Puritans vs. Literature

The Puritans were a group of people who were in the Catholic church in England.  As time went on the Church became more and more corrupt.  More and more problems seemed to be coming up in the church, and with that, the Puritans wanted to purify the church (there name came from what they wanted to do).  So the Puritans came on over to America.
Right away Mary Rowlandson is in a predicament.  Does she let the Indians take her captive or does she let them take her life.  "I had often before this said, that if the Indians should come, I should choose rather to be killed by them than taken alive;..." (Rowlandson 82).  She ends up being taken captive by the Indians due to the fear of dying, but I have an opinion on this case.  If she would have let them kill her, in many ways it would be like taking your own life, but with somebody else doing it.  I am not sure if the Bible actually says that you shall not commit suicide, but there is a great debate about this situation.  If Mary believed that in taking your life, you will not be allowed into heaven than maybe that aided into her situation about being taken captive.
As the story went on I was looking for things that I recalled from Bible class or Sunday school and I remember that the Bible says to give thanks to God.  "Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done." (First Chronicles 16:8).  It says to give thanks to the Lord in many other situations, but this was the first verse that I found.  "It was in my thoughts that when I first put it into my mouth; that if I ever returned, I would tell the world what a blessing the Lord gave to such mean food." (Rowlandson 85).  At the time, Mary had not eaten for days and was on a journey (walk).  She reached into her pocket and found the cake that had been given to her by her daughter.  It had become crusty, hard, and moldy, and yet she still found pleasure in it.  If I were in that situation it would have been very difficult to give thanks to the Lord for moldy food, and yet she did.  It just goes to show you that whatever the situation, give thanks to the Lord for what he has given you. 
In the next story, Upon the Burning of our House, it was shorter, but I still managed to find recognition of the Lord.  "And to my God my heart did cry to strengthen me in my distress and not to leave my succorless." (Bradstreet 90).  I also found reference to the Lord as Him.  "By Him who..."  Yet by His gift..." (Bradstreet 90).  You may not think this is a very big, but in capitalizing the word Him, it is referring to God.  The Bible also refers to the Lord as Him.  The last line of the poem is, "My hope and treasure lies above."  I really like this quote because one it saying have faith in the Lord and it reminds me of the saying, let go, and let God.

Bradstreet, Anne. "Upon the Burning House." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009.90-91. Print.

New International Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006. Print.

Rowlandson, Mary. "A Narrative of Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson."Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 82-85. Print.

Journal Two

There were two friends, Fred the Fox and Dan the dog.  Fred was an ordinary fox, and Dan was golden retriever.  There were the best of friends that you will ever see.  They went to each others house everyday after school and it seemed like they were always with each other.  They had every class together and in their science class, they received a partner project, and of course Fred and Dan picked each other to work on it.  In order to do this project, Fred was going to have to go to Dans house to work on the project.  So Thursday, after school, Fred went to Dans house to start the project.  When he arrived at Dans house, Fred parked on the street, because he did not want to park in the garage.  Fred walked up and knocked on the door.  He did not go through the garage or barge in because that would have been rude.  Even though Fred went to Dans house a lot, he still used very good house manners.  After being led into the house by Dans mother, Fred politely took off his shoes and began a friendly conversation with Dans mom.
As Fred found his way up to Dans room, he politely knocked before he went in.  As they got started Fred began to get a little hungry, so he asked Dan if they could go get a snack.  Although Fred knew where to get everything he still asked Dan, because he did not want to be rude.  Once Fred was done, he put his dishes away and thanked Dan for the snack.  After that they went back upstairs to work on their project.  Once they finished, it was time for Fred to leave, and he went downstairs, thanked Dan and his parents for allowing them to work together and thanked his parents for their hospitality, and Fred courtesly walked out the door knowing he was a polite guest.

Journal One

Well, back in the day, there was a small village in the midwest of the United States.  Every so often, there was a group, known as the Indians, that came along and took everything that the people of the small owned (just for my purpose, that small village was known as the tribe).  Every day they thought of a way that could prevent their belongings from being taken, and each day they could never come up with an idea that could help.  They tried building walls, but they were knocked down.  They tried hiding, but they were found.  They could not find an idea that would help, until one day they thought of building a mountain.  If they built this mountain so high, they could look down, on everybody who wanted to come up.  They figured that if all the tribe helped out in building this mountain, it would be complete before the Indians returned.  So everyday, everybody pitched in on building the mountain, and everyday it got a bit higher and higher.  They had about four months to build this mountain, before the Indians returned.  They constantly built the mountain, and each day they got faster and faster and pretty soon the mountain was built.  Well a lot of people thought that it was impossible to built a mountain, and people questioned want went into the process.  Hardwork went into the building of this mountain.  All that was left was the relocation and settlement atop the mountain.  Once they got this down they made hidden place throughout the hill, so that when the Indians came up the mountain, the Tribe could ambush and capture the Indians.  When the Indians finally came, the tribe was ready and captured every single Indian and taught them a lesson.  Thy told them they would let them go under one condition and that was if they would never return.  The Indians agreed and left, and that is how the Tribe saved their village.

English 332

I know this is kind of late, but I am taking this class because it is a challenge and it is good for college.

Phoebe and Holden - The Catcher in the Rye

Well I am on forty nine blogs, and I am trying to think of one more topic to get me to fifty.  The topic that popped up into my head was the relationship between Phoebe and Holden.  They are brother and sister and what brought this up into my mind was how close they were.  They loved each other very much and that was nice to see.  She loved him so much that she wanted to move away with him forever.  "My clothes," she said.  "I'm going with you.  Can I?  Okay?" (Salinger, 267).  She was willing to basically give up her whole life, in order to move away with her brother.  She was ten I believe, and she was wanting to leave her family and friend to go with her older brother.  I do not think that you would ever imagine of somebody doing something like that.  However, it speaks volumes to how much she loved her brother and wanted to spend time with him.  Even when they talked in the story, you got this feeling that they were best friends, but they were brother and sister.  I thought that it was kind of neat to see a relationship like that because normally you do not see brothers and sisters too close.  In my case, I have a ten year old sister, and she would never do anything like Phoebe did.  She will not even give me a hug.  We may not be close like Phoebe and Holden, but we still love each other, no matter how much she does not want to admit it.  We are brother and sister, and we were born into the same family and we have to love each other.  We do not have to get along, but we have to love each other.  I just wish that we had the brother sister relationship that Phoebe and Holden did.  It would definitely make me feel a lot better about myself.

Bibliography

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

My Opinion - The Catcher in the Rye

Well, all in all I thought that this was a descent book.  In my opinion, there was nothing that made it stand out against all the other books that I have read, but it really was not that bad of a read.  I liked that even though it was a pretty good sized book, the writing was also pretty good sized which made it a lot easier to read.  It did not take me too long to read, and although there was really nothing that made me want to keep reading it, I did not have to fear picking up the book and read a chapter.  I think that this book is directed more towards the male audience, rather than females, because it was a story of what a guy goes through during his highschool and teen years.  Like the technique I said, I liked that it was in first person, I think that it made the book easier and more enjoyable to read.  "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied..." (Salinger, 3).  The quote goes on longer than I thought, but from the beginning, you felt like the book was talking to you, and it made you interested in the book.  I guess since I have read all three books now, I would put The Old Man and The Sea first, The Catcher in the Rye second, and The Grapes of Wrath third.  It can not go ahead of The Old Man and The Sea because I thought that was a great book.  However, I believe that this book was way better than The Grapes of Wrath.  It was an easier read and was just an all out better book.  One thing I would like to see, was how Holden ended up in the mental facility or whatever he was in.  That was something that I would have liked to know.

Bibliography

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

Responsibilities - The Catcher in the Rye

The first question on question number eight is a tricky one to answer.  I really do not know what was going on during this time period, so I can not answer that.  It is a story of a teenagers life, and really nothing else, which does not give me any clue of what the time period was like.
I think that the author places two responsibilities on two different age groups.  The first age group is the teenagers.  As silly as it sounds I think that Salinger believes teenagers will have a hard time of being mature.  They kicked me out.  I wasn't supposed to come back after Christmas vacation, on account of I was flunking four subjects and not apply. (Salinger, 6).  I do not think that Salinger is saying that every kid is going to be flunkin their classes, but I do think what Salinger is trying to say here is that kids will be kids.  They are not going to try any harder than what they have to.  The other age group that the author puts a responsibility on is adults.  I think that  he is telling the adults that they have to teach their kid how to grow up and to do things right.  They need to guide them into the right path.  They are not going to be their every step of the way,, but they need to prepare you for what is to come, and how you should respond to difficult times.
I think that Salinger was in the same situation that Holden was in, and that is what influenced him.  I believe that he had a hard maturing and growing up and that is what influenced him.  He probably was one of those kids who loved to go out and have a good time, not apply themselves in school, and in the end, had a hard time growing up.  I think that he wanted to send us a message, and prevent this from happening to other kids.

Bibliography

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

Techniques - The Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher in the Rye is very unique compared to other books.  There is no suspense, mystery, or anything like that in this book.  It is different from other books because it is not very exciting in those type of ways.  However, I think that J.D. Salinger does intrigue readers in this book.  I believe that the main thing that intrigues the audience, is that the story is told in first person.  It gives you an up close look at the adventure of Holden Caufield.  I believe because of this, it intrigues readers because it gives the readers somebody to root for and somebody that they get to follow.  It gives the readers one story to follow and they get caught up in the story because it feels like the book is talking to you.  "I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life.  It's awful.  If I'm on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I'm going, I'm liable to say I'm going to the operea." Salinger, 22).  I got the feeling that you are there with him and he is talking to you, and I like this technique that is put in their.
Along with the first person technique, I found some humor in the book.  It may not be the humor that most people get when they think of humor but I found some things to the story very funny.  It is not good to curse, but Holden and others in the story do curse a lot.  "No reason.  Boy, I can't stand that sonuvabitch.  He's one sonuvabitch I reallly can't stand." (Salinger, 31).   I do not want the book to have a curse word every other word, but I think that it helps the story out, by giving it a little bit of laughter.  I always enjoy smiling or laughing at a book.  It makes the book more enjoyable to read, and it goes by a lot quicker.

Bibliography

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

Why we still read it - The Catcher in the Rye

Like the previous two books I have read, The Old Man and The Sea and The Grapes of Wrath, The Catcher in the Rye are classics.  They are not the newest books on the shelf and a lot of people shy away from that fact, but they are still on the shelf.  They have to be good reads, otherwise nobody would still read them.  So even though they are not the newest, people still enjoy reading them for many different reasons.
I feel as a teenager, that this is a great book for teens to read because of the message that is behind it.  It is painful to grow up and become an adult.  Holden believes that it will be boring to grow up (Salinger, 223).  Is that a reason that kids do not want to grow up?  Is it painful because they believe that once they become an adult, you can not have fun?  I do not believe that this is true.  When you become an adult, you become more mature and different things play in your mind.  You are not obsessed with going out and partying, you are trying to provide a home for your family.  That is one reason why kids want to stay kids.  I am sure that everybody wants to stay young, but kids are immature because they fear the future.  They do not want to grow up.  This book demonstrates how hard it is to grow up, but that does not mean it is impossible.  I think that what we (as the audience), need to learn from this book is that growing up is difficult and it takes maturity and responsiblity.  It is a process of not being able to do thte things that you want to do, and that is what is so difficult about it.  However, if you stay on task, you will grow up to be a great person, and who says that as an adult you can not have fun?

Bibliography

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

History - The Catcher in the Rye

After reading The Catcher in the Rye, I was very shocked at how things have changed to the time period that we live in today.  This book took place sixty years ago in the fifties, but when I saw (I mean read) some of the things that Holden did, I was absolutely shocked of how he acted and composed himself, to what most people do now.  Holden did whatever he wanted, after he was kicked out of school and on his own for those three days.  He walked out in the streets of New York City very late.  Sure New York is probably a lot different now than what it was then, but still, having a teenaged boy walking down the streets of a big city, all alone is very seldom to see now.  Holden would also go into clubs and get alcoholic beverages, usually without being asked to see any identification (Salinger, 185).  I am pretty sure everywhere you go now, you have to show identification, in order to get alcohol.  I just found it very weird that a boy of his age, would be walking down the streets of a big city, going to clubs and purchasing drinks, and also stay in a hotel by himself.  I really do not know if people did that back then, but you will most likely never see anything like that, in the world that we live in.
Like I have said, I think in every question about this book, the thematic significance is how hard it is to grow up.  That is what I got out of this book, and I believe is the dominant message that most people get out of reading this book.  It is not easy to grow up from a child to an adult, and the book really portrays that very well.  So far the questions have been very hard to answer.  I think that the book makes it this way because it is more like an autobiography than anything else, and it is difficult to find out of what most people were like during this time period.

Bibliography

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

Hero - The Catcher in the Rye

So far the first four questions that I have had to answer pertaining to The Catcher in the Rye, has been very difficult.  The fourth question may be the toughest.   Who is the hero of the book.  Usually, when you are looking for the hero in the book, it is pretty tough to figure out.  It is usually the main character who accomplishes the most.  Well, in this books case, the hero is hidden.  There is nothing that any one character does that sets him above everybody else.  Even looking for one minor thing that would be classified as heroic, I could not find it.  That is why I am not going to answer who the hero is, but I will answer who the protagonist is.  The protagonist is Holden Caufield.  The book is written about him when he is sixteen and struggling in school.  He is just like any other teenager.  He hates school and is having trouble growing up and having trouble with the categories that come along with that.  Holden is portrayed as a highschool student, I want to say drop out , but I am not sure if that would apply.  Also, he is portrayed as a youmg man who has trouble growing up, and hates "fake" people.  He does not like phonies, but goes on a date with one, just because he likes kissing her ((Salinger 105).  A lot of guys do this, they do not like something about a girl, but they date her just because he is pretty (hot).  Looking back, Holden does not really accomplish anything in this book.  He gets kicked out of school and lives on his own for a short time period.  I think that Holden represents the idea of what a teenager is.  Holden goes through problems like school, girls, and many other things, and that is what every teenager has to go through.  He represents that idea to show that you are not the only person that goes through these problems.

Bibliography

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

Universal Themes - The Catcher in the Rye

In my opinion, the theme of a book is the message that the book is trying to get acrossed to the reader.  It is a very key component to the book, because it can be very powerful to whether the book is good or bad.  In The Catcher in the Rye, the theme that I got out of the book, was that of how hard it is to grow up.  I as a kid look at my family and think that my life will be just as successful, but I do not realize what is coming.  You have to get a good education, and pick a job that you think you will be good at and one that will support you and your family, if you intend to have those plans.  Not everything will be handed down to, and kids do not realize that.  Just like in Holden's case, he is struggling to live (not in a death kind of way).  He is struggling in school, and is searching for ways to fit in to that category of growing adult.  A perfect example is of Holden's sex life.  He realizes that more and more kids are having sex and he wants to be able to say the same things and to fit in, but he struggles with the concept.   "Sex is something I just don't understand. I swear to God I don't." (Salinger, 82).  He is struggling with what sex is.  It is a hard concept for him, because it seems like everybody else is doing it, and he is not. 
I think that the universal theme ties in with what the author understands about human nature.  I think that when he was a kid, he may of had some of the same problems that Holden did growing up.  I believe that Salinger understands that growing up and becoming a grownup is not an easy concept to grasp and to overcome.  You have to work at it.

Bibliography

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

Causes, gains, and losses - The Catcher in the Rye

I had to spend a little time over this question, because finding the conflict in The Catcher in the Rye was not easy and I still really do not know if there was a major conflict.  The conflict that jumps out at me was Holden's struggle to do well in school.  This could be the the conflict because it leads to the rest of the story.  If he does well in school, there is no book.  So if this indeed is the conflict, the major cause is Holden does not do very well in classes.  He only passes one out of his five classes (Salinger, 6).  That could be a huge cause for him not liking school.  If I were doing that bad in school, it would be very easy for me to just flunk out and stop going to school, and that is what Holden did.  Another thing that could maybe relate to his struggle, was that the phonies in his school drove him crazy.  He hated to see people pretending to be someone they are not, and this may have related somehow and someway to his struggle in school. Like in a job, if you do not like the people you work with, it is going to show in your performance.  Unfortunately, we have to find ways to get through these obstacles.
The gains out of the conflict are few and far between.  What did he really gain out of doing poorly in school?  He got to leave early and spend time with his sister.  That could be one, I guess.  Another gain that could possibly come out of this problem, was that he got to learn about what the world was like when he spent three days by himself.  He got to see how people operated on a daily life, and it showed him that life is tough in the real world.  This was a very tough question to answer, and I kind of winged it, but after looking over what I wrote, I am okay with how I answered it.

Bibliography

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

Authors values and attitudes - The Catcher in the Rye

The first question, what does the writing reveal about the author's values and attitudes?, is a very hard question to answer over the book, The Catcher in the Rye.  The book is not a biography, but I auto biography I believe (I am pretty sure that is what kind of book this is).  Anyways this is a hard question to answer because J.D. Salinger wrote the book about a different person.  It was not about an event in history or anything like that.  However, there are some things that you can pick out that do reveal something about the author.  One is that he was not fond of people who pretended to be something they are not.    “Everybody was all dressed up, because it was Sunday, and that made it worse. But the worse part was that you could tell they all wanted to go to the movies.I couldn’t stand looking at them. I can understand somebody going to the movies because there’s nothing else to do, but when somebody really wants to go, and even walks fast so as to get there quicker, then it depresses hell out of me” (Salinger 116).  You see it everywhere you go, and I am also one of those people who do not like those people who pretend to be something that they are not.  I see it all the time in highschool and it bugs me just as much as it bugs J.D. Salinger.  The other thing that I picked out of the book, was that he did not like school.  He does spend a good time talking about how much the Holden Caufield did not like school, so it gives the reader a good idea that perhaps he was not one that liked school, but who really does?  Although he is not really talking about himself, J.D. Salinger expresses his feelings through the story of Holden's adventure.  This book was written in first person, from Holden Caufield's point of view.

Bibliography

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.



Tom and Ma Joad - The Grapes of Wrath

When you read The Grapes of Wrath, there are two characters that the readers quickly follow.  Those two are Tom and Ma Joad.  Tom is liked by the readers because he is the protagonist and really the main character in the book.  When the book starts of Tom has just gotten out of prison for killing a man, and you are scared of what he may do.  At the beginning, he starts off a little shady.  I thought that he was a bad guy who got out of prison and was looking for another reason back in.  "Homicide, that's a big word-means I killed a guy.  Seven years.  I'm sprung in four for keepin' my nose clean." (Steinbeck, 13).  Here he sounds like he is going to kill the man, but as the story goes along he becomes a vital part for the survival of the Joad family.  He is very good with his hands, and fixes the car multiple times to keep the Joads on their way.  He finds work along the way, but at the end of the book Tom has to go into hiding, to keep himself alive.
You could make a case that Tom was the most important character in this book, but you could make a strong case for Ma Joad as well.  Ma Joad is the building block for the Joad family during their trip.  She is the one who keeps the family together during their times of struggle.  She is like what moms are supposed to be.  Moms are supposed to be loving and show support to their families.  Along with this, Ma Joad keeps the family together, but I am not sure if this is what moms do.  I guess you could say that they are supposed to be keeping families peaceful, so Ma Joad was a very good mother.  Having two characters like this, is like having two superstars in whatever sport.  These two do a great job of getting the Joad family to California.

Bibliography

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.

My Opinion - The Grapes of Wrath

Well, after finishing The Grapes of Wrath, I was not too thrilled about it.  Nothing really seemed to draw my interest into the book.  I like the books that are hard to put down, the ones that you just keep on reading, but I never got the feeling like that from this book.  Honestly, what is exciting about a bunch of tenant farmers, who sell everything and then move to California?  There was nothing exciting about it.  They kept on moving to various places to try and find work.  Once you thought they were going to stay put, they ran low on supplies and left.
There were two things about the text that I did not like at all.  First, the book was absolutely huge and it took me forever to read.  I am not saying that I want to read books that are 100 pages long, but if a book is this big, it better be pretty interesting.  Plus the text was very small.  Reading 450 pages with text so small you almost need glasses was something I did not like.  The other thing that I did not like about this book was the dialogue the characters used.  Here is an example of it, "I ain't seen him," said Ma.  "If I see 'im, I'll tell 'im you want 'him." (Steinbeck, 268).  Not only was it hard to understand what they were saying, but it was a lot harder to type.  Having to use apostrophes in places you do not need them made my life a whole lot harder.
I do not want to sound like any book bigger than 200 is awful, because they are not.  The ones that are not interesting, that have a lot of pages and small print are.  This is not the worst book I have ever read, not by far, and I am sure that a lot of other people like this book, but this book was not for me.

Bibliography

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.

Events in history - The Grapes of Wrath

After reading The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck did a very good job on reflecting over the events that happened during this time period.  During this time period, the 1930's, The Great Depression was going on.  People were scrambling to find money anywhere they could.  To do this many of the farmers moved west to California.  You really here about people moving west for the gold rush in the forties I believe (San Francisco 49ers), but people were still moving there way before that.  It shows how equality among everybody else was still beyond their reasoning.  That does not only go for the rich and the poor, even though that is the major one, but also among the roles of women and men.  First though, the rich treated the poor very rudely.  They definitely did not give them what they deserved, and they cheated them also.  It definitely was not the funnest to be poor during this time period.  You had to work so much harder to earn not very much compared to the wealthy people.  Second, the roles between men and women were much different than they were compared to now. “And the women went quietly back int the houses and herded the children ahead of them. They knew that a man so hurt and so perplexed may turn in anger, even on people he loves.They left the men alone to figure and to wonder in the dust (Steinbeck 34).”  Back then the women were supposed to watch the children and do everything around the house, while the men went out and worked and provided for the family.  Along with the housework came cooking, cleaning, and other things.  Now women are working just as much as the men are to earn a living.  Even if they are married, women are allowed to work, which I think is great.  It is a great way to earn more money for the family.  It takes some of the pressure off of the men, but the only bad things is who is around the house to do all the things the women used to do?

Bibliography

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.

Techniques - The Grapes of Wrath

Throughout the book, The Grapes of Wrath, the author uses many techniques that keeps the reader intrigued with the book.  There are two major techniques that I picked out that kept me and others (most likely) into the book.  Those two things were description and suspense.  John Steinbeck, the author, does a very good job of describing the land and the surroundings to the reader, so that they can get a picture in their head of what life must have been like.  "TO THE RED COUNTRY and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth.  The plows crossed and recrossed the rivulet marks.  The last rains lifted the corn quickly and scattered weed colonies and grass along the sides of the roads so that the gray country and the dark red country began to disappear under a green cover...(Steinbeck, 1).  The description goes on, but I stopped due to the length.  Right away you get a picture in your ahead of the surroundings of the area that they are living in.  It goes on to tell about the dust that comes up because their is no rain, and I believe that using this as a technique, Steinbeck helps the reader. 
The last technique that I thought was a good one, was suspense.  Throughout the book, you are always thinking what is going to happen.  Will they find a place where they can work and live?  Will Tom be found?  “Seems like it’s my fault. This here goddamn wreck’s give me trouble right along.You folks been nice to us.Now you jus’ pack up an’ get along. Me an’ Sairy’ll stay, an’ we’ll figger some way. We don’t aim to put you folks out none (Steinbeck 167).”  Will they move on without the family?  All of this contributes to helping the book.  It gives the book an edge over others, because it does get you thinking of what is going to happen next.

Bibliography

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.

Why we still read - The Grapes of Wrath

As I read the book The Grapes of Wrath, I was wondering why do we still read this book today?  When I was done with the previous book, The Old Man and The Sea, I knew why we still read the book.  It helped that I really enjoyed reading the book, but this book has to have a reason that it is still read.  I believe that reason is that the general message of the book was a very good one.  It teaches us to relish what we have and to not dwell on what we do not have.  The book really does a very good job about sending the message to this time period.  Nowadays people are so consumed with what they do not have instead of what they do have.  In this book, the farmers who are on the move have to get rid of everything they own, therefore leaving them nothing.  "Harness, carts, seeders, little bundles of hoes.  Bring 'em out.  Pile 'em up.  Load 'em in the wagon.  Take 'em to town.  Sell 'em for what you can get.  Sell the team and the wagon, too.  No more use for anything." (Steinbeck, 87).  Even though they had to get rid of their belongings, they never seemed to dwell on what they lost or what they did not have.  Also, the characters show a lot of good progress throughout the book.  At the beginning, Tom is portrayed as a bit of an intimidating character, but as the book progresses, he becomes a very productive and sympathetic man.  Rose of Sharon was really a good for nothing character throughout the book.  She was clueless it seemed like for most of the book and she really cared for nobody but herself.  At the end, she develops into a caring young women, who shows her sympathy by saving a mans live.  I believe we still read this book, because of the message that is there for us to find.  It show us to be thankful for what we have.

Bibliography

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.

History - The Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath does a great job of reflecting on the major event that was happening during this time period.  It was set during the great depression, after the dust bowl.  It does a great job of showing the tough times that many of the tenant farmers endured during this time period.  It shows how the farmers were basically thrown out of their homes, and forced to find labor elsewhere.  The farmers and their families were forced to move and most of them went to California in search for work. 
During these times, the wealthy treated the lower class like garbage.  They were very mean to them, and would not pay them what they deserved.  "And I been getting thirty cents' worth of work.  Well, goddamn it, this morning you're getting twenty-five cents an hour, and you take it or leave it."  (Steinbeck, 294).  Unfortunately for the farmers, they have to take work that does not pay what they would like.  There are so many workers that have come to work the fields, and the fields are not big enough so the land owners pay the farmers way less than they should be payed.  The farmers have to take it, or they will just be fired.  The social issues of the time period were between the poor farmers and the rich business owners.  The business owners treat the farmers terribly.  They do not give them what they deserve and they even rip them off by rigging the scales.  It was really hard during this time period for the poor tenant farmers.
I believe that the symbolic significance of this book is for the later time period, like now.  It shows us that not everything was given to you on a silver platter.  You had to work for everything you made, ate, and drank.  Now we have everything so easily and we take it for granted it a lot and we need to realize that some people had to work very hard for what they got.  I am not saying everybody, but we need to be thankful for what we have.

Bibliography

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.

 

Hero - The Grapes of Wrath

Unfortunately picking the hero of The Grapes of Wrath was a lot harder than picking it for The Old Man and The Sea.  There really was no clear cut hero in this book.  Nobody did anything amazing that put them beyond everybody else.  You could make a case that the mother, (Ma Joad), was the hero because she kept the family together, but I believe that Tom was the hero in this book.  He was undoubtedly the protagonist throughout the book and he also kept his family going during the story.
Tom Joad at the beginning of the story is portrayed as a scary man who just got out of prison.  At the beginning you felt that he was mean, and was on the verge of doing something bad to somebody.  As the book goes on he changes into a sympathetic man who lives in the present.  If you look at the book, Tom really does not accomplish anything spectacular, that would put him as the hero in the book.  One thing that he does that helps the family out tremendously is that Tom is the first one to find work at the weedpatch camp.  "They's things you know, they's stuff you're sure of.  Tom's got work, an' he'll come in this evenin'.  That's true." (Steinbeck, 324.)  Even though this may not seem like a big deal, it is a huge deal to the Joad family, because now they have a source of income.  Also, along the journey, Tom fixes the car multiple times, and keeps the family moving along.  I would say that Tom represents goodness and he is a strong-minded individual.  Even though he did come out of prison for killing a man, Tom is a character that does things that help the family out.  He is very nice to the people he comes in contact with, and throughout the story he keeps the family going, through the good and rough times.  He is one of those characters that the audience likes to hear from.

Bibliography

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.

Universal Themes - The Grapes of Wrath

When you read the book The Grapes of Wrath, there is a universal theme that separates everybody.  Wealth is the object that separates everybody into the groups of society.  Wealth establishes the rich from the poor.  Unfortunately it signifies what you have and what you do not have.  It can be said the same for today.  You either are in the high class, middle class, or the low class.  It really sounds awful to put it this way, but it is what it is.  In the book, you are either a tenant farmer, who works the land, or the landowner who possesses the land.  The other theme that is key in this book is family.  Sticking together when the going gets tough, helps the Joads get through the tough times.  "We ain't a-gonna do it.  No, sir.  We got almost a kin bond.  Grampa, he died in your tent." (Steinbeck, 167).  Even though the Wilson's car broke down, they told the Joads to get going.  They refused because they had become one.  Even though they were of no relation, the sense of being together made them feel like family.  Even now in this day and age, family is what gets you through things.  You do not want to admit it, but who is there for you when you are in trouble or need something?  Your family is and without you would feel unwanted and unneeded.  Fortunately, the Joads and I  have family that will bring us up when we are down.
John Steinbeck (the author) understands the struggles of the not so wealthy people (I do not like saying poor, it puts a bad adjective on people).  He understands that the unwealthy people have to work harder than anybody else to make a living.  Going along with the themes, he understands that family is there for us to get through bad times.  He writes this book from a family's hardships, instead of an individual, so that the family can come to each other for advice.

Bibliography

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.

Conflict, Gains, Losses - The Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath has one major conflict and with that conflict come many pros and many cons.  That conflict is that the Joad family can not find a settle place to work.  They have been moving from one job to the other and they just seem like they can not stay settled in one place.
In searching for work, arguably the most significant loss is their home.  They have to move from Oklahoma to California.  There they have a steady place to stay, and along with the loss of their home, they have to sell most of their personal belongings.  "And the men in the seat were tired and angry and sad, for they had got eighteen dollars for every movable thing from the farm:  the horses, the wagon, the implements, and all the furniture from the house." (Steinbeck, 97).  For basically selling everything you owned, they pretty got nothing in return.  They did get eighteen dollars, but what they gave away was way more than that.  They had to sell it because they could not carry it on the way.  Along the way they lost family members.  They lost granma and granpa Joad, Rose of Sharons' baby, the dog, Noah, and Connie.  The first four were deaths and Noah and Connie just left, but if they had not of left, they would have been together longer, but it was something that they risked to go on this journey.
Compared to the losses, there was not as many gains.  I am really trying to think of what they gained in coming all this way for here and there jobs.  The two things that I think they gained were a new home and new friends.  Could you really call what they lived in a home, but they got a fresh start.  Relating this to baseball, when you are traded as a player, you go to a new city and get a fresh start.  So many times players are rejuvinated by seeing new faces, and it makes them play better.  The Joads got to travel and see the world and maybe for them that was good.  The last thing was they go to  meet new people.  They traveled with families they had never met, and got to become friends with them.  If you compare the losses to the gains, I believe there were more losses and they definitely weighed down the gains.

Bibliography

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.

Authors values and attitudes - The Grapes of Wrath

After reading The Grapes of Wrath, there were certain things in the writing that revealed values of the writer, John Steinbeck.  One thing that the author values is poor people and families.  The whole book is about the families struggling to earn a descent living for themselves.  He often criticizes the wealthy landowners, for not paying the poor workers enough money.  When the Joads go to work at the peach farm, they get paid five cents an hour.  I have no idea what that would be like now, but I guarantee that it would be way under minimum wage.  I believe that he values these people because, he may have been classified as the low class, in his society.  That is unfortunate for him, but it gives us an idea of what life would have been like in the 1930's for the low class.
He also has a strong value towards family and the jobs that come with that family.  No matter how hard the situation got, the family stayed together.  Sure Ma Joad was a big reason for this, but in the end you were better off with each other and not yourself.  When you think of family jobs, you think of the males going out and working and the women staying at home.  This would be most people's opinion of the matter.  The girls do the cleaning, cooking, and house caring, and the guys make the money.  This is portrayed when they get to the weedpatch camp.  "The women washed dresses, pink gighams and flowered cottons, and they hung them in the sun and stretched the cloth to smooth it." (Steinbeck, 330).  Here the women washed clothes, and the men, specifically Tom found work.  I hope I did not come come of too sexist in this topic.  I believe that both jobs are just as important and it does not matter who does what.  This book is written in third person, because it uses, "he, she, it".

Bibliography

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.

Chapters 28-30 - The Grapes of Wrath

It seems like the best news of the book comes in chapter twenty eight.  The family shares a boxcar with another family, but they have enough money to buy clothes and food, and some to treat the little ones.  Unfortunatley, Ruthie and another girl get into a fight, and Ruthie brags that her brother has killed two men.  "Well, it wasn' her fault.  Got in a fight, an' says her brother'll lick that other girl's brother.  You know how they do.  An' she tol' that her brother killed a man an' was hidin'." (Steinbeck, 417).  Little kids can be very stupid sometimes.  Now I know why adults never let little kids know about secrets that should not be repeated. 
Rain began to fall and I thought that was good for all of the crops and plants, but too much rain came and washed everything away.  It has rained for many days and now the boxcar was being flooded and the families had to leave what was their good life behind.  During the rain fall, Rose of Sharon was in labor, but unfortunately her baby died.  Again, another person, in this case baby, died and everything is starting to go downhill again for the Joads.  The book ends with Rose of Sharon feeding the man who was dying.  I thought that this was a very curious and awful way to end the book.  I really can not think of an ending that would be better on the spot, but I believe that that was a bad ending.  This book was kind of a stressful book for me as a reader, and most definitely for the characters.  It is like the odds changed every chapter in this book.  What I mean by that is one moment you though everything was going to be fine, and then the next moment everything was going horribly wrong.  It made it hard for me to read because the book changed drastically every page and it made it hard to keep up with the story.

Bibliography

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.

Chapters 25-27 - The Grapes of Wrath

Well as things started to turn upward for the Joad family, things began to go back downhill for them.  Work is few and far between, and they do no have the money to buy the necesities of life.  No money, no food and whatever else they need to survive.  This is really unfortunate because they had just found a "home" for the time being and now they have to leave.  When I heard the news that could work at a peach farm, I was doubting it from the beginning.  I knew that there would be so many people there looking for work and there was.  Roads are backed up with hundreds of people, and the pay is only five cents for a box of peaches.  I have no idea what kind of money that was back then, but I can assume that it is not very much due to the fact that Tom was getting paid twenty-five cents and hour at the camp.  After one day they make one dollar.  That is absolutely unbelievable, the whole family working and they only make one dollar.  Tha probably could not feed the whole family.
As Tom meets up with Jim Casy, policemen find them and kill Casy.  Tom manages to get away, but not before taking a beating.  Another person dead, was the first thing that popped up into my mind.  It is truly sad to see Casy die for no reason.  To get away from trouble the family goes to a cotton farm, where they are going to pick cotton.  "What's a few rocks?  Jus' one, maybe.  Quarter pound?  Always argue." (Steinbeck, 407).  I think what the farmers did by putting rocks in their bags is a good thing.  They are being ripped off, not only in price, but the scale is rigged, giving them less money.  It is time that they fight back against the rich business men who own the farms.  I would have done the exact same thing if I were in their situation.

Bibliography

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.

Chapters 22-24 - The Grapes of Wrath

For the past few chapters, everything was going wrong for the Joad family.  They have no food, not much money, people are dying and bailing on the family, and most importantly they have found no work, which is what they set out to find when they left Oklahoma.  As luck can change drastically in a matter of seconds in life, the Joads find a camp where they will be able to find work, and thankfully Tom does find a job that he will be able to make money.  When I read that the farmers association was going to have a riot, I was worried for the Joads.  They have been searching for what seems like years, and now what is going to happen is that their camp will be taken down by riots.  When a riot is about to be started, Tom steps in and shuts it down.  The men were on the "good" side also.  They betrayed the camp because they got paid a large amount of money.  It is sad to see people do this.  I would never betray anything that I stand for just so I can get paid a little more.
Something else caught my attention.  What do the women do during they day?  They are not working, so how do they pass the time?  "The migrant people, scuttling for work, scrabbling to live, looked always for pleasure, dug for pleasure, manufactured pleaure, and they were hungry for amusement.  Sometimes amusement lay in speech, and they climbed up their lives with jokes..." (Steinbeck, 325).  Their world that they live in does not have television, gaming systems, or air conditioning.  They had to of gotten pretty bored sitting out their for days and days.  Sure you could talk, but pretty soon that will get boring, and it is probably pretty hot, making life a lot more miserable.  I am glad that I do not have to do what they had to.  I bet kids and women were pretty bored during the long, hot days.

Bibliography

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.

Chapters 19-21 - The Grapes of Wrath

As I read on in the book, The Grapes of Wrath, people are becoming angry and upset, with being hungry, not having much money, and no place to work.  It is a good recipe for total caous (not sure if that is the right spelling).  Anyways, they do not have enought money to buy a coffin for the granma.  When somebody dies, I am sure that they would wish that they would be handled properly.  Unfortunately, the Joads do not have the money to do that for her.  It is kind of sad if you think about it, what if that was you (dead)?  I would want to be properly buried.  Another moment reminded me of something in this book.  When Ma Joad is cooking her stew, the smell overwhelms everyone into coming to get some.  "The children, fifteen of them, stood silently and watched.  And when the smell of the cooking stew came to their noses, their noses crinkled slightly.  The sunlight glistened on hair tawny with dust.  the children were embarrassed to b e there, but they did not go." (Steinbeck, 253).  Seeing all these hungry kids reminds me of the book Night.  It was a book about the Holocaust and everyone was hungry.  They would do anything for an extra ration of food, and this scene of the book reminds me of that. 
When Knowles goes crazy about work, it is funny to see that the policeman shot a women.  It stinks to be her, but how dumb is that policeman?  It seems like more and more people are beginning to leave the story.  There have been deaths, the departure of Noah, the Wilsons left, and now Connie leaves.  He has a wife and a kid on the way.  He is such a jerk to leave the family during the hardest time.  He is a quitter.  The book is right he is good for nothing, I do not see what Rose of Sharon sees in him. Hopefully the family will get it together.

Bibliography

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.

Chapters 16-18 - The Grapes of Wrath

As I have read chapters sixteen through eighteen of The Grapes of Wrath, I find these chapter boring and unfortunate for the Joads and the Wilsons.  Nothing real exciting happens in these chapters making them hard to get through.  Fortunatley, I did though, and I am on my way to the next few chapters.
Looking at these three chapters and these three chapters only, I realize that things are slowly falling apart for both the Joad family and the Wilson family.  First, Connie and Rose of Sharon get into an argument with Ma Joad about the plans they have when they arrive in California.  When you are with a large amount of others traveling, the last thing you want to do is to get into an argument.  It slowly gets everybody into that argument and soon everybody is getting mad at everybody else.  Second, the car breaks down again.  Nothing can get you more aggravated than having to keep buying more parts and waisting more time.  It had to of gotten the families upset, but they still stay together.  Lastly, the granma dies.  It is very hard to say goodbye to a character, but the other characters in the book do not seem so affected by their loss.  Another bad thing is that they keep hearing the same news that there is no work in California.  "I'm goin' back to starve.  I ruther starve all over at oncet." (Steinbeck, 189).  On their journey they meet this guy who says he is headed back "home" wherever that may be, because he is not making money and he is starved.  They also meet another family, well a son and father, who are also headed back because they can not make a healthy living.  It is sad to see that people are headed home, and if I were the Joads I would be getting very nervous.  Everybody is giving bad reviews, and if you think about it, all the farmers are now coming over to California, so less jobs would be available.  It definitely was not the California that is today, not all the land is being lived on therefore you have less space to work.  If you have less space to work and more people that can work there, it is going to get very crowded.

Bibliography

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.