STUDY QUESTIONS

1. What do you think of Casy's viewpoint that there is no sin and there is no virtue and only the actions of people?

2. Why do certain members of the party drop out--Grampa, Granma, Noah, Connie, Tom?

3. What happens to the surviving members of the family and who is responsible for their future?

4. Can you determine Steinbeck's politics from this novel? What are they?

5. What is his point of view towards the readers?

6. Describe the process of the education of the Joads.

7. Comment on the relationship between the narrative and the intercalary chapters.

8. Comment on the symbolism of the title and the grapes in the novel.

9. Analyze Steinbeck's treatment of nature.

10. What is the significance of the Weedpatch Camp?

11. Comment on the significance of the Biblical parallels and the Christian symbolism in the novel

12. Analyze the conflict between the agrarian way of life and the modern technological methods of farming.

13. Critically comment on the development of Tom's character.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Peter Lisca, The Wide World of John Steinbeck, 1958, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick.

Joseph Fontenrose, John Steinbeck: An Introduction and Interpretation, 1963, Barnes & Noble, New York.

Warren French, A Companion to The Grapes of Wrath, 1972, Viking Press, New York.

Agnes McNeill Donohue, Ed., A Casebook On The Grapes of Wrath, 1968, Crowell, New York.

Howard Levant, The Novels of John Steinbeck, 1974, University of Missouri Press, Columbia, Missouri.

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