Grapes of Wrath Chapter 27 - End

The ending of this book was long awaited.

Personally, I really enjoyed this novel. I was able to connect with each of the members in the Joad family (not including Noah although I did understand why he left). The last few chapters were surprising but noticeable.

The cotton picking part got me really excited. I felt like the family finally had a place to stay and would be able to make a living there. Everything seemed to be working out. I thought that them leaving the government camp was a good thing because the government camp seemed to be holding them back.

The ending was a surprise. I knew that Casy would be back but he was killed off so quickly. He gave Tom important information about what was actually happening in the dust bowl and then he dies. When Tom left the family because he needed to heal his face was almost a foreshadow for me. I knew that he would be leaving the family sometime. Although I thought that when he left, Ma wasn't like upset about it. Similar to Noah leaving or Connie. But she did say that he was her support and she needed him there. I guess she just finally figured out that for him to be safe, he had to leave.

I admire Ma for finally letting go of her family. She allowed Al to get married and leave the family to start his own. I guess she found out that she cant keep the family safe forever and kids need to grow up and make a living on their own. Her letting go is almost like lost hope. All the younger men in the family are now gone. This can only turn mildly bad for the family. By the time they leave the flood, they are down to 6 people. Two older men, two children, and two women. Im not sure how they will make a living competing with younger men and people who have the strength to work.

Rose was got really weird. Like she became really crazy. When Connie left her, it was a shock for her. She was very depressed and sad especially with a baby on its way. I think that this lead to her insanity. In many parts of this novel, all the chaos made Rose seem like she was out of her mind. When the Christian lady was talking to her about sinners, Rose took all of that in as herself. At the end, i felt that she, in a way, was conscious about what she was doing but in a way she found pleasure by breast feeding the man. Almost like she though the man was her stillborn baby. She really loved Connie and she really loved her baby. She just became a little nuts. Although i must give it to her, if i was in her shoes i probably would not be brave enough to do something like that.

Overall, i really thought that this novel was a easy read. There were times when all i wanted to do was skip through and only read when it talks about the family. By the time i got to those parts, i could never put the book down.

My Suggestion:
-Get past the first 3 chapters and you'll love the novel after that
-Read it on a weekend when you have time to re-read the descriptions

Thanks for choosing this novel.

Grapes of Wrath Chapter 21-26

When i thought of that camp that Joad's family reached i thought of like a huge camp site similar to like a national park camp site, with tents all around and each camp area was assigned to a particular wash room area. I also thought of a huge fence that surrounded this area. I am really glad that the family found this place because so far everything seemed too good to be true in this camp. People in this camp are very friendly. I suspected that the camp would be good because right when Tom entered he hit a road bump and when the guard told them about the reason of the road bump, I thought of how this camp actually cared about the safety of the children.

The camp is also really ideally ran. The way that this camp is being run reminded me of the Utopian society in the book Candide by Voltaire. In the camp, everyone had a role and if you didn't like someone in that role, you peacefully voted them out. So far in this book, when there was a problem the community committee leaders would solve the problems.

I however do not think this camp is safe. It seems like there is no way a camp like this could survive having everyone pay 4 dollars a month because of all of these privileges. Things like a grocery market within the camp, running hot and cold water, flushing toilets, and other things such as a self sufficient government and a dance floor. Its somewhat too good to be true. Then, Tom was able to find a job on the first day. That shocked me because it seemed like a lot of people in the camp had a hard time looking for work and all of a sudden a new guy comes along and is able to get a job in a matter of hours.

However, this camp represents something on a larger scale. This camp shows people from all over becoming one unified and together. This is what Ma has been trying to do all throughout the novel. This camp is like the justification of Ma's beliefs. The camp just reminded me of an inner chapter talking about how unified people are going to pull together and take back what they deserve. This camp seems like its going in that direction.

I also really like how the children of the family are finally getting a role in this story. Their childish immaturity is reminding me of how young this family is. I really enjoyed the two children's adventure into the bathroom and how they thought they broke the toilet. It shows how little they had in their farm land.

I cant wait to continue reading the next chapters and finding out what will happen to this family.

Grapes of Wrath Chapter 17-20

Reading this at midnight is not the best way to read yet i could not stop. Page after page i had to continue.

Whats so good about moving westward to California? apparently people think that its a bad idea. After being there and experiencing these mildly bad things, they all want out of it. If everyone is trying to get out of this place why are the Joads trying to get in. They go because they have thoughts of having a better life and to start something new yet they cant. They cant because there are not enough jobs to be given out for everyone. A job ad wants a thousand workers but only accepts five hundred after more then five thousand people show up. Owners figure that as long as there are people who need the job, they can give it to the people that will work for less. What kind of an economy is this? But then again, people today are also getting jobs that are underpaid even with the minimum wage implied. This is just like a relapse. A bunch of people being put out of work and needing jobs is similar to what we are faced with today.

People leaving this family is representing breaking common idea and unity. throughout the novel, you learn about each character and how each one contributes to the common cause. You see now that people are losing that common goal. The beginning of chapter 17, it felt like everyone who were strangers even worked together to get by the night and each day. First, Grandpa died because he lost himself on the road. His soul was on the farm and leaving the farm was probably the hardest thing he had to do. Grandma, needless to say passed away because she became depressed. Noah saw the river and fell in love. He didnt think he had the need to leave because he could drink and eat from the river. This is a way is logical because using the river, he is able to live off of it. Connie was different. He kind of just lost hope and left in my opinion. He found that his dreams were not going to become real because it was too hard. He is a wimp. He left his wife who is expecting a baby to fend for herself. Casy was by far the only man who left because he thought of the common goal. Casy saw that Tom tripped the police officer and in order to save tom from being caught and sent to jail for leaving the state, he hit the man across his head and knocked him out. Then when reinforcements arrive, he willingly left with them. In a way though, i think he did it because he wanted to get away from the Joads. I feel like he felt that he owed them something. He's been living from them since Tom returned and sometimes I get the feeling that he feels bad. By helping Tom get out of that situation, its similar to repaying his debt. Even Tom almost broke away from the family. He was similar to Casy though in the sense where it was for the common cause of the family to continue on their journey. Ma though was able to make that not happen which in a way was very good for the family. This all shows that the family is definitely facing difficulties.