Answer these questions about the grapes of wrath 1. What is the preacher’s justification for “going out in the grass” with one of the girls after his sermon? Is it logical? Explain.
2. Casey’s idea about using bad words is similar to his idea about sin and virtue. What is his reasoning about using bad words?
3. How are Casey’s beliefs about the Holy Spirit similar to Transcendentalist beliefs?
4. The preacher is symbolic of someone else with the same initials; who does he
represent?
5. What is the major difference between Uncle John’s and Pa’s personality?
6. The bank is an entity unto itself trying to drive the men from the land. What is the tenant men’s argument about ownership of the land?
7. When the narrator says “men ate what they had not raised, had no connection with the bread,” the implication is that this break diminishes humanity. Do you agree? Discuss.
8. How does the personification of the bank and the land work against the tenant farmers?
9. Steinbeck shows the separation between the land and the tractor driver. Explain in
detail how even though the driver may spend ten hours or more a day working on the
land, the tractor driver doesn’t “know” the land the way previous farmers did.
10. How does the tractor driver exemplify the motto “united we stand, divided we fall”?
11. Explain the symbolism of Muley Graves’ name, first and last.
12. Steinbeck juxtaposes two new characters in this chapter, Muley and the cat. Explain
their similarities and differences.
13. How are Muley’s beliefs about sharing and his responsibility to his fellow man contrary to
the tractor driver?
14. Why is it significant that Willy Feeley became the deputy sheriff after he was a tractor
driver?
15. One of the main themes of The Grapes of Wrath is man’s inhumanity to man. People
are suffering because of nature and misfortune, but even more so because of the way other people treat them. Explain where you have seen this theme presented in the book to this point.
16. Another theme is the dignity of wrath. Normally, we are told that anger is destructive, yet Steinbeck presents it in a positive light. Explain the author’s position on wrath.
17. Selfishness and altruism are rampant in the novel. In what situations in the novel do you experience these themes?
18. How do the short intercalary chapters work to enhance the novel?
Casey’s idea about using bad words is similar to
his idea about sin and virtue because during this time, the language is Southern and the
language is old Western so it does correlate to the sin also because the title is the
grapes of wrath.
The preacher is actually symbolic because his name is Jim Casey, so his
initials are J.C which represents Jesus Christ. And this goes back to the title which is the
“The Grapes of Wrath.”
The major
difference between Uncle John’s and Pa’s personalities is that Pa has really good
morals, and Uncle John doesn’t he always has the car business which scams people.
The bank is an entity unto itself trying to
drive the men from the land because they weren’t able to get money out of the bank so
they were trying to get their money back, but all the banks were closed.