Entry Seven: Theorizing the Farm Through John Steinbeck

In his novel The Grapes of Wrath, author John Steinbeck discusses the plight of tenant farm workers during the Great Depression of the 1920s. The story tracks the lives of Joads family as they struggle to survive both economic and emotional turmoil. By examining their difficulties, readers begin to understand that farm life is not always the idyllic, romanticized notion purported in popular media; rather, the agrarian lifestyle is something that is highly susceptible to elements outside of farmers' control, including inclement weather and political controversy. We also discover through the Joads that agricultural life is moral in comparison to the modern industrial world. Through these discoveries laid out by Steinbeck's narration, readers begin to theorize the farm life as difficult but morally exceptional.