SOCIAL CRITICISM Judge a man by his questions

SOCIAL CRITICISM “Judge a man by his questions, not by his answers. ” Year 12 English Novels

John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath "Literature is not a game for the cloistered elect. Literature is as old as speech. It grew out of human need for it and it has not changed except to become more needed. "

Arthur Miller: "I can't think of another American writer, with the possible exception of Mark Twain, who so deeply penetrated the political life of the country. " Published in 1939, shocked readers, is considered a masterpiece of literature, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962, Pulitzer Prize for Literature yet burned in the streets, banned in schools & libraries with explicit sexuality as the excuse. Attacked in US Congress so much feat that Steinbeck bought a gun for self defence. Steinbeck called "a liar", "a communist" and "a Jew acting for Zionist-Communist interests". The book has sold about 14 m copies and still sells steadily. Set in California, migrant working communities looking for a better life. Follows a family, their suffering, their hopes, their humanity, their moral & philosophical growth, their physical and emotional journey. It’s about family, relationships, society, hope, dreams, money, greed and evil. Social criticism of society, the wealthy, the banks – clear parallels to our modern world.

Context Mechanisation of farming Humans Need Not Apply

Context - Capitalism

Context - Communism

Grapes of Wrath CHAPTERS 1 – 10: THE LAND

Chapter 1

Questions: 1. ‘To the red country and part of the grey country of Oklahoma the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth’. (7) ‘The surface of the earth crusted, a thin hard crust, and as the sky became pale, so the earth became pale, pink in the red country and white in the grey country’. (7) What is the significance of the colour imagery in this quotation?

Answers: Red and grey – original colours of the land. Red: Violence/passion Grey: Depression Pink/White Pale / Faded > Lifeless (sick? )

2. ‘Every moving thing lifted the dust into the air; a walking man lifted a thin layer as high as his waist, and a wagon lifted the dust as high as the fence tops, and an automobile boiled a cloud behind it. The dust was long in settling back again. ’ (7) Why is this an effective description of the dust?

Answers: o. Tripling: a man, a wagon, an automobile o. Rhythm to the writing o. Exaggeration of the problem / the dust o. Hypotaxis: building up of images for emphasis o. Introduces the idea of technology: from man to horse drawn machine, and finally to a machine o. No one is solely to blame: ‘Every moving thing lifted the dust into the air. ’ o. Detailed description: Realistic Imagery

“Hypotaxis”, elongates sentences to allow for the writer to pile up images consecutively and build emotional potential. ØHere is a “normal” sentence: She sat as far away as possible from him that morning in school, although she could not avoid his accusing stares. Since he was never going to go away, she decided to outstare him instead. She made sure to glare at him at every opportunity. He soon regretted everything. ØHere is a hypotaxis sentence: She sat as far away as possible from him that morning in school, and could not avoid his accusing stares, but he was never going to go away and she decided to outstare him instead, and she made sure to glare at him at every opportunity and he soon regretted everything. In this example, hypotaxis is the (conventionally seen as grammatically poor) overuse of the preposition “and”. The effect, is to make the prose expansive and declarative and spare and relentless.

3. ‘Now the wind grew strong and hard … The wind grew stronger. The rain crust broke and the dust lifted up out of the field and drove grey plumes into the air like sluggish smoke. ’ (8) ‘In the middle of that night the wind passed on and left the land quiet. The dustfilled air muffled sound more completely than fog does. … In the morning the dust hung like fog, and the sun was as red as ripe new blood. All day the dust sifted down from the sky, and the new day it sifted down. ’ (9) How is danger presented in this description of setting?

Answer: o. Use of strong adjectives: strong and hard…grew stronger; broke, drove. o. Eerie, slow, quiet, ominous: grey plumes, sluggish smoke o. All day/ new day: continuous o. Sifted – likened to sifting flour – cannot get away from it. Like fog o. Loss of senses: muffled sound – isolation/closed in/trapped/no one will hear you scream. o. As red as ripe new blood: links the colour red with fresh blood / new violence / new injury. o. Personification with similes

4. ‘The men were silent and they did not move often. And the women came out of the houses to stand beside their men – to feel whether this time the men would break. The women studied the men’s faces secretly, for the corn could go, as long as something else remained. The children stood near by, drawing figures in the dust with bare toes, and the children sent exploring senses out to see whether men and women would break. The children peeked at the faces of the men and women, and then drew careful lines in the dust with their toes. Horses came to the watering troughs and nuzzled the water to clear the surface dust. After a while the faces of the watching men lost their bemused perplexity and became hard angry and resistance. Then the women knew that they were safe and that there was no break. Then they asked: What’ll we do? And the men replied: I don’t know. But it was all right. The women knew that it was all right, and the watching children knew it was all right. Women and children knew deep in themselves that no misfortune was too great to bear if their men were whole. … As the day went forward the sun became less red. It flared down on the dust-blanketed land. The men sat in the doorways of their houses. The hands were busy with sticks and little rocks. The men sat still – thinking – figuring. ’ (9 – 10) (student book p. 5) What does this quotation suggest about the people and their attitudes, values and beliefs? How are the people represented?

Answers: o. Clear gender roles: “women and children knew deep in themselves that no misfortune was too great to bear if their men were whole… The men sat still – thinking – figuring. ” Societal expectations – the men did the thinking, the women and children followed the men o. Family is the basis of moral guidelines – the family needs to be whole and stick together. Family unity – must remain strong regardless of the circumstances that might face them (the environment). The notion of ‘break’ – it suggests that to break is to succumb to hopelessness and despair, to stop trying to find a way to overcome the problem at hand. o. Theme of determination and resistance – humans are ready to take on the environment – they are not defeated / not ‘broken’

Black Sunday – The Dust Bowl

Is Chapter one written in a Social Realist style? How do you know? Realism, in literature, is a manner and method of picturing life as it really is, untouched by idealism or romanticism. As a manner of writing, realism relies on the use of specific details to interpret life faithfully and objectively. Social realism means the depiction in literature of social reality as it is; there should be a direct correspondence between the society depicted in literature and the real actual society.

Language Techniques Can you find examples of the following in Chapter 1: 1. Similes 2. Personification 3. Repetition 4. Tripling 5. Hypotaxis

Answers: o. Similes – dust hung like fog; o. Personification (metaphor) – p. 7 clouds did not try; weeds… protected themselves; the earth became pale; the sharp sun struck; the corn have ‘central ribs of strength’ which grew weak; sun shone fiercely; p. 8 ‘the rain-heads dropped a little… and hurried on to some other country’; … the wind ‘dug cunningly among the rootlets of the corn, and the corn fought the wind with its weakened leaves; . . ’and the wind cried and whimpered over the fallen corn. ’ o. Repetition/tripling/hypotaxis – p. 8 ‘The wind grew stronger, whisked under stones, carried up straws and old leaves, and even little clods…

Steinbeck’s writing style Why do you think he has described the land with such detail, but with an almost equal measure of figurative language?

Chapter 2 1. Look at the descriptions of the Truck Driver, Waitress and Hitchhiker in this chapter. (p. 10 -) (student copy p. 7) What is the impact of these descriptions?

Answers: P. 10 – truck driver: ‘…talked the smart listless language of the roadsides to her. ’… he told her about a guy who was okay when he wasn’t ‘stinko’ P. 10 – waitress: ‘and looked over his coffee at the lean and lonely waitress’ p. 11 – hitchhiker (Tom Joad) wearing ‘cheap and new’ clothes. Grey cap. ‘His suit was of cheap grey hardcloth and so new… was stiff and smooth… coat too big, trousers too short, a tall man… new tan shoes P. 12 – truck driver: ‘a heavy man, broad in the shoulders, thick in the stomach. His face was red and his blue eyes long …. from having squinted always at sharp light. ’ Relationship between waitress and truck driver – she doesn’t want him to see her feeling a lump behind her ear and he calls out to her: ‘don’t do nothing you don’t want me to hear about. ’ as he leaves. What does this say about their relationship? Is it a familiar relationship?

2. ‘If he took in the hitch-hiker he was automatically a good guy and also he was not one whom any rich bastard could kick around. He knew he was being trapped, but he couldn’t see a way out. And he wanted to be a good guy. ’ (13) (student copy p. 9) What does this tell us about people?

Answer: o. P. 13 – ‘Didn’t you see the No Riders sticker on the win-shield? ’ ‘Sure – I seen it. But sometimes a guy’ll be a good guy even if some rich bastard makes him carry a sticker. ’ o. People are manipulative to get others to do what they want them to do – ‘being a good guy’ is a desirable thing – and this desire is open to be manipulated by people for their own gain.

3. How does the conversation between the truck driver and hitchhiker foreshadow events to come in the novel? What events, issues or ideas might be encountered further on in the novel? (p. 14 – 17)

Answer: o The driver quizzes Tom about his past / job / family etc. p. 14 (p. 10 student copy) : “The questions of the driver had the tone of a subtle examination. He seemed to spread nets, to set traps with his questions. ” ‘Lookin’ for a job? ’ he asked. He isn’t looking for a job because his old man is a ‘cropper’ – ‘been there a long time. ’ The driver asks: ‘a forty-acre cropper and he ain’t been dusted out and he ain’t been tractored out? ’ “‘One cat’ takes and shoves ten families out. Cat’s all over hell now. Tear in and shove the croppers out. ” (Cat: a large tractor sent by landowners and bankers to force poor farmers off the land) o At the end of p. 14 (p. 11) Tom gets annoyed at the man being ‘nosy’: Driver says: “now don’t get sore. I wasn’t getting’ nosy. ”

Sharecroppers

4. What is the difference between the language used in Chapter 1 and the language used in Chapter 2? 5. What does Tom’s irritation at the truck driver suggest about his character? 6. What does Tom reveal at the end of this chapter? Why is this effective in engaging the audience?

Language Chapter 1: • Figurative devices – similes, personification, metaphor, hypotaxis, repetition, rhythm • Subject matter – general state/phenomena: life on the land / weather conditions / struggle of people against the environment / survival / family unity / strength of character • Characters – anonymous / generalized / nameless characters who are symbolic of ‘everybody’ or the ‘common person’ or the general trend or state of existence for those types of people.

Chapter 2: o. Subject matter – Tom Joad enters the scene; the chapter follows his journey and focuses on regular people whom he encounters. o. Language – still some use of figurative devices such as personification, but not as much as in chapter 1. Not as much repetition, hypotaxis, no strong rhythm for emphasis.

Tom Joad’s character: Chapter 2 Fiery Strong willed Sense of injustice Quick to defend himself When he reveals that he killed a man at the end of the chapter, it makes the reader want to read on to find out what happened. Ø Tom’s strong character is appealing because the reader wants to see what happens to him. Ø Readers are positioned to sympathise with Tom? Ø Ø Ø

Philosophy: Chapter 2 – the Little Guy - ‘If he took in the hitch-hiker he was automatically a good guy and also he was not one whom any rich bastard could kick around. He knew he was being trapped, but he couldn’t see a way out. And he wanted to be a good guy. ’ (truck driver)

Chapter 3 ‘And over the grass at the roadside a land turtle crawled, turning aside for nothing, dragging its high-domed shell over the grass. His hard legs and yellow-nailed feet threshed slowly through the grass, not really walking, but boosting and dragging his shell along. … His horny beak was partly opened, and his fierce, humorous eyes, under brows like finger-nails, stared straight ahead. He came over the grass leaving a beaten trail behind him, and the hill, which was the highway embankment, reared up ahead of him. For a moment he stopped, his head held high. He blinked and looked up and down. ’ (20) Continue to read the description of the land turtle on page 20 – 21. (p. 16 -18) Explain the symbolic significance of the turtle. Write a paragraph response using evidence.

Answer: q. Turtle symbolizes Tom Joad and his family’s struggle for survival. q. Determination, resilience, persistence to keep going despite obstacles q. The forces of nature work against the Joad family and humanity in general. q. The forces of man (the truck swerves to hit the turtle) work also against the struggle for people to survive and keep going. q. When the turtle tries to right itself after being flipped over by the truck, one positive is the wild oat seed is planted. This sends the message that even obstacles can bring positive benefits in the end. q. In chapter 4 – Tom Joad picks up the turtle – why? What is the significance of this?

Thinking Points Steinbeck’s dual narrative style is clearly established in these opening three chapters. Chapter 1 and 3 are shorter and often more descriptive vignettes, while the middle chapter (chapter 2) focuses on the Joad family and their story. What is the purpose of Steinbeck’s narrative style?

The purpose of the ‘Intercalary’ chapters John Steinbeck recognized that one of the most criticized elements of The Grapes of Wrath was his alternating use of inner (also known as intercalary) chapters that interrupt the narrative of the Joads. Steinbeck noted, in his response to a Columbia University student’s letter, that the inner chapters “…have been pommeled. You are the first critical person who seems to have suspected that they had a purpose. ” Steinbeck is clear. “Its [The Grapes of Wrath’s] structure is very carefully worked out. ” [See: John Steinbeck, “A Letter on Criticism, ” Colorado Quarterly 4 (Autumn 1955): 218– 219. ] The way the book is put together is no accident. The inner chapters were designed by the author. Why did he include them?

Steinbeck on the ‘intercalary’ chapters: “You say the inner chapters were counterpoint and so they were - that they were pace changers and they were that too but the basic purpose was to hit the reader below the belt. With the rhythms and symbols of poetry one can get into a reader - open him up and while he is open introduce - things on a intellectual level which he would not or could not receive unless he were opened up. It is a psychological trick if you wish but all techniques of writing are psychological tricks. Perspective in painting is a trick, word sounds are tricks, even arrangement and form are tricks. And a trick is only good if it is effective. The writer never knows whether his trick is going to work until he has a reader. Since the Grapes of Wrath seems to have had an impact on a large number of readers I must believe that the tricks worked. ”

Character study: Mindmaps Characters - Reverend Jim Casy - Tom Joad - Old Tom (Pa) - Muley Graves Characterisation: Physical Appearance Personality What they say Their actions What others say about them Relationships Representations What do these characters represent? What do they symbolise? What is the message that Steinbeck is trying to send?

Reverend Jim Casy – Chapter 4 p. 23 – 25 Description p. 27 -28 Holy vessels (girls) / sin and virtue p. 35 – what is the significance/meaning of the reference to the ‘fatted calf’ and the ‘prodigal’ in scripture?

Philosophy: Chapter 4 – the Reverend: ‘maybe it’s all men an’ all women we love; maybe that’s the Holy Sperit – the human sperit – the whole shebang. ’ (Jim Casy) What message is the author trying to communicate through this quote?

Chapter 5 – bank / machine (p. 36 -45): Intercalary chapter The Bank – machine – look at the use of personification of the bank and how this technique works to dehumanise the processes at work on the lives of farmers of the land. Find examples in the chapter of: ØBanks taking over the land ØBanks as monsters ØBanks as masters ØTractors like robots / insects

Extended image Machines as insects. ØFind examples of metaphors or similes which portray machines as insects. ØHow does this technique develop the representation of machines in the novel?

Chapter 6 – The Joad Place (p. 45) q. Significance of colours – grey / red q. Significance of the turtle, the cat q. Description of the house q. Dust

Muley Graves qp. 50 – description q. P. 51 -53 – reference to grandpa and grandma (characterization) q. P. 58 – reference to sense of place and identity q. P. 61 – what is the ‘safe margin of profit’? q. P. 63 – Muley Graves: ‘was mean like a wolf now mean like a weasel’ – what is this referring to?

Philosophy: Chapter 6 – the Hunted – ‘I was mean like a wolf. Now I’m mean like a weasel. When you’re huntin’ somepin you’re a hunter and you’re strong. Can’t nobody beat a hunter. But when your hunted – that’s different. Somepin happens to you. You ain’t strong: maybe you’re fierce but you ain’t strong. ’ (Muley)

Chapter 7: Used car salesman Intercalary chapter q. Fragmentary sentence style: Parataxis q. Second person style narration q. P. 70 – customers going to California q. P. 71 – the “sales pitch” – the manipulation

Parataxis is “the juxtaposition of clauses or phrases without the use of coordinating or subordinating conjunctions as in It was cold; the snows came. ” (American Heritage Dictionary, Fourth Edition. ) Or: “the placing of clauses or phrases one after another without coordinating or subordinating connectives, from New Latin and Greek, “the act of placing side by side”. ” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. At home, empty chairs, table set for two, frozen meal for one. Silence crept through the dark corridors; he closed off most of the house to make it smaller. At work, too much noise, emptiness of a different kind.

Used Car Salesman q. Making money – look at the tone or persona. q. What words create this tone / persona? q. How is the reader positioned to feel about this persona?

Chapter 8: Foreshadowing P. 74 – “I can see it like a prophecy”…. P. 74 description of Uncle John P. 74 -75 colour imagery P. 77 -78 description of Pa P. 80 – description of Ma P. 83 -84 – making people mean-mad / hunting down like coyotes P. 84 – description of Noah P. 88 -89 – Casey says grace at dinner (religion theme)

Chapter 9: Tenant Farmers – intercalary chapter

Important quotes: P. 93 -94 – junk: junked lives P. 95 – California – bitterness at having to leave home P. 96 – “Pilgrim’s progress” / angel

Tenant people o. Being moved on – ohow is the sentiment developed in this chapter? o. How are readers made to feel as the people are moving on?

Chapter 10: Family, Religion, Perseverence I'm scared of stuff so nice. I ain't got faith. I'm scared somepin ain't so nice about it. " (Ma) "I dunno, " he said. "Two weeks, maybe ten days if we got luck. Look, Ma, stop your worryin'. I'm a-gonna tell you somepin about bein' in the pen. You can't go thinkin' when you're gonna be out. You'd go nuts. You got to think about that day, an' then the nex' day, about the ball game Sat'dy. That's what you got to do. Ol' timers does that. A new young fella gets buttin' his head on the cell door. He's thinkin' how long it's gonna be. Whyn't you do that? Jus' take ever' day. " What is the significance of these quotes?

Chapter 10 – continued "An' you ain't gonna preach? " Tom asked. "I ain't gonna preach. " "An' you ain't gonna baptize? " Ma asked. "I ain't gonna baptize. I'm gonna work in the fiel's, in the green fiel's, an' I'm gonna be near to folks. I ain't gonna try to teach 'em nothin'. I'm gonna try to learn. Gonna learn why the folks walks in the grass, gonna hear 'em talk, gonna hear 'em sing. Gonna listen to kids eatin' mush. Gonna hear husban' wife a-poundin' the mattress in the night. Gonna eat with 'em an' learn. " His eyes were wet and shining. "Gonna lay in the grass, open an' honest with anybody that'll have me. Gonna cuss an' swear an' hear the poetry of folks talkin'. All that's holy, all that's what I didn't understan'. All them things is the good things. "

Chapter 10 – The Family Look at the family structure and discussion regarding the family’s move to California. How are decisions made? How does the family function? Who is important in the discussions? What roles and responsibilities does each family member have? Using evidence, write a short paragraph that examines the significance of the family in Chapter 10.

Paragraph Topic Sentence – hypothesis or statement of ideas. It should cover the whole paragraph. Three Quotations – bite size and you can integrate these within sentences and link them with each other. If you do not want to use quotations you can paraphrase events, ideas, characters, etc. Clear explanation which show analysis of characters, themes and ideas. Analysis can include discussions about: ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Representations Positioning Themes and Ideas / Philosophy Message Techniques Characterisation Context Concluding Sentence Cohesion to link paragraph together

The Preacher "I been thinkin', " he said. "I been in the hills, thinkin', almost you might say like Jesus went into the wilderness to think His way out of a mess of troubles. " "Pu-raise Gawd!" Granma said, and the preacher glanced over at her in surprise. "Seems like Jesus got all messed up with troubles, and He couldn't figure nothin' out, an' He got to feelin' what the hell good is it all, an' what's the use fightin' an' figurin'. Got tired, got good an' tired, an' His sperit all wore out. Jus' about come to the conclusion, the hell with it. An' so He went off into the wilderness. " "A-men, " Granma bleated. So many years she had timed her responses to the pauses. And it was so many years since she had listened to or wondered at the words used. "I ain't sayin' I'm like Jesus, " the preacher went on. "But I got tired like Him, an' I got mixed up like Him, an' I went into the wilderness like Him, without no campin' stuff. Nighttime I'd lay on my back an' look up at the stars; morning I'd set an' watch the sun come up; midday I'd look out from a hill at the rollin' dry country; evenin' I'd foller the sun down. Sometimes I'd pray like I always done. On'y I couldn' figure what I was prayin' to or for. There was the hills, an' there was me, an' we wasn't separate no more. We was one thing. An' that one thing was holy. "

Chapter 11 Look at the description of the empty land the lifeless tractors. What is Steinbeck’s message here? What is he suggesting about people, land machines?

The Land: Chapters 1 – 11 Review 1. What does the setting of the opening scene suggest about the rest of the novel? What does it suggest about family structure? 2. Animals play an important symbolic role throughout this novel. What important qualities does the land turtle have as described in Chapter 3? 3. What opinions does Casy, the former preacher, have about sin and using “bad words”? 4. How do the tractors operate? What role does the bank play? What power do the small farmers have against the banks and the tractors? 5. Of what importance is Muley in this story? What’s the difference between being the hunter and being the hunted? 6. Chapters 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 tell the narrative about Tom Joad and his family the way novels usually do. What is the function of the other short chapters (1, 3, 5, etc. )? What does Chapter 7 imply about used-car salesmen? 7. What do the faces of the Joad family reveal about them? What are the most important characteristics of Ma and Pa and of the grandparents? 8. How does each member of the family feel about going to California? How does each feel about leaving home? What is young Tom’s philosophy for dealing with the future? What does Ma’s burning of the old stationary box illustrate?