Analyze life in America during the Great Depression as depicted in the works of John Steinbeck - Research Paper Example

‘The Grapes of Wrath’ was written during America’s great depression. The period was characterised by long periods of drought and high winds creating what was called the Dust Bowl. The wind was so strong that at night, it uprooted corn from the fields. People also had to protect themselves from the dust by putting handkerchiefs on their noses and goggles on their eyes. The great depression did not begin with the collapse of the New York Stock Market but rather several years earlier. Cravens and Mancall state that “Many Americans suffered serious economic privation in the several years before the stock market crash-especially farmers, labourers, women, and members of minority groups” (xi).

Migrants greatly suffered not just because of bad weather but from misfortunes impacted on them by their more lucky counterparts. In ‘The Grapes of Wrath’, Steinbeck describes how California was once part of Mexico but greedy American squatters took it. The squatters’ descendants became wealthy farmers who pay extremely low wages to their labourers as a means of protecting their land. However, immigrant workers from Oklahoma are not interested in grabbing their land but rather freedom from hunger and decent wages.

Many Americans lost their jobs during the great depression. This resulted in homelessness because with no jobs, most of them could not afford to pay rent. Majority of people who could not afford to pay their rent had to move in with relatives. In ‘The Grapes of Wrath’, Tom Joad decides to go to his father’s farm after being released from McAlester State Penitentiary. This clearly explains the situation of unemployment during the times; this is because Tom seems to be fully aware that there are no jobs.

In fact, Tom who cannot afford to purchase a bus ticket back home has to hitch a ride with a trucker. Although the truckers vehicle has a sign discouraging unauthorised persons, Tom who has no other means to get home pleads with the trucker to help him. The great depression also marked a period when many people were caught hitching rides on trains. After Germany, the United States was the western country mostly affected by the Great Depression. Duiker and Spielvogel point out that “By 1932, United States industrial production fell to half what it had been in 1929.

By 1933, there were fifteen million unemployed” (696). In ‘The Grapes of Wrath’, Tom describes his life in prison to Casy as one that had regular meals and baths. The only problem he mentions is the lack of female counterparts to give him company and pleasure now and then in prison. From this description it is clear that starvation and lack of basic needs was a serious problem during the great depression. Pa Joad and Ma leave Grandma’s body in the office of a coroner since they have no money to afford a decent burial.

Together with their families, immigrant workers live in Hoovervilles that are large, dirty, overcrowded camps with many hungry families whose members are jobless. The great depression was characterised by mass migrations. Many citizens moved from upstate New York and rural New England seeking for opportunities elsewhere. People moved to the states of Arizona and California with the hope of making their lives better. In ‘The Grapes of Wrath’, Tom decides to go home after life in prison, only to find the place