ART OF CHARACTERIZATION IN JOHN

STEINBECK’S THE GRAPES OF WRATH

PAPER PRESENTATION BY:

SINORA COUTINHO (EG-2018011)
ALRHEA FURTADO (2018020)

SEMESTER-III
Subject : English
Paper:EGC-106 Novel as a MajorForm
GOA UNIVERSITY.
1ST OCTOBER, 2019
 JOHN STEINBECKS ART OF CHARACTERIZATION IN

‘THE GRAPES OF WRATH’

“Maybe the hardest thing in writing is simply to tell the truth about things as we see
them.”

(John Steinbeck (1990). “Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters”, p.107, Penguin)

John Ernst Steinbeck (February 27, 1902 to December 20, 1968) was a Nobel and Pulitzer
Prize-winning American novelist and the author of novels such as Of Mice and Men, The
Long Valley, The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, The Winter of Our Discontent, Travels
with Charley and many more. John Steinbeck works often dealt with social and economic
issues.

His 1939 novel, The Grapes of Wrath, is about the migration of a family from the
Oklahoma Dust Bowl to California, which won a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book
Award. The Grapes of Wrath (1939) is considered Steinbeck's masterpiece and part of
the American literary canon.

WHAT IS CHARACTERISATION?

Characterization is a literary device used step-by-step in literature in order to highlight and

explain the details about a character in a story. The writer introduces the character with
noticeable emergence in the initial stage of the story. After introducing the character, the
writer often talks about his behavior; then, as the story progresses, the thought-processes
of the character. The next stage involves the character expressing his opinions and ideas,
and getting into conversations with the rest of the characters. The final part shows how
others in the story respond to the character’s personality.

TYPES OF CHARACTERISATION

There are two different approaches to characterization;

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  DIRECT OR EXPLICIT CHARACTERIZATION: With the direct characterization,
the author tells us what he or she wants us to know about the character. This kind of
characterization takes a direct approach towards building the character. It uses
another character, narrator, or the protagonist himself to tell the readers
or audience about the subject.
 INDIRECT OR IMPLICIT CHARACTERIZATION: The indirect characterization,
is a more subtle way of introducing the character to the audience. The audience has
to deduce for themselves the characteristics of the character by observing his/her
thought process, behavior, speech, way of talking, appearance, and manner of
communication with other characters, as well as by discerning the response of other
characters. With indirect characterization, the author shows us things about the
character to help us have an understanding of the character's personality and effect
on other characters.

METHODS OF CHARACTERIZATION

o PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION - The look and appearance of characters can tell a lot
about them. The dress of characters also provides a look into their personalities. For
example, if the characters are constantly dressed up in expensive clothing, this could
point to great education and money, while the characters dressed in clothes with
holes in them could appear less well-off. However, since outward appearances can
be deceiving, it’s also important to take expression and body language into
consideration. The character's physical appearance is also described. For example,
characters might be described as tall, thin, fat, pretty, etc. it is through the physical
description the readers are able to understand the basic feature of the characters.
o ACTION/ATTITUDE/BEHAVIOR - The actions and behaviors of the characters
show what truly drives and motivates the characters. How they physically or verbally
interact with other characters in the story shows their overall position as good-

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 natured or mean-spirited, sympathetic or selfish. The behavior that the characters
show is just a product of how they feel inside, which is why how the character acts
is such a great indicator of personality. What the character does or rather the actions
tell us a lot about him/her, as well as how the character behaves; his or her attitude.
The description of the actions, attitudes or behavior helps us to comprehend if the
character is a good person or a bad person as well as to understand the qualities of
the characters.
o INNER THOUGHTS - Looking into the minds of characters in written stories is a
privilege often given to the readers. When we know the inner thoughts and feelings
of a character, we are seeing a glimpse of their true personality and how they really
view the world. Seeing these thoughts show us if the characters are rational or
irrational, confident or insecure, happy or sad and many other important personal
characteristics. The emotions the character feels points to the way the characters let
people and events affect them, which displays the basic inner structure of how the
character thinks. What the character thinks reveals things about the character. We
discover things about their personalities and feelings, which sometimes helps us
understand the character's actions.
o REACTIONS - How do the characters affect other people and how do these people
react to the character shows the character’s personality and qualities as viewed by
the people that know them. This describes how the characters handle themselves
socially, and the relationships they are able to or unable to form with fellow
characters. If the character make other characters feel happy, uneasy, repulsed,
excited, anxious, angry or scared helps us to understand the relationships among the
characters, and also helps us to better understand how to view the character
o SPEECH- What the character says provides a great deal of insight for the reader.
Character’s personalities can be greatly defined by the words they say and how they
say them. The words they use can point to their intellect or its lacking, which in turn
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 reveals their educational background. The speed in which the characters speak can
describe if they are generally nervous or laid back. Specific accents can set up where
a character grew up. If the speech is overly hesitant, the character may be shy or
unsure about something. Different characters speak in different manner.
o PHYSICAL/EMOTIONAL/SOCIAL SETTING- Settings in the story, physically
the location as well as who the character is surrounded by and how they feel

FUNCTION OF CHARACTERIZATION

Characterization is an essential component in writing good literature. Modern fiction, in

particular, has taken great advantage of this literary device. Understanding the role of
characterization in storytelling is very important for any writer. To put it briefly, it helps
us make sense of the behavior of any character in a story by helping us understand their
thought processes. A good use of characterization always leads the readers or audience to
relate better to the events taking place in the story. Dialogues play a very important role in
developing a character, because they give us an opportunity to examine the motivations
and actions of the characters more deeply.

JOHN STEINBECK’S ART OF CHARACTERISATION IN THE GRAPES OF

WRATH

The novels of John Steinbeck are a rich brew of depth of emotion, comedy and adventure.
Steinbeck has written all his novels in protest against social injustice. In his works, John
Steinbeck employed Social Realism as the viewing lens for his readers to become
conscious of the plight of man.

Social Realism... is an artistic movement expressed in the visual and other realist arts,
which depicts social and racial injustice, economic hardship, through unvarnished pictures
of life's struggles; often depicting working class activities as heroic

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His novels manifest depth of emotion and are beautifully shaped with a depth of insight
and has given him worldwide recognition. His fierce denunciation of the maltreatment has
made his novels worthy of reading. The novels of John Steinbeck make him a writer who
has a feeling for the poor people. His novels are located in communities of the fringe,
outside the dominant upper class milieu become the center of his novels. The bulk of his
creative work realistically depict agonies endured by the urban fringe groups, the lower
class people and their unavoidable struggle

His early dedication to writing of social protest may have come from his family's belief
system. His county-treasurer father and schoolteacher mother narrated the lore of rural
California to him. Steinbeck lived a life of middle-class comfort amidst the hard and often
tragic lives of farmers, migrants, and ranchers in his native Salinas Valley. Steinbeck was
an eyewitness to poverty. He had real-life subjects for his attention and compassion. As an
adult, he traveled extensively through the West from Oklahoma to California, experiencing
first-hand sad and frightening conditions of migrant workers. He lived in their camps,
listened to their authentic stories and collected material for his writing.

In 1939, Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath. This novels is more than a work of
imagination, rather it is a heartfelt revelation of the loneliness and desperation that many
Americans felt. Steinbeck was motivated to arouse sympathy for the poor people. He saw
that they were often suffering cruelly in their environment and that the causes for their
misery were frequently beyond their control. Steinbeck saw and wrote the lives of innocent
victims.

He has deep understanding of human nature and he actually made a psychological study of
his character, gripped by loneliness for various reasons such old age, disability, sexual flaw
and racial prejudice. He wrote many of his novels and short stories based on social
problems. His background and concern for the common man made him one of the best
writers for human rights. He raises his novels for the rights of the dispossessed migrant
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laborers. He draws the attention of the Americans to their plight, agony and miseries in
human conditions.

Steinbeck viewed the world he shared with the character, of neither the competing party
that exploited him nor the one that curtly rejected him, but rather an entire society that had
wandered into a dehumanized wasteland by insisting on mindless conformity. Steinbeck
presents an unfeeling world where any sign of human caring is exploited as a weakness.

In Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath, he writes about the agony and helplessness of
the small farmers the ordinary people, how their freedom is curtailed as they are totally
dependent on the banks and the finance companies for crop loan. The lower class have no
means of conveying a true picture of their distressed situation. They are unable to raise
their voice from any forum. Their feelings are never conveyed to the government. It is only
the voice of the rich that reaches government. The mass media only projects the news of
the land owners and not the migrant laborers.

Steinbeck, in one of his article, writes about the helplessness of the migrants, who are
forced to work on low wages. He writes in The Grapes of Wrath, “A man might work and
feed himself and when the work was done, might find that he owed money to the company”.
In The Grapes of Wrath too, the land owners exploit the migrants by wage cut. They
advertised for the large number of worker than the actual number requirement, when there
is surplus of workers, they declare wage cut. The migrants struggled hard against hunger.
Even the medical facility is not provided to the poor. Thousands of people like the Joads
in The Grapes of Wrath are forced to sell their household goods and equipment which they
could not load in their truck. They are miserable, poor, oppressed as hunger is the mother
of all crime. Rosasharn gives birth to a still born child because she did not have nourishing
food. At the end of the novel, she breast feeds a stranger who is close to death. Hunger has
left them weak and prone to diseases. Steinbeck highlights the misery of the migrants by
showing them in contrast with the wealthy tourists who are also travelling on Highway 66.
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The migrants are moving west in search of food, bread, while the capitalist go to throw the
money in pleasure trips.

In The Grapes of Wrath he focuses attention on the poor laborers, who are victim of
circumstances, nature and mechanization, but are also a helpless deliberately exploited,
miserable human being.

Half of Steinbeck's writings present ethnic characters whose identity is in crisis because of
the conflict between cultures. His characters cannot escape past influences: be it
biological, cultural, religious, or the collective activities of migration and war

Steinbeck tried to find an organic means of expression for each book that he wrote. He
considered his work to be experimental. He intentionally used a documentary style for The
Grapes of Wrath. Generally he belongs to the myth-symbol school of the twenties. Dreams,
the unconscious, recurring myths, symbolic characters; these qualities are characteristic of
what Jung called the "visionary" style. Realism, Steinbeck once noted, is the surface form
for his interest in psychology and philosophy. The Grapes of Wrath is no exception.

John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (1939), is based on newspaper articles about the
harshness of the Great Depression and arouses sympathy for the struggles of the migrant
agricultural workers. It is commonly considered his greatest work. According to The New
York Times, it was the best-selling book of 1939, and came to be regarded as an American
classic. It also won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was adapted as a film.

Steinbeck mostly wrote naturalistic novels with proletarian themes in the 1930s; it is in
these works that his building of rich symbolic structures and his attempts at conveying
mythopoeic and archetypal qualities in his characters are most effective.

Steinbeck grew up in California's Salinas Valley, a culturally diverse place with a rich
migratory and immigrant history. This upbringing imparted a regionalist flavor to his
writing, giving many of his works a distinct sense of place. Salinas, Monterey and parts of
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the San Joaquin Valley were the setting for many of his stories. The area is now sometimes
referred to as "Steinbeck Country". Most of his early work dealt with subjects familiar to
him from his formative years.

The shaping of his characters often drew on the Bible and the theology of Anglicanism,
combining elements of Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.

Steinbeck distanced himself from religious views when he left Salinas for Stanford.
However, the work he produced still reflected the language of his childhood at Salinas, and
his beliefs remained a powerful influence within his fiction and non-fiction work. In The
Grapes of Wrath, in which themes of conversion and self-sacrifice play a major part in the
characters Casy and Tom who achieve spiritual transcendence through conversion.

Steinbeck's contacts with leftist authors, journalists, and labor union figures may have
influenced his writing.

Steinbeck's use of Christian imagery within The Grapes of Wrath. The largest implications
lie with Tom Joad and Jim Casy, who are both interpreted as Christ-like figures at certain
intervals within the novel. These two are often interpreted together, with Casy representing
Jesus Christ in the early days of his ministry, up until his death, which is interpreted as
representing the death of Christ. From there, Tom takes over, rising in Casy's place as the
Christ figure risen from the dead.

The religious imagery is not limited to these two characters, but also include Ma Joad, Rose
of Sharon, Rose of Sharon's stillborn child, and Uncle John.

The Grapes of Wrath developed from The Harvest Gypsies, a series of seven articles that
ran in the San Francisco News, from October 5 to 12, 1936. The newspaper commissioned
that work on migrant workers from the Midwest in California's agriculture industry.

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CHARACTERS IN THE NOVEL

Tom Joad Jr.

Tom Joad Jr. is the second son of the Joad family. He is passionate and impulsive. Initially
self-centered, Tom proves to be the most dynamic character in the story and greatly
changes throughout its events. At the beginning of the novel, Tom is released from
McAlester Prison after having been confined for four years in prison for killing a man in
self-defense. Although Tom regrets having killed the man, he says that he knows he could
do it again.

The son of a cropper, Tom after being released from prison returns to find his family has
lost their farm and is moving west to California to start a new life. Tom does his best to
protect his family and stand up for what he thinks is right, sometimes leading to fights in
which he must defend either himself or his loved ones. By the end of the book, with his
family’s respect and admiration acting as the wind at his back, Tom aims to keep other
migrant workers from being exploited.

Jim Casy

Jim Casy is a former preacher who has lost his faith in organized religion, and friend to the
Joad family. He is a kind and thoughtful man, who spends a great amount of time reflecting
on his actions and the world around him. He engages constantly in an internal struggle with
his ideologies. He initiates a change in Tom Joad by inspiring him to further the cause of
helping the migrant people. Jim Casy is often seen as a Christ figure; he goes to jail in
Tom’s stead, and later martyrs himself as he stands up for the workers. Casy possesses the
novel’s chief philosophical voice, wondering whether all men are part of a larger soul. Near
the end of the novel, Casy becomes a strong and influential man of action.

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Rose of Sharon (Rosasharn)

Rose of Sharon, called “Rosasharn,” is the eighteen-year-old elder daughter of the Joad
family. Her name is a biblical reference to the following verse in Song of Solomon 2:1: "I
am the Rose of Sharon, the lily of the valleys." She is womanly, demure, and serious. At
the beginning of the novel, she is married to Connie Rivers and is pregnant with his child.
Rose of Sharon and her husband Connie dream of living the city life in California, but after
Connie abandons her, she shows signs of stress. Rosasharn is selfish and mostly concerned
with her own needs and her child. She worries that sinful behavior will kill her baby, and
ultimately gives birth to a stillborn child, probably due to malnutrition.. Despite her
hardships, Rosasharn grows as a character and eventually learns to care for others over
herself. The novel concludes with Rose of Sharon saving a man’s life by letting him drink
from her breast, an act that demonstrates how much she has changed, and positions her as
a symbol of hope.

Ma Joad

Ma Joad is the matriarch of the Joad family. She is described as heavyset, calm, and wise.
Ma is the healer, arbiter, and nurturer of the family. As such, she keeps the family together
through her calm nature and ability to find humor. She understands that if she wavers, the
family will fall with her. As the matriarch, Ma’s biggest concern is trying to keep the Joad
family together. She is the quintessential caretaker, putting others’ needs ahead of her own.
Ma finds herself taking a greater leadership role when she feels Pa is not being proactive.
A pillar of strength for her family, Ma has a realistic view on hardship, acknowledging
tough times but knowing that the family unit will see them through.

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Minor Characters

Tom Joad Sr. (Pa)

Tom Joad Sr., or Pa, is the patriarch of the Joad family. Initially a strong father figure, he
is unable to provide for the family as life becomes more difficult. He finds that he cannot
get a job and support the family like he used to. Disheartened, Pa steps down from being a
leader of the family. In his place Ma takes over as the leader of the Joad family. A good
man and hard worker, Pa leads the Joads west after the family is evicted from their farm.
The difficulties the family faces on the journey to California, including the inability to find
work, wear Pa down. When solutions begin to fail him, he lets Ma assume the role of
decision-maker.

Granma Joad

Granma is similar to her husband and just as mean. She is religious and follows Christianity
with a ferocious sort of violence. She is only able to get along with her husband through
bickering and fighting. Granma survives the trip west for longer than Grampa does.
However, distraught over Grampa’s death, Granma takes ill and passes away soon after
crossing into California. Ma Joad pretends that Granma is still alive after her death in order
to get the family quickly across the state border into California. After Ma Joad finally tells
the family of her death, they leave Granma’s body at a coroner’s, because they are unable
to afford a proper burial for her.

Grampa Joad

Grampa is described as ragged, lean, and quick. He is a mischievous, childlike, and angry
man, who tells dirty stories and talks, eats, and drinks too much. Grampa refuses to leave
the land that he knows and loves, forcing the family to sedate him so they can get on their
way they take him along while he is unconscious. Grampa, however, becomes very sick

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early on in their travels and dies not long after he is taken from his home; he gets buried in
Oklahoma.

Connie

Rose of Sharon’s husband, Connie has a pipe dream of living in the city and taking classes
so he can work in radio someday. Not held in high regard by the Joads (except for Rose of
Sharon), their wariness is confirmed when Connie abandons his wife and unborn child
shortly after reaching California.

Al Joad

Tom’s sixteen-year-old brother enjoys working on cars and chasing girls. With Tom’s
help, Al is responsible for maintaining the family truck, making him a crucial component
in getting to California. By the end of the journey, he gains confidence and independence,
opting to stay behind with his new fiancé, fellow migrant Agnes Wainwright, when the rest
of the family moves again.

Noah Joad

Tom’s older brother is described as being slow and emotionless. While delivering Noah,
Pa panicked and pulled too hard, leaving his head somewhat disfigured. Noah believes that
Ma and Pa are sorry they had him. He decides to stay near a river and live off of fish, telling
only Tom of his intentions.

Uncle John

Tom’s uncle carries a heavy burden of guilt; his young wife died after John ignored her
complaints of stomach pain. John blames himself for her death and believes that he brings
bad luck to the family. He does what he can to help out but keeps mostly to himself,
numbing his pain with alcohol.

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Ruthie Joad

The youngest Joad daughter, twelve-year-old Ruthie competes with her brother Winfield
and loves to show off. Ruthie finds herself at a crossroads between being a child and
becoming a young lady. She tells a bully that Tom has killed two men, which forces Tom
to leave the family.

Winfield Joad

At ten years old, Winfield is the youngest Joad child. He looks up to Ruthie, but is also
competitive with her. Despite his age, Winfield must work picking peaches and cotton with
the rest of the family in California.

Ivy and Sairy Wilson

The Joads camp alongside this married couple on Highway 66. Sairy’s health declines
while traveling; she can go no farther once they reach California, and the couple must part
ways with the Joads, their fate left uncertain.

Muley Graves

An Oklahoma neighbor to the Joads, Muley, unable to leave his land, stays behind when
his family makes the trip west. With Tom fresh out of prison, Muley provides him with an
update on the Joads and the area’s economic situation.

Floyd Knowles

While at a Hooverville camp, Knowles warns Tom and Casy of the awful labor conditions
that await them. He provides the initial spark for Tom and Casy’s subsequent interest in
unionizing the migrant workers.

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CONCLUSION

Steinbeck wrote about real life experiences using realism, characterization, and dreams to
emphasize his points and make an impact on his readers in order to reform or change society.
The realism used in Steinbeck's works is not only effective in informing the reader of
circumstances that should be changed, but this nineteenth century literary style also creates
great feelings of empathy toward the characters and their dreams. Steinbeck used realism to
convey his points for a purpose, and his main purpose was that he wanted something to be
made known to the public.

REFERENCES:

o The Grapes of Wrath Character Analysis. (n.d.). Retrieved September 21, 2019,
from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Grapes-of-Wrath/character-analysis/.
o Methods of Characterization in Literature. (2019, September 21). Retrieved from
https://study.com/academy/lesson/methods-of-characterization-in-literature.html.
o Johnston, K. (2019, January 10). 5 Methods of Characterization. Retrieved
September 22, 2019, from https://penandthepad.com/5-methods-characterization-
8263504.html.
o “Steinbeck in the Schools.” The Grapes of Wrath - Character Summaries | Steinbeck
in the Schools | San Jose State University, 22 Oct. 2019,
http://sits.sjsu.edu/curriculum-resources/the-grapes-of-wrath/character-census/.
o "What is Realism according to Steinbeck? John Steinbeck was influenced by this

movement. <em>The Pearl</em> by Steinbeck" eNotes Editorial, 27 Sep. 2011,

https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-realism-according-steinbeck-
280799. Accessed 22 Sep. 2019.
o “Characterization - Examples and Definition.” Literary Devices, 19 Dec. 2017,

https://literarydevices.net/characterization/. Accessed 22 Sep. 2019.

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