel, so he and his first wife, Carol, embarked on a journey, which lead from Oklahoma to California. Throughout the trip Steinbeck had seen roadside camps, diners, gas stations and used-car lots, which were eventually used in The Grapes of Wrath. This was also how he came up with the idea of writing about migrants. Steinbeck spent a month with workers in California, working with them in the fields and living in their camps, only to find that the conditions infuriated him, so he began a "protest" about the treatment and living conditions for migrant workers and the way they were treated by California ranch...