The Spiritual Journey Of The Joads

John Steinbeck, whose masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath is both charming and complicated, is known as one of the most famous American novelists in the 20th century. When the novel was first published, it provoked a stir in American society and the readers. However, there always exist controversies towards the research of the novel in the academic circle, the focus of which lies in the structure and the themes of the novel, and the ideas of Steinbeck's creation. Since the 1980s, the research of the novel has covered more widely of thematic study, techniques and point of view. Professor Dong Hengxun has accumulated a great deal of achievements in exploring the themes of Steinbeck's novels and characterization.Based on the previous researches on the themes of The Grapes of Wrath, this thesis studies the relationship between Steinbeck's creation and the American society in the 1930s, and then exposes this theme of the novel:the spiritual conversion of the Joads on their westward journey on the basis of the noble spirit the family are endowed with, that is, their conversion from an exclusive concern for family interests into a broader vision of caring for all oppressed people, taking the self as a member of the big family of the community.The thesis is divided into four chapters. In order to facilitate the analysis, it is necessary to talk about the background of Steinbeck's creation, and the first chapter gives a brief introduction to The Grapes of Wrath, including the story and the background of the novel, both economic and ecological:America economy was in great depression in the 1930s and workers were out of work, for many factories went bankrupt. Millions of farmers had to desert their homeland which had been turned to wasteland because of the drought and dust storms. The second chapter demonstrates the noble spiritual qualities the Joads are endowed with, consisting of the spirit of hard working with the family as a whole, the spirit of cooperation and the optimistic spirit. It is the noble spirit that helps them endure and prevail over the hardships and it is these noble spiritual qualities that ensure and motivate the spiritual conversion of the Joads. This chapter also exposes the spiritual purpose of Steinbeck's creation of this novel:to arouse American people's perseverance in holding fast to the traditional noble spirit and to pull through the Great Depression together. The third chapter demonstrates the spiritual conversion of the Joads, from an exclusive concern for family interests into a broader vision of caring for all oppressed people. This chapter discusses respectively the conversions of Casy, Tom, Ma and Sharon. With the spiritual promotion and conversion, it is believed that people will accumulate more wealth and create the ideal life of future. The fourth chapter will analyze how Steinbeck makes use of symbolism and irony to strengthen the theme. The symbolic meaning of the dust, the turtle and the grapes are to be described in details.Through the study of the theme of The Grapes of Wrath, not only our understanding of John Steinbeck and his works is enlarged, but also our perception of American society and traditional noble spiritual qualities is strengthened. Meanwhile, it also has strong relevance to our view of life:no matter what era we are in, no matter what kind of dilemmas we are confronting with, we should not become the victim of the disaster. Instead, we should keep persistent and optimistic so as to defend our living rights. At the same time, the power of the individual is limited when facing with difficulties. Only through cooperation with and caring for others can people create a brilliant life together.