National university of uzbekistan named after mirzo ulugbek faculty of foreign philology

The Grapes of Wrath

• John Steinbeck’s novel about a rural Oklahoma family caught up in the Great Depression used the same device as Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick—alternately telling the story of a group of characters and describing the forces which shape their lives—in Melville’s novel, whaling; in Steinbeck’s the Depression and the Dustbowl.
• How does Steinbeck describe the banks that force tenant farmers off the land?
• What kind of farming are the banks bringing to Oklahoma?
• How will this affect the farmers living there?
• When Joe Davis’ son brings his tractor to knock down the Joad’s house, why is he willing to risk being shot to do it?
• What kind of effect do you think this experience would have on many Americans living through the Depression—how might it shape their attitude toward society and politics?