Grapes of Wrath

Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Grapes of Wrath is an American realist novel published in 1939, and winner of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The book was cited many times when Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize in 1962. Grapes of Wrath was written about the Great Depression, and Steinbeck expressed sympathy in his writing for migrant workers. This novel focuses on the Joad family, poor tenant farmers who are forced out of their homes by drought, and many other economic problems. Because they are trapped in the Dust Bowl and caught up in other issues in their community, the migrant workers of Oklahoma head out to California in search of new jobs, land, and a better future. This book is read in many high schools around the world. However, because Steinbeck sympathized with migrant workers, the publishing of the book caused the US government to keep a close eye on Steinbeck while others some members of society burned his books and sent death threats to him.