The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck ǀ Book Review

Reading a Mice and Men is the only experience I have with reading Steinbeck's work. From what I remember I didn't enjoy reading that book until the final few paragraphs so with this book I prepared myself for the long haul.

This book follows the Joads as they make there way from the central states out to California to find work. What makes this interesting is the large lack of work actually in California. Then why did they go? That is what you are probably thinking.

Well that is where this books true point comes across. Steinbeck uses dramatic irony before many major events. Before the Joads actually experience a moment there is a chapter referring to what is about to happen, in detail, but not from the Joad's perspective. Sometimes from someone in the scene, sometimes from an anonymous narrator that only pops up in these chapters.

What this does is allow you to view every situation from multiple perspectives, giving an insight into different people and there views upon society.

The most major example of this is the fact the reader, early on, realises that the companies send out many times more leaflets, saying they need far more workers than they actually do need, many more leaflets than their are jobs. This leads to hundreds of thousands of people moving from central states to California. 

This gives the farms in California a large pool of workers to pick from, whom they can pay an extremely small amount as they are desperate to find a job not already taken by the sheer number of workers.

Throughout, in the anonymously narrated chapters, it is inferred - often quite explicitly - how if all the workers band together (form unions) they could stop being pushed around by the "aristocracy" which includes the police.

You start catching yourself thinking how ignorant the Joads and other workers are. That is what is so clever about this book because they are not actually stupid, which you once again realise when you return to their point of view. In fact, they are being played by a system, something that all of us would be. 

It is a complex, difficult and hard to explain book. But one that is certainly worth your time. After racing through the final few chapters what I realise is so impressive about the book is how it opens your eyes to oppression and how nobody is above it. I think in the western world we often think we are so much better than the pickers from the book yet truly we would all make the same mistakes. Giving us the perspective of another looking in reminds us how looking in at something from the outside we can often think ourselves better than those suffering or experiencing. How intertwining this perspective with the Joad's is an effective method for opening the readers eyes to the true point, which I think is that nobody is above oppression and suffering, least of all those actually experiencing it, therefore when looking in, imagine what it would be like for you and in the end, have a bit more sympathy, empathy and kindness.

Its a powerful message from a powerful and unique book.

7.5/10