by Kris Koeckritz

Created on: March 12, 2010

The Dust Bowl of the 1930s, whatever the cause, has brought about a general sense of despair on all it affected.  With “Of Mice and Men” already a major success, John Steinbeck once again concocted a stark story of reality and the true themes of life.  The novel follows the movement west of the Joad family, a small group from Oklahoma who has been evicted from their homes by the bank, who has claimed all farming property and forced out inhabitants.  Breaking his parole from prison for homicide, Tom, the most prominent character in the family, decides to join them and take the risk of getting caught.  The family also decides to take along a now-former preacher and family friend, Casy.  Steinbeck meanwhile uses considerable detail to describe the backgrounds of the various family members, giving us a glimpse of their personalities.  Al, for example, being the most vehicle-friendly in the group, decides to drive the family’s converted Hudson truck, an unreliable truck which has Al constantly listening for problems.

Another of the most prominent characters is simply known as “Grandpa,” as he is indeed the grandfather of Tom.  He is generally described as a cranky old man with a dirtier mouth than most at his age, and constantly shouts rather crude comments out loud to amuse himself.  He quickly grows on the reader however, for he is often described dreaming of the wonderful things he will do in California, such as stuff large handfuls of grapes into his mouth.  Though the reader can plainly see Grandpa does not want to leave the land (even more so than the rest, because he considers it the land of his heritage), his wistful fantasizing symbolizes the hope the family shares for what California will bring them.  Their dreams are fueled all the more by masses of handbills claiming work for thousands of men waits in the West, and the family sets off in that direction on Route 66. 

It here seems appropriate to mention Steinbeck’s curious use of seemingly-unrelated side-stories.  One such story, for example, features a lone turtle on his way across a highway.  Though a woman in a car swerves to miss the turtle, a man in a truck (previously seen giving Tom a ride to his house) swerves to hit it.  He strikes only the edge of its shell, however, and the turtle plods on, later to coincidentally find Tom, who carries it in his pocket.  As unconnected as this may

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