Christiana Jenae Tait

HIS 112
Dr. Paul Davis
October 29, 2014
The Grapes of Wrath
Social injustice and distress make up a big part of Americas history. Lower class
individuals needs werent met like those of the higher class. Workers werent treated as equals.
Each struggled to make ends meet. In the 1930s, life took a turn for the worst. Farmers along the
Great Plains, sought the aid of the government. Though many deals were passed, many farmers
wound up losing their homes. The novel, Grapes of Wrath, captures a look into the life of a
family who lost their home during the Dust Bowl. Like many families they had to journey to
California to find work.
The Dust Bowl, was a time in Americas history when the Great Plains region was
devastated by drought in the 1930s. Other parts of America were still suffering from the Great
Depression. In the Great Plains, farmers were beginning to experience drought and high winds.
Greed had become a large part of farming along the Great Plains. Farmers were paid by people
of a higher social status to grow their wheat. But the more farmers worked fields, the more brittle
the earth became. Most of that earth should have remained untouched.
Suddenly, in 1934 the rain stopped falling and the once lush land became bare. Wind
storms were already a part of everyday life. This time they were different. When the drought
struck in 1934, the soil didnt have a strong root system to anchor it into the ground. So once the

wind storms came, they easily picked up the loose topsoil and swirled it into dense dust clouds.
With each passing day the storms increased. The winds covered 150,000 square miles. It
surrounded Oklahoma and Texas as well as parts of Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico . These
reoccurring dust storms began to cause many problems . The cattle began choking on the dust,
and people began to catch pneumonia. Many died as the dust filled the air and the homes of the
inhabitants.
In the Grapes of Wrath, we see the harsh effect that the Dust Bowl had on families. The
Joads are deceived into thinking that their worries will be forgotten once they get to California.
One of the biggest pieces I can pick from this story is the lies promised to the farmers. As years
past many people lost family members, livestock and even their homes. In order to survive
families were told that they had to pack up and travel west to California. They believed
California to be the land of plenty. A place full of jobs and opportunities for those who had lost
so much. That lie is spread through a yellow pamphlets passed out through a landowner from
California who was searching for workers. In great sorrow it both gives families a sense of hope
and no hope at all. Several different people help to push this lie of an easy life in California.
Throughout the story, the Joads are warned by people who were coming back from
California, that there was no work. But like many families they pressed on believing there was
nothing left for them in those plains. Many families didnt make it there. The Joads lost members
of their family with each passing day. Grandpa and Grandma had died on the road. Casy was
killed at a stop and had been hit it the head with an axe. Their oldest daughters husband
disappeared, and Tom left his family after killing two men. The Joads struggled to find food,
shelter, and stay together.

By the year 1940, approximately 2.5 million people who had originally lived in the
regions affected by the Dust Bowl had left to find work and homes for their families. Nearly 10
percent of these people moved to California. By the winter, the rain was so heavy in California
that it soaked and flooded the fields and orchards. The rain means there wont be any work until
springtime for people traveling to California. The Dust Bowl took a toll on many families. The
Joads had to leave their home and probably lost more valuable things on that road than they
would have if they had stayed.