The_Grapes_of_Wrath

.The Grapes of Wrath began with a man walking in the street alone, with birds “twittering” in Oklahoma. The man just so happened to be Tom Joad. Tom Joad was just released from jail on parole. He caught a ride on a random man’s truck so he could go visit his family. When he arrived at a certain spot, he got out of the truck and told the man what he did to get in jail. The man looked scared and he drove off. While walking down the road, Tom saw a man sitting down on the grass. The man sitting on the grass was humming and singing. The man was Jim Casy. Once Tom reached him, they spoke to each other and he realized that he was the preacher. Casy told him he used to be a preacher. However, he claimed that he “lost the call” and “lost the spirit”. Casy believed he could not preach any longer. Casy decided to tag along with Tom to go visit his family. When they reached his family’s house, they realized everyone was gone. They saw an old friend named Muley, who had been hiding there for the longest. Muley told them how everyone planned on moving to California, what happened in regards to them getting forced out of their homes and how the government was going to knock down the houses with the “Cats”. Tom and Casy decided to go to Tom’s uncle’s house to see if they were living there. All of his family members were so excited to see him. Everyone assumed that he broke out of jail .They told Tom the plans of moving to California. They said there are high wages and many available jobs. They told him they must be gone by daybreak. Everyone seemed so happy about moving. Everybody packed to move to California. Ma Joad looked as if she was about to cry. They got ready to go and packed the truck up. The grandfather didn’t want to go. He refused to go. He seemed like he had a breakdown. They eventually got him to go. They decided to take Casy along with them. They began their long journey to California. Shortly into the trip, grandpa died of a stroke. They buried him along the roadside and left a note. The note stated, “This here is William James Joad, dyed of a stroke, old old man. His folks bured him here becaus they got no money to pay for no funerals. Nobody kilt him. Jus a stroke an he dyed.” They decided to leave the site and continue driving. They stopped at camp overnight. A man at the camp warned them about there not being any jobs in California. Pa Joad went in a diner of some sort and he asked them about buying a loaf of bread for ten cents. One of the workers told the other one to just give him the loaf and they had a little argument about it. He ended up getting the loaf of bread and two pieces of candy. They then proceeded on the long journey. On the way, Grandma started missing Grandpa. She would only say, “Grandpa, Grandpa”. They were stopped policemen on their way. Ma Joad told the police officers that they have to get Grandma to the doctor. Ma Joad already knew Grandma was dead. Everyone else thought she was really sick. They let them go and take Grandma to the doctor. Once they reach California, Tom is informed that Grandma has died. Ma Joad looked extremely sad. At the camp, there were a lot of hungry kids. They were surrounding the fire where they were cooking food. Later, a sheriff tried to arrest a man for something. Tom asked him, “How do you know he did it'” The sheriff kept trying to arrest him. The man started running and the sheriff tried to shoot him. He missed and shot an innocent woman. Tom hit him and the sheriff fell. Casy told Tom he should go before he gets in trouble. Casy took the blame and Tom ran away. At another camp, they finally found jobs. The wages paid 5 cents an hour. Tom tried to sneak out that night. A sheriff caught him so he walked back but ended up sneaking out again somehow. He found Casy and they left together. They were caught by policeman and one of them hit Casy with a bat. Casy died immediately. Tom tried to hit them and they ended up injuring him. Tom busted his cheek. The Joads family decided to leave so they could protect Tom. They hid him under the mattress in the truck. They ended up getting away with it too. They moved on to the next camp which was ran by the government. Everybody was shocked about the toilets, showers, no police, school, etc. They worked there so it could pay off their stay. Later, a riot was started. The police tried to break it up but everyone started dancing instead. The movie ends with Tom talking to his mother. He decided he wanted to leave. He told her he has been thinking about Casy and what he said, what he did and how he died. He pledged to her. He hugged and kissed her for the last time. He said goodbye and left his mother standing there in tears. The remainder of the Joads family left another camp once again. They were talking about the twenty days work they might get. Ma Joad seemed more confident than she was throughout the whole movie. She was the one who kept them going. She said, “We’re the people that live. They can’t wipe us out. They can’t lick us. And we’ll go on forever, Pa, ‘cause we’re the people.” For the strengths and weaknesses, I believe there were more weaknesses than strengths. One strength would have to be Tom comes back from jail. He was able to live life instead of being locked up in a jail cell all of his life. He could also be with his family. Another strength would be the family moves to California. The Joads family, as well as other families, moved to California and escaped the dust bowl. They also moved to California to search for work. The family got the chance to stay at a United States government camp. It was a better and more comfortable camp. It had showers, toilets, etc. That’s all for the strengths. One weakness would be more than 100 people were getting thrown out of their homes. They didn’t have a place to go. The Joads family happened to be some of the people who got thrown out of their home. They were forced out due to foreclosure. Although the Joads family moved to California in search of work, there were many disasters on the way. The grandfather died. He had a terrible stroke and he was buried along the road. The grandmother died just before the Joads family reached the border line of California. There were barely any jobs for them. The family had to stay in a transit camp filled with hungry children. Another weakness would be kids died because of heart failure. Also, kids had just skin on their bones and they were walking around with their bellies poked out. It is sad that innocent children had to live that way or died at such a young age. A man tried warning others about the so called “promising work” and the sheriff wanted to arrest the man. So the man started running away and the sheriff shot at him. The sheriff ended up shooting an innocent woman and she died. A mob of people didn’t want any “okies” so they decided to go up to the Joads car and scare them away. Casy was killed by an attacker and Tom tried to help but he ends up getting injured. His cheek was busted. Honestly, I actually liked and enjoyed The Grapes of Wrath. It was way better than Birth of a Nation. I was able to sit there and watch this movie three times without any complaints. I didn’t think I would like it or even think it was okay. It held my attention. The beginning had me laughing for no apparent reason. I was cracking up at the subtitle. It said, “Birds twittering” and it had funny bird sounds. Just because of that one part, I thought I would enjoy this film. People like Grandma, Grandpa, Casy and Tom had me laughing. The funniest part was when Casy was talking to the sheriff. When I first saw it, I was laughing so hard. It was sad to see people die in this movie. Grandpa died before they reached California. He didn’t even get close enough to the state. On top of that, they buried him along the roadside with a note. The note had so many grammatical errors, but that’s not the point. I was just sitting there, staring at the television like “wow, did they really just do that'” When grandma died, it was extremely sad. They just reached the border of California. Ma Joad was standing there all sad. For Casy, I just think it was terrible that he got killed in front of Tom. Also, I thought it was extremely shocking and rude when the sheriff missed the man and shot the innocent woman. I know it was an accident. I still think it was rude and shocking. Even though he didn’t mean to shoot her, he should have been punished some way. I don’t think he even tried to help her. If he did, that’s lovely. That’s what he should’ve done anyway. If he didn’t, he should have helped her. That’s the least he could do since he shot her. I just don’t recall seeing it if it happened. The Grapes of Wrath helped me understand what was going on during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. I understood it before but it helped me get an even better understanding. It really made me think about what is going on now and what was going on then. Although we are having hard times in the present time period, I think it was worst during that time. I’m more appreciative. I think there should have been at least a few African Americans in this movie. It was probably best if they weren’t in it though. If they were in the movie, African Americans would be probably have been mistreated. During the journey of the Joads family, they experienced such horrible things. It all started when Grandpa died. Afterwards, Grandma became dysfunctional. She started missing him. Later, she died. The Joads dealt with quite a few deaths. They all were starving as well. They couldn’t afford to buy much. They were given a loaf of bread for ten cents when it is normally fifteen cents. They had a long way to go with very little money. They weren’t sure about what they were going to do and how they were going to feed themselves. They had to deal with a pregnancy as well. Tom’s sister, Rose of Sharon, was pregnant. At times they had to carry her. They probably had to deal with her mood swings. She seemed a little emotional. They also missed their home. They were extremely homesick and they kept talking about how they may never see their home again. Several generations lived there. It’s very understandable though. Besides, they did have to go through a lot of camps. They were traveling constantly instead of staying in the comfort of their own stable home. The Joads family had to keep moving from camp to camp because of Tom’s anger issues. They kept hiding and running away from the police. They were in the truck for extremely long periods of time. People in California didn’t want the “okies” stay there because they were afraid that they would take their jobs. They would scare them away. Although the Joads family dealt with a lot throughout this long, tiring, and interesting journey, it was best that they were together. It brought them closer to each other. For many generations Mexicans have illegally crossed the border into the United States. Reasons for the high rate of migration from Mexico include the close proximity of Mexico to the U.S. and the noticeable difference in the quality of life between the two countries. Many individuals come from poverty-stricken towns in Mexico and desire to come to the United States to achieve the "American dream." For many, just gaining employment at a low wage job in the United States provides a much higher standard of living than in their home country. Many Americans feel that Mexican immigrants, especially illegal aliens, take low-paying, low-skilled jobs and consequently depress opportunity and wages for Americans who would work those same jobs. In addition, many Americans maintain that illegal Mexican immigrants who receive public services such as education for their children, welfare and food stamps are receiving those services unfairly as they are funded through taxes—which illegal Mexican immigrants do not pay. During the 1980s, the United States saw a significant increase in illegal immigrants from Mexico. The immigration influx was not limited to Mexicans from one specific region but rather from communities all throughout Mexico. The Illegal Mexican Immigrant situation is similar to the Joads’ experiences. The Joads moved from Oklahoma to California. They were in search of work. They were trying to support their family. The jobs they took were low-paying, low-skilled jobs. It didn’t really matter to them. They were just in need of food, work and a place to stay. They took the low wage jobs that most people wouldn’t take because others probably thought they were too good for the job. Tom Joad had to illegally stay with his family. That’s exactly what the Mexicans did. There is no other city in the United States that highlights the Achilles Heel of the current financial crisis like Detroit Michigan. Detroit Michigan had a booming population from 1870 to 1950. In 1870 Detroit had 79,577 residents and in 1950 Detroit had a stunning 1.8 million. The massive boom came with the growth of the U.S. auto industry. The nickname Motor City was aptly deserved as Detroit became a powerhouse of economic growth. Yet all that has now changed. Detroit now has 912,062 residents, a decline of 50 percent from the peak in 1950 and those leaving the city continue. Detroit isn’t in a recession but an economic depression. The unemployment rate is 28.9 percent. The average listing price for a home is $188,432. The crime rate is the lowest it has ever been at since 1967. The Joads dealt with an economic depression. The unemployment rate had to be high. A lot of people were unemployed, including the Joads. The crime rate was most likely high. There was violence and crimes going on throughout the movie. For example, the policeman hit Casy with a bat and killed him. They probably assumed he committed a crime. There were businesses and corporations closings. They had to move away from their farm. Dust Bowl and Hurricane Katrina are similar. They are both natural disasters that have occurred here in the United States. The Dust Bowl was just more economic and it was longer than Hurricane Katrina. During Hurricane Katrina, people moved because they feared their lives. Both disasters affected the lives of many Americans. In the early 1930s, the Dust Bowl prompted an enormous migration of Americans west to the promised land of California. Aggressive winds carried dust that wiped out farms and family incomes for many people in the Great Plains states. There are differences between that migration and this one: Americans were uprooted slowly, over years, during the Dust Bowl era; they were rural and mainly white. Katrina has created a sudden displacement of people, mostly urban and black. The people who were affected by the Dust Bowl took whatever they could. They heard about an opportunity in California and went for it. They didn’t even receive much money for their work but it didn’t matter to them. They just searched for a new life. Hurricane Katrina affected different states of the United States such as Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. In the Dust Bowl event, the crops of the farmers were ruined, lands became dry and infertile and homes foreclosed because of expensive debts. Farm families gave up and left. They tried to find a new place where they could begin their lives again and cope with the traumatic experience that they had. Just like Dust Bowl, Hurricane Katrina also affected many lives of the victims. Many people became homeless or they died. Works Cited. "Lessons from the Dust Bowl for Hurricane Survivors - ABC News." ABCNews.com: Breaking News, Politics, World News, Good Morning America, Exclusive Interviews - ABC News. ABC, 23 Sept. 2005. Web. 4 May 2011. . Web. 4 May 2011. . "Illegal Immigration from Mexico." United States Immigration: Green Card, Visas and U.S. Citizenship. Web. 4 May 2011. . "The Long Lost City of Detroit: The Economic and Financial Pain of Motor City. How Detroit Went from 1.8 Million to 912,000 Residents. 28.9 Percent Unemployment." My Budget 360. Web. 4 May 2011. .