In this blog, I feel like venting about the overall “timeless” message. So many times before, I have read novels similar to The Grapes of Wrath. Yes, I will say that the ending of the book was completely and utterly a shock to me. I was not expecting Rose of Sharon do to exactly what she did. But I just think that us as students are told to read so many classic novels that revolve around the same thing (and then forced to analyze them), that they lose their importance as “classics”. I think John Steinbeck did a magnificent job with the book, do not get me wrong. I just feel like summer reading has been so repetitive in past years. Maybe it is time we read more contemporary books. Anyway, I am basically saying that I enjoyed the novel, but it is not on my list of all-time favorites.
To be honest, I want to say I learned a huge lesson from The Grapes of Wrath, but it is nothing that has not been drilled in my head from day one of English class. I can tell you from my expertise in answering questions such as “What did you learn from reading this novel?” or “What is the moral of the story the author tried to portray through the main character?” that there is really one basic answer to what I have “learned” (or in this case, been taught once again). Do not take family and/or material things for granted. I know for sure Steinbeck did not just write this five-hundred plus page novel about the Joads journey west because he had nothing better to do with his time. He wrote it to make a statement to the millions of readers who pick up his book. I am sad to say I did not feel as accomplished and fulfilled when finishing the novel, but I think the most important thing is that I was able to identify the message Steinbeck was trying to reveal through The Grapes of Wrath.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
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