A Great American Novel

The concept of “Great American Novels” never really crossed my mind until this year. I could figure out what one was, but the constraints of it were a mystery to me. It was fascinating to craft the criteria for a Great American Novel, and the “Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck fits into every category, therefore claiming its title as a Great American Novel.

The first criteria of a Great American Novel is that it must have American content. There is no question that the “Grapes of Wrath” portrays this content because the entirety of the novel is based around the Dust Bowl, occurring from 1930 to 1936. The Joads are an American family affected by the Dust Bowl, therefore having to migrate from Oklahoma to California to escape it. Referred to as Okies throughout the novel, Steinbeck depicts what most American families had to suffer through during the time of the Dust Bowl, and how draining it was on all of them.

Next, in order to be a Great American Novel the novel must have multiple stylistic elements. One of the most important elements Steinbeck used was his tone. Steinbeck manages to maintain a depressing but still somewhat hopeful tone for the duration of the novel by adding slivers of hope throughout. He also uses personification as an important stylistic device to emphasize how much the land means to the farmers. For example, when he describes tractors as “snub-nosed monsters” (47) “bit[ing] into the house-corner” (52) the Okie’s hatred for what the tractors are doing is stressed. These two stylistic elements further the novel as a Great American one.

The third criteria is relevancy – if the novel is still relevant today and if readers can relate. “Grapes of Wrath” is undoubtedly relevant today with the issue of immigration, for immigrants can be required to go to overcrowded government camps just as the Joads did. The novel also includes people using derogatory language towards the Okies, and according to CNN, in 2014 as a busload of immigrants arrived in California, protestors chanted things such as “Go back home!”, reminding us of what the Okies experienced. Even more relevant is how the Joads couldn’t find work, connecting to the Coronavirus shutting down numerous job opportunities.

The fourth criteria is that the novel must have character growth in some aspect, and we see this growth in Tom Joad’s character. At the beginning of the book, Tom is solely concerned with himself and his own well being. As the novel progresses, he begins to help his family and put them above himself. The audience sees his final character growth when he leaves his family for good to assist everyone struggling through this crisis, saying that “wherever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there” (572). The Tom that we meet at the start of the novel would have never done this, but through Steinbeck’s work we can see how a negative thing like migration doesn’t need to produce only negative results.

Lastly, the novel’s content must have some sort of message, and although “Grapes of Wrath” has several messages, the main one I see revolves around hope. Having this consistent hope in difficult times leads to several positive outcomes: a unified family, happiness, even just in pieces, self respect and most importantly, survival. The Joad’s bleak future would have caused most families to give up entirely, yet they stand out from those people in that they are survivors. This concept of hope is not limited, but pertinent to anyone.

The importance of hope is entirely still applicable today with the Coronavirus demolishing many hopes for the future. Although we have no idea where this virus will take our society, “Grapes of Wrath” reminds us to persist though our predicaments, and almost 100 years later it still holds it’s title as a Great American Novel.