Discussion Question 8-The Grapes of Wrath

I think that the book does accurately reflect the events and history of the time period. The book clearly shows a time when jobs were scarce and money was very hard to find and earn. Most of the cars in the time period were old and broke down quite often. Gas prices were very low and food was very low compared to what they are today. I think the book does a good job of showing how events in the past have changed since then to the present day. Many relationships and responsibilities are present between the citizens and the authority of the towns. The citizen’s main job is to work and to earn money. They are looking for a way to live, so they travel to stay alive trying to find work along the way. The authorities are mainly in charge of keeping the citizens in check. If they do not pay their bills, the authorities have the right to take their house and kick them out, leaving many families with nothing. They have the right to kick citizens off the land if they are camping along the sides of the road. They have the ability to break up fights and take people to jail. They also have the right to break up camps, which was a major issue because the people in the camps did not know where else to go. Clearly you can tell the line between the people who are in charge and the people who are just trying to make a living. The relationship between men and women is very clear in the beginning of the story. The men were in charge of thinking of plans and fixing everything up, while the women watched an observed, took care of the children, cooked, and cleaned. Throughout the story the women, especially Ma Joad, became more outgoing and spoke their ideas to the men and expected them to listen and follow. That helped the family a lot because Ma Joad actually knew what she was talking about. I think the people who struggled to make a living and those living in poverty were the ones that influenced the author. I think that the times were there were no jobs and everyone started losing hope influenced the events in the story and the idea of faith is one of the main ideas that influenced the author throughout the story.