Grapes of Wrath- Question 3

The question I am going to be answering is "What universal themes does this book address? What does the author understand about human nature?" from the book Grapes of Wrath. One of the largest themes I saw was how mean one man could be to another. From the very beginning when the owner says "No. The bank, the monster owns it. You'll have to go." (Steinbeck, John, and Robert J. DeMott. p. 34) The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.when referring to the farmers land. They say this with no sympathy and just blame it on the "monster". Which in reality is the evil hearts that lie within greedy men. This shows that many do not care for the life or well being of another. Another theme was quite the opposite of the first. That was the caring and generosity of fellow friends and family. The book showed many times how Tom Joad was helping old friends, such as the preacher Jim Casy. Also shows his caring and large sacrifices for his family. The next theme was general good verses evil, with a slight twist. The good verses evil was really shown in the story when Casy was killed by the sheriff, with the sheriff being the evil one. And then Joad killing the sheriff for revenge of the death of his friend Jim Casy. (Steinbeck, John, and Robert J. DeMott.p. 386-387) This was a win for the "good" side. The twist here is that normally the good side doesn't kill people, and normally the bad side isn't the law enforcement. The author understands a lot about human nature. He understands that greedy men do not care who they hurt along the way as shown above by the bankers and owners. He also understands how when it comes to close friends and family, people will do anything! This includes killing someone which the author displayed when Tom killed Jim's killer.

Steinbeck, John, and Robert J. DeMott. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.