Steinbeck's
epic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, is usually considered as
a negative portrayal of the adverse effects of the Great Depression
on human psyche. This paper, however, looks at the novel as
being essentially affirmative as it is a fictional construct
of Steinbeck's belief in the `uplifting' role of literature,
as unequivocally declared in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech.
Though the novel starts with the evocation of the dust bowl
in Oklahoma, there is always a flicker of hope, resulting
from man's determination to survive in the face of hostile
nature and heartless exploitation by fellow men. This article
examines the strategies for survival presented by Steinbeck
in his novel. The strategies include the strength of the family
and its expansive role of embracing all the families; the
emergence from self-centeredness to altruism; and the reversal
of traditional roles assigned to the male and female members
to meet the altered situations. The approach adopted by the
chief figures in the family—Ma Joad and Tom Joad—is reflective of Jamesian `pragmatism,' coupled with flexibility. The solution for exploitation suggested by Steinbeck was unity among the exploited migrant labor, which recalls the Vedic declaration, sanghe sakthi kalau yuge. The final solution for the problems created by nature and fellow men lies in bringing heads together rather than in breaking them.
The poignant evocation of the economic wasteland resulting from the Great Depression of the 1930s in America by John Steinbeck (1957) in his epic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, has by and large been considered as a negative document, but it is possible to view it as an essentially affirmative message for positive action. Steinbeck (1969), in his memorable Nobel Prize acceptance speech, emphasized the `uplifting' role of great literature. |
