TheGrapesofWrath学习课程

1、第1页/共44页第一页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。John Steinbeck(1902-1968) 1902, born in Salinas, California 1920, enrolled in Stanford University 1925, went to New York1925 ,Returned to California Started writing career1935, won his first literary prize 1940, the Pulitzer Prize 1962, Nobel Prize for literature1967, Went

2、to Vietnam 1968, Passed away 第2页/共44页第二页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。His Major worksCup of Gold (1929) 金杯The Pastures of Heaven (1932) 天堂牧场The Grapes of Wrath (1939)Of Mice and Man (1937)The Pearl (1947) 珍珠East of Eden (1952) 伊甸园以东Travels with Charley in Search of America (1962) 与查理同游第3页/共44页第三页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。Wri

3、ting characteristics Settings: American land and people Focus : speaking for the oppressed and suffered Characters: sympathetic and humanity Authentic descriptions of his times第4页/共44页第四页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。John Steinbecks Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech 1962 A writer must declare and praise mans proven ca

4、pacity for greatness of heart and spirit - for bravery in defeat, for courage, forgiveness, and love. I believe that a writer who does not passionately believe in mans ability to improve himself has no devotion for, nor any membership in, literature.”第5页/共44页第五页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。第6页/共44页第六页，编辑于星期日：点 二十

5、六分。 BackgroundGreat Depressionwidespread panicpovertyabsolute miserydespairInfluences on American Literature the subject : Depression a revolt of genteel manner naturalistc style 第7页/共44页第七页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。Tom Joad Ma Joad Pa Joad Jim Casy Al Joad Rose of Sharon Connie Rivers Noah Joad friendsonhusba

6、ndsonsonhusbandIntroduction of the Major Charactersdaughter第8页/共44页第八页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。The Grapes of Wrath Plot Analysis . Initial SituationThe land is changing Tom Joad is paroled from prison for homicide. On his journey home, he meets a now-former preacher, Jim Casy, whom he remembers from his child

7、hood, and the two travel together. When they arrive at his childhood farm home, Oklahoma， they find it deserted. Theres been a drought, dust storms are rampant, crops are dead, the economy is weak, and landowners must kick tenant farmers (like the Joads) off of the land. 第9页/共44页第九页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。 P

8、lot Analysis . ComplicationCalifornia is not all that. Over three hundred thousand people have moved to California, all looking for the same thing: jobs. The Joads cant find any jobs and cant settle down. They are hungry, they are tired, they lose four members of the family. . ConflictThe Joads must

9、 move westward. The Joads buy a car and move west, like thousands of other families, in search of a new life, a new home, and new opportunity. With no work here in Oklahoma, they have no other choice. 第10页/共44页第十页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。第11页/共44页第十一页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。 The Grapes of Wrath Plot Analysis. Suspense

10、Ruthie spills the beans. The floodwaters rise. Tom tries to hide from the world until the murder hes committed blows over, but his little sister accidentally spills the beans and tells the world what hes done. Meanwhile, it starts raining really hard and the creek beside the Joads boxcar home rises.

11、 . ClimaxTom kills a man. Tom is reunited with Reverend Casy, who has become an agitator or a picketer, fighting for worker rights. The authorities murder Casy, and Tom kills one of the authorities. Hes in big trouble now. 第12页/共44页第十二页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。The Grapes of Wrath Plot Analysis. DenouementTom

12、runs away, the Joads escape Not wanting to drag his family into his crime, Tom runs away for good. As the floodwaters continue to rise, Rose of Sharons baby is stillborn. The Joads leave their boxcar in search of higher and dryer ground. 第13页/共44页第十三页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。The Grapes of Wrath Plot Analysis.

13、 ConclusionA dying man is nursed. In the end, Rose of Sharon commits the only act in the book that is not futile: she breast feeds a man too sick from starvation to eat solid food, still trying to show hope in humanity after her own negative experience. This final act is said to illustrate the spont

14、aneous mutual sharing that will lead to a new awareness of collective values.第14页/共44页第十四页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。 Tom Joadgood-natured, thoughtful , strength Protagonist of the story; the Joad familys second son, named after his father. Later on, Tom takes leadership of the family even though he is young. 第

15、15页/共44页第十五页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。 Ma Joadmatriarch, practical , warm-spirited, “the citadel of the family.” The mother of the Joad family. She is the healer of the familys ills and the arbiter of its arguments, and her ability to perform these tasks grows as the novel progresses. 第16页/共44页第十六页，编辑于星期日：点 二十

16、六分。 Pa Joadpatriarch, hardworking sharecropper and family man Ma Joads husband and Toms father. A plainspoken, good-hearted man, Pa directs the effort to take the family to California, though he sometimes feels ashamed of his weaker position. 第17页/共44页第十七页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。 Jim Casyradical philosopher,

17、 a motivator and unifier of men, and a martyr A former preacher who gave up his ministry out of a belief that all human experience is holy. Casy goes to prison in Toms stead for a fight that erupts between laborers and the California police. He emerges a determined organizer of the migrant workers.

18、第18页/共44页第十八页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。 Rose of Sharonfrom a “hoyden”a high-spirited and saucy girlinto a secretive and mysterious woman Childish and dreamy teenage daughter who develops as the novel progresses to become a mature woman. She symbolizes regrowth when she helps the starving stranger .第19页/共44页第十九

19、页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。Allegory第20页/共44页第二十页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。Road We think its interesting to note that Route 66 never really intersects with any other major highway or road it goes in two directions only. When you are on Route 66, you can either go forward in search of opportunity, or you can go backwards a

20、nd return to the poverty you came from.第21页/共44页第二十一页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。Bugs In The Grapes of Wrath, we notice that how easy it is for humans to kill insects, and theres a violence to the way, for instance, Tom crushes the grasshopper. We begin to see similarities between the way humans treat insects an

21、d the way landowners treat tenant farmers. 第22页/共44页第二十二页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。Turtle This stubborn and determined turtle-a Joad pet, reminds us of the stubborn and determined ways of the Joad family and other migrant worker families who persevere even after being kicked off of their farms, cheated by used

22、 car salesmen and merchants, and set back by sickness and loss. The turtle accepts the challenges that come his way, but he never forgets where he is going. 第23页/共44页第二十三页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。Dog Joads dog -this dog is run over by a speeding, westbound car, and his body is so mangled as a result that his

23、guts lie strewn on the road. Times are hard, and people are so desperate and angry that they will not hesitate to run over a dog, or to ruin a familys life. 第24页/共44页第二十四页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。MusicMaking music is one of the most natural things for humans to do. Weve been making music for thousands and tho

24、usands of years. What does it mean, that Tom Joad makes and hears more music in prison than he does when he is a free man? He tells the preacher, me an some guys had a strang band goin. Good one. Guy said we ought to go on the radio. 第25页/共44页第二十五页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。Farming Farming is about life, cultiv

25、ation, and growth. However, with advances in technology and science, we watch farming transition from a human-run to a machine-run art. We witness the art of farming trapped in a war between old and new, between human and machine. 第26页/共44页第二十六页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。Blood The Grapes of Wrath is full of blo

26、od. Blood signals both life and death 第27页/共44页第二十七页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。The West The idea of going west has been a central part of the American consciousness for a long time. The Grapes of Wrath puts a new, dark spin on the American ideal of moving westward and seeking fortune. 第28页/共44页第二十八页，编辑于星期日：点 二十

27、六分。The Sun The sun is an omnipresent force in the Joads life, one that they cannot escape. The sun is violent and dangerous power. The sun also brings hopes to people.第29页/共44页第二十九页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。Pregnancy Babies are usually a sign of new life, new beginnings. Babies are cool because they ensure a f

28、amily will continue to exist over another generation. So its a pretty big deal that Rose of Sharons baby is stillborn. The promise for new life and new start is not realized. However, Rose of Sharon is able to bring life to the world by nursing a nearly starved man.第30页/共44页第三十页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。Themes

29、第31页/共44页第三十一页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。Transience At the heart of The Grapes of Wrath is change, and we watch families cope as they are forced to change their lives, their homes, and their dreams. Change is bittersweet in this novel because it is imposed upon thousands of farmers and families who would otherw

30、ise prefer to remain right where they are. 第32页/共44页第三十二页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。Family Family is a means of survival in The Grapes of Wrath. Without each other, the Joads would have no way of coping with the loss of their land or of getting to California.Family is the one weapon that the Joads have against

31、the cold, bitter world around. 第33页/共44页第三十三页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。Lies and Deceit Central to The Grapes of Wrath is a single lie: thousands of families move west to California because they believe it to be the land of plenty, a place full of jobs and opportunity. This lie is spread through a yellow pamphl

32、et dispensed by a Californian landowner looking for workers, and it both gives families a sense of hope and strips them of hope. Several entities help to sustain this lie: the banks, the car salesmen, the merchants, and the landowners. The Joads are deceived into thinking that their worries will be

33、forgotten once they get to California.第34页/共44页第三十四页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。Betrayal In the face of loss and poverty, the Joads band together to survive and make do. Thousands of other similarly heartbroken families in The Grapes of Wrath also recognize the power of community. However, there are several char

34、acters who, overcome by fear, choose to serve themselves rather than their community at large. Willy Feeley, an old family friend of the Joads, accepts a job working for the landowners and helps to drive many sharecropping families away.第35页/共44页第三十五页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。Religion John Casy is constantly t

35、hinking about God in The Grapes of Wrath and about the ways in which humans souls are connected. He has given up the priesthood, having been a lecherous and rule-breaking preacher, but he still deeply considers the existence of God and the importance of religion in uniting and inspiring people.第36页/

36、共44页第三十六页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。Gender The narrator of The Grapes of Wrath paints vivid and general portraits of life in Dust Bowl America, and clearly delineates the roles of men and women. The men consider the losses, while the women look on silently, reading their husbands expressions. Men make decisions

37、, and women tend to the house chores. Men slaughter and hunt, while women prepare and cook. However, despite these very specific descriptions of gender roles, we see Ma Joad often assume a mans duties, and we see Tom Joad display more traditionally feminine sentiments. The novel complicates its own

38、understanding of women and men in 1930s America. 第37页/共44页第三十七页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。Criminality By virtue of the fact that Tom Joad is on parole and cannot leave the state of Oklahoma, the Joads are constantly aware of the law and of trying to adhere to the law. Much of The Grapes of Wrath deals with fami

39、lies who are treated poorly by the law, whether in their hometown or in their California towns. We begin to question the validity and the value of the law as we watch the Joad family, and many other families like them, fight tooth and nail to survive.第38页/共44页第三十八页，编辑于星期日：点 二十六分。Wealth Great poverty is juxtaposed with a great appetite for wealth in The Grapes of Wrath. Wealth is defined as both money and happiness in the context of this novel, and while some see