The Grapes of Wrath

Philosophical Issues

Agrarianism

close identification with and love for the land

Regionalism local color

techniques accuracy of detail:

dialect, dress, lifestyle,

Naturalism

Use of graphic details A survival of the fittest attitude People are compared to animals Use of symbols Attention to bodily functions A belief in determinism: the belief that one’s

choice of action is not free but is predetermined by a sequence of causes independent of one’s will

Pragmatism

Tests Truth by looking at the outcome of actions. If it works, it’s O.K. The tendency to make up policy as you go along, based on your current need or circumstance.

Proletarianism A description of the

injustices of the laboring class

One social class closely pitted against the other

e.g. the businessmen vs migrant workers

Communism

stresses cooperation collective efforts Working for the

group results in higher individual self-esteem

Government Camps (Weedpatch) “We’re the People, we go on.” (Ma’s comment) Laboring man is held in high esteem References to Marx, Lenin, Thomas Paine

TranscendentalismBelief in an Oversoul or Spirit that includes all living things within it

Anti-materialism (spirit is more important than materials)

A love of Nature; respect for it , conserve it

Admiration for the common, laboring man

A new moral code: “There ain’t no sin and there ain’t no virtue. There’s just stuff people do!”

– Jim Casy

Belief in the brotherhood of man

People are divine in their own right

Self-reliance a desire to work and

care for one’s self