Even though it was written in 1939, and most Americans read it first in high school, The Grapes of Wrath is a timely read right now.
I am not going to add much to the large volume of writing about this book. For a good / recent review, check out this on from 2014 in The Globe and Mail.
Here are however, three things I want to remember from this reading:
Computers are the new cars: In the mid ‘30s the “personal car” had been around for about as long as the “personal computer” has been around for us. The car enthusiasm and mechanical capability of Al, the book’s leading auto enthusiast, is a mirror for computer devotees now. Even though we think our computers are advanced, families still need someone, usually a young person, to be the family tech support person — just as Al did with the family car on the Joad’s journey.
Displacement then and now: In the 1930s depression and drought in the midwest weakened the small farmers. Then the banks and automation pushed the farmers over the edge. Ultimately, 2.5 million people were displaced and 250,000 went to California. There were 123 million people living in the USA in 1930, and 5.7 million of them lived in California. So 2% of the overall population was displaced and California’s population increased by 4%. This does not seem like that much to me. Sure, in today’s numbers a 2% national displacement would be 6.5 million people. However, we regularly have over 6 million jobs change hands every month in the US. So my take away is that a small number of displaced and visible people can have a big impact on a country or region.
We have a homeless problem in Seattle. The 2019 point in time count shows over 11,000 people experiencing homelessness in King County. This is less than half a percent of the 2.25 million person population in King County. The same report shows that 1,276 people live on the streets in tents or homeless camps. There is no question this is terrible for those 1,276 people. However, this 1/20th of 1 percent of our county population has dominated our city and county government for several years with no end in sight. A small number of displaced and visible people can be very disruptive indeed.
Women on the Rise: My final take away from Steinbeck is the change we saw in the leadership of the family… or fambly as he recounted it. When a decision was made in the beginning of the book, the men got in a circle and made their decision and then informed everyone about it. By the end of the book, Ma Joad had taken over the leadership from Pa as he became withdrawn and indecisive. I find this dramatic, particularly when considering that women only got the vote in 1920. Steinbeck must have been making an intentional point along these lines — particularly in the final scene!
I joined a new book club a few months ago and would never have re-read this book had we not agreed to in the book club. In fact, I am three books in with this group and would not have read any of them without the structure of the group. Trying to decide what to read is indeed a vexing problem!