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The American Dream in The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
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The American Dream
- Students will understand how the concept of the “American Dream” plays a role in The Grapes of Wrath .
- Students will reflect on what the “American Dream” means to them and if/how it plays a role in their lives.
- Students will gain an understanding of what life was like in America during the 1930s.
The “American Dream” is a constant theme in The Grapes of Wrath , although Steinbeck may have argued that in the case of the Dust Bowl refugees like the Joad family, it was more of a California Dream. This concept is important to understanding the novel and the motivation of the characters.
By reflecting upon the meaning of the “American Dream,” students are taking the time to be introspective. This activity can be done at any point in the unit.
Materials Needed/Preparation
The Grapes of Wrath
Estimated Time
3 class periods (can be shortened)
- Journal/writing topic: What does the “American Dream” mean to you?
- Discuss and have students volunteer their responses.
- What does the “American Dream” mean?
- Consider developing a definition that the entire class can agree upon (this may be useful for Day two). As much as possible, allow the students to create this definition.
- As homework, students interview a parent or other family member (some of whom may be immigrants). Students should develop their own questions. It may, however, help to create some starter questions as a class (see below).
- How has the “American Dream” been a part of your life?
- Journal/writing topic: After your interview, did your idea of the “American Dream” change?
- Have students share their journal responses and their interviews.
- As homework, assign students a mini research report on a topic relating to American culture during the 1930s. Possible topics include:
- Music, art, literature, migration, the economy, hardships, Hollywood, etc.
- As homework, students are to research information about their topic for presenting to the class. Consider collaborating with the computer/technology teacher. Students should be encouraged to bring in pictures, music samples, statistics, charts, etc.
- Have students present their findings to the class.
- Be certain to pay close attention to whether or not students are presenting any inaccurate information. If so, correct that information once the student has completed his/her presentation.
Post Activity/Takeaways/Follow-up
- Students should have a more vivid picture of life in America during the 1930s.
- Students should have an understanding of the “American Dream” and how it plays a role in people’s lives, including their own.
- While reading through the novel, refer back to student presentations on life in the 1930s and on the “American Dream.” Does life in The Grapes of Wrath seem similar to, or different from, what students learned in their research and presentations? Does the “American Dream” play the same role as it does in the lives of students and their families?
- Have students consider whether or not the “American Dream” is unique to the United States. Consider utilizing the Four Corners Debate format .
- Compare the dreams and aspirations of the Joad family with Lenny and George in Of Mice and Men .
- See The American Dream activity from the Of Mice and Men curriculum for more detail.
- How thorough was the interview? What questions, beyond the basic ones, were asked? Did the student gain an idea of how the “American Dream” has been a part of the life of the person interviewed?
- Keeping in mind the amount of time students were given to research, how thorough was each student’s research and presentation? Was the research and presentation on topic? Accurate?
California State Content Standards Met
- History and Social Science Content Standards 11
- ~Students analyze the different explanations for the Great Depression and how the New Deal fundamentally changed the role of the federal government: 3
Common Core State Standards Met
- Reading Standards for Informational Text 6-12
- ~Key Ideas and Details: 2, 3
- Writing Standards 6-12
- ~Research to Build and Present Knowledge: 7, 8
- Speaking and Listening Standards 6-12
- ~Comprehension and Collaboration: 2
- ~Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas: 4, 5
- Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 6-12
- ~Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: 7, 8
Related Lesson Plans for this Work
Provide students with empathy, sympathy, and a greater understanding, during any point of the novel, of the characters and situations surrounding death.
Steinbeck’s concept of dignity is something that can be lost or gained, and an essential element to society.
Examine the characters who left the family, their motivations, the results of their departure, and determine if these characters betrayed the family.
Trouble Makers
Examine the conflicting motivations that poor migrant workers like the Joads endured.
Letters Home
Examine the push and pull factors families faced during the Great Depression and express those understandings in the form of letters home.
Identity Charts
This activity helps students to understand characters and their motivations through the use of a graphic organizer.
Character Webs
Character Webs are graphic organizers that help students to gain a deeper understanding of the characters and the connections between characters.
Help students understand characters and their motivations through the use of a graphic organizer.
The Grapes of Wrath
John steinbeck, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.
Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.
The Grapes of Wrath: Introduction
The grapes of wrath: plot summary, the grapes of wrath: detailed summary & analysis, the grapes of wrath: themes, the grapes of wrath: quotes, the grapes of wrath: characters, the grapes of wrath: symbols, the grapes of wrath: theme wheel, brief biography of john steinbeck.
Historical Context of The Grapes of Wrath
Other books related to the grapes of wrath.
- Full Title: The Grapes of Wrath
- When Written: 1939
- Where Written: Pacific Grove, California
- When Published: 1939
- Literary Period: American Realist
- Genre: Novel
- Setting: Oklahoma, California, the American Southwest
- Climax: Rose of Sharon’s breastfeeding of a starving man
- Antagonist: Industrial farms, banks
- Point of View: Third person omniscient narrator
Extra Credit for The Grapes of Wrath
A Blockbuster Success: In 1940, The Grapes of Wrath was adapted into a movie, directed by John Ford and starring Henry Fonda as Tom Joad. The film was nominated for seven Oscars, and won two.
Steinbeck’s Politics: Although Steinbeck’s politics certainly leaned left, and he sympathized intensely with the working man, he never aligned with the Communist Party. Three trips to Soviet Russia only affirmed his distaste for Communism. Later on, Steinbeck developed more conservative views; he was at first supportive of Lyndon Johnson’s stance on the war in Vietnam, and he held the 1960’s counterculture in little esteem.
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Critical Analysis of The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Favorite Quote: Dare to Dream.
“At the heart of every immigrant’s experience is a dream- a vision of hope that is embodied in his or her destination” (Gladstein 685). In The Grapes of Wrath, the migrants thought that the American Dream was such a simple concept: go west, get a job, and become rich. However, they did not realize that an ideal life was nearly impossible and it corrupted the minds of those in search of it. John Steinbeck emphasized the unattainable nature of the American Dream of economic stability in The Grapes of Wrath through the Joads’ cross-country migration, their constant and unpredictable changes in employment, and their eventual failure to find success in California. The Joads’ migration from Oklahoma to California destroyed the existence of an economically secure life. Before the Joad family headed west, they had a home, land, and money. Migrating to California meant starting all over again. The Joads decided to leave their old life in hopes of beginning a new, successful one. “…Every immigrant is impelled by the expectation of a better life at his or her journey’s end” (Gladstein 686). And many more migrants in search of the American Dream were headed west, as well. “The Joads are trying to move ahead [to California] without being able to ascertain exactly where they are headed” (Griffin 594); they just picked up their belongings and left. The Joads did not think about the repercussions that occurred from this move. Never once did they doubt that “there’s work there, and never gets cold” (Steinbeck 34). They were drawn to the rumors that insisted “you can reach out anywhere and pick and orange” (Steinbeck 34). Exotic descriptions like this, from an unheard-of land, propelled the Joads and other migrants towards an unknown paradise. All these migrants “cram[ed] across the country like ants, live[d] like pigs, and [fought] amongst themselves like cats” (Griffin 591). The people who watched thousands of migrants flee across the country “den[ied] the humanity and the individual worth [of them]” (Bowden 21). Understandably, “[people are] movin’ ‘cause they got to. That’s why [we] folks always move. Movin’ cause [we] want somepin better’n what [we] got” (Steinbeck 128). As people emigrated from European countries to America in search of a better life, these migrants were doing the same; immigrants from foreign lands left their financial security behind, with no guarantee that they would find the American Dream. Many immigrants did not match the wealth they had back home, only increased their freedom. However, these migrants chose to move. Although the Joads were forced to move, they never thought about the consequences or even planned ahead. They, and other migrants, were just trying to reclaim the old, secure life that was once theirs, and is now long gone. Before the Joads left Oklahoma, they at the very least had a decent place to live, along with a measure of financial security. However, as the Joads moved across country, they ended up staying in places where “illness and hunger were pervasive” (Parini); a place where there was no financial security, or even the possibility of gaining it. “On the edge of every town is a Hooverville [a government camp]…[and these migrants] shall not be allowed to put down roots or organize” (Caldwell 109), because the settlers believed that “there ain’t room enough for you an’ me, for rich and poor together in one country…why don’t [they] go back where [they] came from” (Spangler). No one wanted the Joads or any migrant families to encroach upon their land, steal their jobs, and consume their food. The treatment the Joads received was nothing like the American Dream they imagined. They wanted to feel welcomed and immediately gain wealth. However, their lives were slowly deteriorating to nothing. Eventually in The Grapes of Wrath, some of the characters came to the realization that they were indeed chasing a dream. The Joads were going down “something of a problematic golden road- a path of escape from destitution to an ambiguous Californian deliverance” (Spangler). It can be inferred that “when the only option becomes putting the family on the road to a strange and unknown destination, problems are compounded” (Spangler), and the Joads did face many problems. Some of the Joads chose to trade in that hope of an unattainable dream for the concrete reality of life. For example, “…Connie strikes out on his own…he [then] abandons the Joads’ stubborn pursuit of farm work in favor of the opportunities in the city” (Bloom 18). Connie realized that chasing after the notion of the American Dream was a waste of time, and although he did run away from the realities of financial insecurity by leaving his wife and baby, he was simply doing what was realistic and instead followed a future that would provide for him. While the Joads were on a never-ending journey in search for the American Dream, they did not find jobs that suited their hope of a financial lifestyle. The Joads’ constant failure to find lasting and supportive jobs led to financial decline, lessening the possibility that the American Dream would come to fruition. Arthur G. Neal stated, “[the] economic hardships after the Great Depression fell disproportionately on the family unit” (Spangler). This was true, all migrants had hopes of finding a better life for their children; however, The Grapes of Wrath defined the limits set forth for achieving prosperity. “‘The poor’ [people] are identified with ‘the poor people’” (Levant 53). Regardless of the Joads’ hope for prosperity, they were grouped with the underprivileged migrants and fought for every job offer they found, if any. Employers did not trust the migrants, and lines were set between the rich and the poor. For example, “…when a contractor comes from Tulare County to offer work, Tom [Joad] sees how shifty the owners can be” (Bloom 26). He soon realized that he and his family can never be treated the same as these inhabitants; they would always be outsiders. Also, contrary to what Tom Joad said, “The Joads…are indeed bringing their pasts with them” (Owens 646). When Tom picked a fight with an officer while staying in a government camp, Jim Casey fended him off and then took the blame for Tom and was sent to prison. This affected the Joad family’s stability to settle down and ascertain proper jobs; they were always on the move because of Tom and his short temper. As stated earlier, the Joads were not the only family on the road; competition from other migrants limited the ability for employment. There was “…an epic of dispossessed Oklahoma sharecroppers in search of a promised land in California” (Bloom 9). As seen in The Grapes of Wrath, California was not as it was perceived to be. The American Dream depicted California as a paradisiacal land; in reality, migrants were thrown into poverty and were forced to survive, contrary to what the American Dream envisioned. By the end of the novel, any iota of hope the Joads had for the American Dream was long forgotten. All the events leading to the conclusion of The Grapes of Wrath provided grounds for the eventual failure of the Joads’ American Dream and any thought of success in California. The Joads knew that the trip to California would be a long and possibly disastrous one, full of poverty and hopelessness. However, they convinced themselves that upon reaching California there would be “…a whole bunch of grapes [to pick] off a bush, or whatever, an’ squash ‘em on my face an’ let ‘em run offen my chin” (Steinbeck 83), and they would immediately become wealthy. If there were one piece of advice that the Joads needed to know, it would be that this was not the case. Aside from Noah Joad, Connie, and Tom Joad, no other characters came to that realization. The Grapes of Wrath depicted the impossibility of the American Dream and defined the harsh reality of the dirty, corrupted, and greedy nightmare that it truly was. The Joads, and other migrants, learned that not all Americans shared hospitality, kindness, or appreciation. The Joads’ experience showed that the world was full of greedy individuals who fended for themselves. “When they [the Joads] arrived, they discovered that Californians didn’t need them or even wanted them” (Parini). Their hardships and reality of life, from staying in dismal government camps, to losing family members, to not attaining work, showed that California and the road to it were not what they thought it would be. “The immigrant’s dream is often unrealistic, and extravagant expectations can lead to bitter disappointment” (Gladstein 686). This was exactly the case. The Joads built up a fantastic future in their minds, full of high expectations, which stemmed as “the family’s certainties develop[ed] from an ironically hopeful innocence…” (Levant 47) to thoughts that were quickly shattered as they faced reality head on. “The human reality of California life is a living death” (Levant 52). The Joads learned this, as Granpa Joad first died, then Granma Joad, and finally Rose of Sharon’s baby. Even the new generation would not survive in California, despite the wonderful life imagined there. “Steinbeck wanted to end with a powerful symbol of human life persisting despite the hostility of social forms of nature, which resulted in a destructive storm, a still-born child, destitution, and starvation” (F.W. Watt 38). And though the American Dream proved impossible in The Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family, led by Ma Joad’s will, continued into the future with their heads held high. A possible explanation for the immediate failure could be what the Joads tied to them during their journey. Whether the Joads realized it or not, they carried their pasts with them; even when they believed they are moving forward and starting a new life, their pasts caused trouble for them along the road. As stated earlier, Tom Joad was a criminal, he “has killed a man and served some years in jail…he is an outlaw in that profounder and more saintly sense, a rebel…to be hunted down and destroyed” (R.W.B. Lewis 146). Based on Tom’s criminal record and cowardice for breaking parole, his consequence was failure and he took his family down with him. When “Tom kills the killer [who killed Jim Casey] and goes into hiding…” (Caldwell 110), he left his family in shambles to tend to itself. Rose of Sharon and her selfishness contributed to the birth of her still born child, as well as Connie’s departure. At the end of the novel, the Joads were split up; their pasts caught up with them and ensured they did not have a proper life. In the end, the Joads are left “scattered, homeless, penniless, and without food or hope for the future…Steinbeck has smashed the notions of the American Dream” (Spangler); the concept was lost. Every aspect of the Joads’ dream was crushed and they were left with no financial security, or even simple necessities. This had also happened with other migrants who once had hope. “Still, American [migrants] were left with a feeling of loss and emptiness” (Owens 645). Throughout the novel, the Joads hope for a better life than they had in Oklahoma. Travelling to California, they believed that finding economic prosperity would be easy. However, John Steinbeck portrayed the impossibility of the American Dream of financial stability through the Joads’ constant migration, unpredictable changes in jobs, and their failure to find the American Dream. The Joads’ dream correlated with other immigrants coming to America at the time. After the Great Depression, the economy stayed low and financial security was impossible. While the Joads did have the proper intentions for moving to California, they disregarded the fact that gaining wealth would not be as easy as they hoped. Rather, they should have thought through their venture to the West beforehand, instead of hastily making decisions without any forethought.
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The Grapes of Wrath American Dream Quotes
Why don’t you go on west to California? There’s work there, and it never gets cold. Why, you can reach out anywhere and pick an orange. Why, there’s always some kind of crop to work in.
– John Steinbeck
Today’s bargain – up on the platform. Never sell it. Makes folks come in, though. If we sold that bargain at that price we’d hardly make a dime. Tell ’em it’s jus’ sold.
Hot sun on rusted metal. Oil on the ground. People are wandering in, bewildered, needing a car.
Joe, did you know you was talkin’ to pikers? I ain’t a piker. I got to get a car. We’re goin’ to California. I got to get a car. Well, I’m a sucker. Joe says I’m a sucker. Says if I don’t quit givin’ my shirt away I’ll starve to death.
Soften ’em up, Joe. Jesus, I wisht I had a thousand jalopies! Get em’ ready to deal an’ I’ll close ’em. Goin’ to California? Here’s jus’ what you need. Looks shot, but they’s thousan’s of miles in her. Lined up side by side. Good Used Cars. Bargains. Clean, runs good.
"Almost she don’t want to go to California, fear she’ll never see you no more."
"Gonna get me a whole big bunch of grapes off a bush, or whatever, an’ I’m gonna squash ’em on my face an’ let ’em run offen my chin."
Maybe we can start again, in the new rich land – in California, where the fruit grows. We’ll start over. But you can’t start. Only a baby can start. You and me – why, we’re all that’s been. The anger of a moment, the thousand pictures, that’s us. This land, this red land, is us; and the flood years and the dust years and the drought years are us. We can’t start again.
"Tom, I hope things is all right in California…Seems too nice, kinda. I seen the han’bills fellas pass out, an’ how much work they is, an’ high wages an’ all; an’ I seen in the paper how they want folks to come an’ pick grapes an’ oranges an’ peaches. That’d be nice work, Tom, pickin’ peaches. Even if they wouldn’t let you eat none, you could maybe snitch a little ratty one sometimes. An’ it’d be nice under the trees, workin’ in the shade."
"I’m scared of stuff so nice. I ain’t got faith. I’m scared somepin ain’t so nice about it."
"But I like to think how nice it’s gonna be, maybe, in California. Never cold. An’ fruit ever’place, an’ people just bein’ in the nicest places, little white houses in among the orange trees. I wonder – that is, if we all get jobs an’ all work – maybe we can get one of them little white houses. An’ the little fellas go out an’ pick oranges right off the tree. They ain’t gonna be able to stand it, they’ll get to yellin’ so."
"I knowed a fella from California. He didn’t talk like us. You’d of knowed he come from some far-off place jus’ the way he talked. But he says they’s too many folks lookin’ for work right there now. An’ he says the folks that pick the fruit live in dirty ol’ camps an’ don’t hardly get enough to eat. He says wages is low an’ hard to get any."
And still the family stood about like dream walkers, their eyes focused panoramically, seeing no detail, but the whole dawn, the whole land, the whole texture of the country at once.
In California they got high wages. I got a han’bill here tells about it. Baloney! I seen folks comin’ back.
Ma said, "You won’t be no burden. Each’ll help each, an’ we’ll all git to California. Sairy Wilson he’ped lay Grampa out," and she stopped. The relationship was plain.
"She went on excitedly. "Connie gonna get a job in a store or maybe a fact’ry. An’ he’s gonna study at home, maybe radio, so he can git to be a expert an’ maybe later have his own store…An’ we’ll gave a nice car, little car…An’ we’ll live in town, an’ go to pitchers whenever an’ – well, I’m gonna have a ‘lectric iron, an’ the baby’ll have all new stuff."
Ma suddenly seemed to know it was all a dream. She turned her head forward again and her body relaxed, but the little smile stayed around her eyes. "I wonder how Granma feels today," she said.
"I tried to tell you folks," he said. "Somepin it took me a year to find out. Took two kids dead, took my wife dead to show me. But I can’t tell you. I should of knew that. Nobody couldn’t tell me, neither. I can’t tell ya about them little fellas layin’ in the tent with their bellies puffed out an’ jus’ skin on their bones, an’ shiverin’ an’ whinin’ like pups, an’ me runnin’ aroun’ tryin’ to get work – not for money, not for wages!" he shouted.
In the evening a strange thing happened: the twenty families became one family, the children were the children of all. The loss of home became one loss, and the golden time in the West was one dream.
"She’s a nice country. But she was stole a long time ago…An’ you never seen such purty country – all orchards, an’ grapes, purtiest country you ever seen…But you can’t have none of that lan’. That’s a Lan’ and Cattle Company. An’ if they don’t want ta work her, she ain’t gonna git worked. You go in there an’ plant you a little corn, an’ you’ll go to jail!"
"Sure, nice to look at, but you can’t have none of it. They’s a grove of yella oranges – an’ a guy with a gun that got the right to kill you if you touch one."
"Fella can’t starve beside a nice river…I can’t he’p it. I can’t leave this here water…You know how the folks are nice to me. But they don’t really care for me."
Al jammed on the brake and stopped in the middle of the road, and, "Jesus Christ! Look!" he said. The vineyards, the orchards, the great flat valley, green and beautiful, the trees set in rows, and the farm houses. And Pa said, "God Almighty!" The distant cities, the little towns in the orchard land, and the morning sun, golden on the valley. A car honked behind them. Al pulled to the side of the road and parked. "I want ta look at her." The grain fields golden in the morning, and the willow lines, the eucalyptus trees in rows. Pa sighed, "I never knowed they was anything like her." The peach trees and the walnut groves, and the dark green patches of oranges. And red roofs among the trees, and barns – rich barns.
"If I’d of knowed it would be like this I wouldn’ of came. I’d a studied nights ’bout tractors back home an’ got me a three-dollar job. Fella can live awful nice on three dollars a day, an’ go to the pitcher show ever’ night, too." Rose of Sharon looked apprehensive. "You’re gonna study nights ’bout radios," she said. He was long in answering. "Ain’t you?" she demanded. "Yeah, sure. Soon’s I get on my feet. Get a little money." She rolled up on her elbow. "You ain’t givin’ it up!" "No – no – ‘course not. But – I didn’ know they was places like this we got to live in."
"I’m hungry," Ruthie whined. "No, you ain’t," Ma said. "You had good mush." "Wisht I had a box a Cracker Jack. There ain’t nothin’ to do. Ain’t no fun." "They’ll be fun," Ma said. "You jus’ wait. Be fun purty soon. Git a house an’ a place, purty soon." "Wisht we had a dog," Ruthie said. "We’ll have a dog; have a cat, too."
Home / Essay Samples / Literature / A Lesson Before Dying / American Dream in A Lesson Before Dying and The Grapes of Wrath
American Dream in A Lesson Before Dying and The Grapes of Wrath
- Category: Literature , Sociology
- Topic: A Lesson Before Dying , American Dream
Pages: 2 (727 words)
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