The Extended Family A Source Of Strength And Hope Essay
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THE EXTENDED FAMILY: A SOURCE OF STRENGTH AND HOPE
In his books Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck captured the reality of the struggles that struck mankind in different forms and in various levels as he had observed during his lifetime. Steinbeck observed mainly Californians and migrants who had suffered from poverty and distress brought to them by the Depression and the Dust Bowl, the dust storm that brought drought to the Great Plains during 1932 to 1939. He began to write books to sympathize with and encourage the many downtrodden people whom he had watched. Steinbeck suggested a method of comfort and relief to those who were alone and suffering; he discussed the significance that an extended family has in providing its constituents the strength to cope with their economic insecurities and social problems.
Due to the Dust Bowl and the Depression that hit the United States in the thirties, many Oklahomans experienced a sudden abandonment from their landlords. Since most Oklahomans were farmers, many were left jobless once they were kicked off their land. For the sake of survival, this economic catastrophe resulted in two different cases of reactions: that of Muley Graves and that of the Joads.
Steinbeck introduced a character, Muley Graves, who became a beggar because he was too attached to the land to leave and too independent to abide with his family that had left, travelling to California. Too stubborn to budge, Muley just scowled, “If they throw me off, I’ll come back… I ain’t a –goin’…An’ I ain’t a-going” while remanding behind by the land that no longer was under his family control or estate, eating wild animals to survive. However, a different mentality of the farmers was shown through the Joads. When their land was taken away, for the sake of survival, Joads did not hesitate to leave their land at once: their “houses were left vacant on the land, because… only the tractors…were alive.”
When many other Oklahomans were out of work, out of place to live, and out of food to eat, people began to migrate to California in large numbers. Just as the Graves family had left, the Joads followed the promise of an ad for work, which publicized “800 pickers wanted” to California. Many other families, such as the Wilsons family joined the Joads in the popular migration movement to California.
However, when the Joads traveled on Route 66, they were faced with only discouragement that lowered their level of expectations about California. Steinbeck foreshadowed this economic situation in a returning migrant’s comment that California was no longer “big… big enough…for rich and poor together all in one country, for thieves and honest men…for hunger and fat.” Once they reached California, the Joads were unable to find work, like many other families in California, because they did not know where to begin their new life in a foreign land with little opportunity available. Until the Joads were able to find a place to work, they had camped in Hoovervilles.
Gradually, the Joads found themselves in government ran camps and a government run ranch. Even after reaching the point of finding a ranch to pick fruits, the Joads found themselves with low wages, which were half the announced wage, due to the overabundant amount of workers.
These economic afflictions were followed directly by social recessions. The Dust Bowl had a great impact on the social and the psychological aspect of the farmers, because for a farmer to depart from their land was a death-like experience at the time. Muley Graves stayed with his land, even when it meant that he was to be a beggar. In like manner, Grampa “died the minute we took ‘im off the place” for he was too bounded to the land, for “he was that place, an’ he knowed it.”
From Grampa’s death to the Mrs.Wilson’s death, the death in a family brought about unplanned changes or shifts of roles in the family structure. Death of Grampa expedited the death of Gramma; and the passing away of the two ended the older generation of the Joads and gave the younger generations the definite responsibility to lead the family and the adopted family members such as Casy and the Wilsons. Moreover, an unseen death in Rose of Sharon’s miscarriage brought sadness as well as a spontaneous change to her personality. However, when Mrs. Wilson was close to her deathbed, the Wilsons discontinued their journey and returned home, forcing them to impede their vision to go to California.
While some were able to endure even through the death of her child, some migrants were unable to endure through the challenges, and ended up giving up or leaving the family. Noah’s fear of starving kept him by the river, where a "fella can't starve beside a nice river." Although Noah Joad was one family member who was unnoticeably quiet, his leaving contributed to the breakdown of the family. His departure was extremely untimely, adding onto the chaos that already existed due to the sheriff warning against Ma to leave, Gramma’s extreme sickness, and Sairy’s deathly illness. Connie, likewise, left the family at a malapropos time, when Casy was taking Tom’s place to go to the jail and when Rose of Sharon had just lost a baby. His departure added to the breakdown of the family, and to the despondency of his wife, Rose of Sharon.
Not only did many individual persons have a social impact on the other migrants or the family, few organizations and their corruptness were responsible for most workers’ distresses. As for the Sheriff’s lying characters, such as attempting to arrest Floyd, an innocent worker, and arrest anybody in place of Tom, demonstrated how untrustworthy the county organizations were. Moreover, the employer’s deceitful advertisement and contradicting wages to the advertised wages caused Casy and Tom to be strike-leaders and many workers to partake in a strike movement.
Regardless of the adversities, the migrants found strength in the extended family that began to take shape as the Joads family began to dissipate. When Grampa passed away, the Wilsons joined the Joads. This represented the breakdown of the Joads family, to be replaced by the extended family of migrants. The growth of the extended family became far more evident when the children at the Weedpatch camp, other migrants, and ranch workers united after Noah, Gramma, and the Wilsons had departed the family.
As the extended family continued growing, it was essential to be part of the extended family for people needed each other and needed to help one another in every step of the way. The Joads were the assistance that the Wilsons needed to go on with the journey. The Joads provided a ride, food, and comfort to the Wilsons who were in worse situation than they were in. Steinbeck showed people’s dependence on others’ help in vast amount of examples: Mrs. Wainwright helped Rose of Sharon in her childbirth; Ma shared food with the other people’s children at the Weedpatch camp; Casy rescued Tom by going to jail in his place. Nonetheless, the genuine love and support that the member of extended family provides for the fellow members was manifested when Rose of Sharon offered her...
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