Length: 624 words (2.3 pages)
Rating: Red (FREE)      
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Finding Hope in The Grapes of Wrath

 

 

 

Having watched the movie "Grapes of Wrath", I have been given the opportunity to see the troubles that would have befell migrant workers during the Great Depression. Though the Joads were a fictitious family, I was able to identify with many signs of hope that they could hold onto. Some of these families who made the journey in real life carried on when all they had was hope. The three major signs of hope which I discovered were, overcoming adversity, finding jobs, and completing the journey.

 

The Joad family members were facing hardships from the beginning. Before the journey, Tom Joad had been in prison and that was a downer to everyone. In the scenes of overcoming this problem, Tom was released and his family was so excited and full of joy to see him. Before they could celebrate too much, they found themselves having to leave the land that most of them were born on, raised on and labored for. They decided that as shady as it was to be forced off their own land, the drought had shattered any hopes of prospering from it anyway. With the hope of a better life out in California and a flyer that said pickers needed, they set out for the proclaimed promised land.

 

The trip had proved to much for Grandpa Joad early on and he passed away. As depressing as that was for the remaining Joads, they pressed on. They knew they needed to make it to California to have a better life and that hope empowered them. Vehicle trouble, low food and not much support from people they passed was not enough to make them give up.

 

Once they made it across the desert and into California, they were surprised to see that they were among thousands of migrant families looking for jobs. They got into a scuff with the local authority in a Hooverville where they were encamped. The former preacher was arrested. Although it didn't go through, the scuff began with a job proposition. The Joads left that night and in the morning, they ran into an orchard where they could make fifty cents a basket picking peaches. This brought hope to the Joads because it was a start. They even met back up with the old preacher. Trouble came knocking before too long there also and it was at the expense of the preacher's life.

 

They packed up and headed out in hopes of finding another job. It is a good sign of hope that the Joads haven't been in California very long and they already have had two job opportunities. The Joads get word of a government run sight where they could stay and work. The facilities there were luxurious to an extent as well. The Joads had found their place. When you have next to nothing you find hope in the little things.

 

My final object of hope is the plane fact that they made it to California. They left their homes in a beat up overweighed truck, ten people, barely enough food, a couple hundred dollars, and 2,000 miles ahead of them. They lost three people getting there, they faced break downs and run ins with the authorities, and they made it. They did it all with the power of hope.

 

In conclusion, the Joads were a close knit family who believed they could start anew in California. They hoped that a better life awaited them to the west. With hope in their hearts they completed the journey. It can be said that in overcoming their trials, finding jobs and crossing that California border all their hopes were fulfilled.