The Grapes of Wrath
by John Steinbeck
Summary
Driven from their Dust Bowl Oklahoma farm by drought and bank foreclosure, the Joad family loads everything onto a battered truck and joins the migrant tide moving west in search of work in the orchards and fields of California. Steinbeck alternates the family's intimate journey with broader, almost biblical interchapters about land, machinery, and labor, building a sweeping portrait of Depression-era hardship. The novel became a defining work of American social realism and an enduring touchstone of protest literature.
Historical Context & Significance
Steinbeck's masterpiece of social protest fiction shocked the nation with its depiction of migrant worker exploitation. It was banned in many communities but became one of the most influential American novels of the 20th century.