What Can We Learn from the Grapes of Wrath?

Last updated on: August 20, 2012 at 7:56 pm by Jarrett Levale Key

What Can We Learn from the Grapes of Wrath? 2012-08-20T19:56:01-06:00 Jarrett Levale Key

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

So the past couple of weeks I have been leisurely reading about a family struggling with sever drought and the woes of an economic depression… No, I am not reading the current edition of Mother Jones. I am referring to John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. I know for most people this title appeared on their high school summer reading lists. However, I was never forced to read this novel as an apathetic high school student. Instead, I found an e-copy of Steinbeck’s work and began reading about the Joad’s, a family from rural Oklahoma in the 1930’s.

This post is not meant to provide a comprehensive summary of the novel. I am not interested in detailing the deaths of four characters (Grandpa, Grandma, Casey, and Rose of Sharon’s baby); I don’t want to belabor the moral or ethical reasoning that could justify someone leaving his family in the pursuit happiness, love or peace of mind like Al, Connie, and Muley Graves; I also don’t want to focus on how this book has some scary similarities to the current environmental, political and economic climate of our country over 70 years after it was written.

Instead, I want to focus on the Joad family’s generosity throughout a seemingly impossible migration. This family and all those individuals they picked up while trekking steadily toward California managed to give anything they could offer, even as their conditions worsened. To be clear, many of these families lost their homes to foreclosures and were kicked off their property by banks; struggled to find a stable job to feed their families; and worked tirelessly to get to a place where they could find basic needs. Sound familiar to today’s news?

One of the most memorable depictions of this generosity occurs at the end of the novel. As the deluge engulfs the land surrounding the Joad’s camp and waters rise within their boxcar, the family abandoned their settlement to seek a dry shelter. Carrying the sick and weak Rose of Sharon hours after her stillbirth delivery, the family spots a seemingly abandoned barn to wade out the storm. Protected from the cold and rain, the family inspects the hay filled barn. They are not alone: A young boy, with his dying grandfather sought shelter in this barn as well. The young boy explains that he has tried to feed his grandfather, but he was too sick to eat. The boy begs the family for money to purchase milk. Instead of money, Rose of Sharon nursed the dying stranger with her own breast milk.

This scene strikes me as important because it illustrates a fundamental theme found throughout Steinbeck’s novel: a society must be willing to help each other in order to survive economic and environmental instability. A restoration of this kind of civility and altruism, while it might not raise the DOW’s points or end unemployment, could provide the adequate support each of us need to bear the hardships that we are faced during this difficult time.

My fellow interns and I got in to a conversation about the importance of generosity, simply for the sake of generosity – not expecting anything in return. One of co-interns brought up the example of giving money to homeless people. I was worried that if I gave money to homeless person and they bought drugs or alcohol, aren’t I actually just supporting that person’s destructive habit. However, the conversation concluded that it is not the responsibility of the person giving the money to worry about where it goes. Instead, we should give without judgment and expectation. We must train ourselves to be generous and help out our neighbors in need. Our generosity promotes a culture of altruism and compassion that ultimately fosters the more perfect union that our founding fathers were willing to sacrifice their lives to achieve. What are we sacrificing in support of this movement toward our more perfect nation?

Follow me on twitter @jaranathan

Featured Writers

Previous Post

July 31, 2012

Public Policy with a Dash of Empathy

Next Post

August 16, 2012 "God's Politics" Still Stands

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category About Us About Us Action Center Advertise Ask a Theologian Ask a Theologian Blogs Books Campaign Blog Candidate Spotlights Commentary Donate Facebook Featured Writers Fellows Fellows From the Pulpit General Information Hillary Clinton Interfaith Blog Latest Media Center Media Center Media Center MyBlog MyBlog News Newsflash Newsflashes Our Team Reader Blogs RSS Sermon of the Week Shop Social Networking Static Items Support Talking Points Test blogs The Basics Theology Uncategorized YouTube

Select a Month November 2020 October 2020 February 2020 August 2019 July 2018 July 2017 March 2017 February 2017 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 June 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 January 2006 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which Old Testament prophet predicted the suffering of the Messiah?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Jeremiah Ezekiel Isaiah Micah