If you want to read a book that can touch your heart, The Grapes of Wrath should definitely be the first choice! Don’t think it’s just a novel about the history of the past. On the contrary, it is more like a sad song sung by the people at the bottom with blood and tears. It describes the suffering of ordinary people in every word, and also hides the most precious things in human nature, as well as the hope that will not be extinguished in desperate situations. It is a proper immortal book, and the more you read it, the more interesting it is.
The dejected Tom Joad family
Set in the Great Depression in the United States, this book tells the story of the Joad family’s suffering journey from home exile to California. The book is full of land loss, exile, and how farmers struggle to survive in despair. Along the way, they faced the shadow of hunger, poverty, oppression and death, and even under the pressure that they seemed to be unbearable, they still survived tenaciously. Every page can feel the struggle and helplessness in their hearts, as if you are in it yourself, breathing the heavy air with them.
Every page can feel the struggle and helplessness in their hearts, as if you are in it yourself, breathing the heavy air with them. It is like a calm camera, allowing you to watch and feel by yourself.
The glory of human nature in desperate situations
Along the way, Joad’s family’s relatives left one by one, hoping to be failed again and again. The truck may fall apart at any time, and I don’t even have money for the next meal in my pocket. But guess who is the toughest one? It’s Joad’s mother. This woman, who has been around the stove all her life, supported the whole family when everyone collapsed. She gave the pickled meat she had hidden to the hunger people and gave up the little space left in the car to the strange children. She said something, and I remember it now:
“The more you live a bad life, the more you should help others.”
This is the magic of this book. It is written about the desperate situation, but it does not convey despair. The more cornered they are, the more clearly these people realize that only by supporting each other can they go out alive. Every moment of struggle and every self-sacrifice is the truest love and firmest belief in life. This is not only a family’s survival path, but also a profound praise for the glory of human nature.
The power that will never be out of time
After reading The Grapes of Wrath, you will find that its practical significance is still profound. Whether it is the disparity between rich and poor or social injustice, the plot written by Steinbeck more than 80 years ago is still true today. Although the context of the times is different, those who are oppressed and ignored are still around us. The poverty and difficulties of the Great Depression are not only in the past, but also in the corners of modern society. The spirit of resistance, awakening and mutual support in the book is still the only way for us to deal with social injustice today.
This book is not only about the history of the past, but also closely related to our lives today. Whether it is economic inequality, environmental problems, or other social problems, many people are still struggling to survive. Here, we can see some phenomena in our lives more clearly and realize that everyone’s fate is intertwined. This book is not to tell us how to change the world, but to let us see the reality and inspire us to care about and understand others. Let’s reflect on how to show more empathy in our lives and how to lend a hand to others in the current difficulties.
A little bit of heart
To be honest, my biggest feeling after reading this book is not to be moved, but a little ashamed. I’m ashamed of the things I usually complain about. It’s not a matter at all in front of Joad’s family. But it’s also quite fortunate. Fortunately, there was once a person like Steinbeck in the world who was willing to write a book for those who could not make a sound.
Reading this book may not make you feel relaxed, but it will quietly change the way you see things. You will begin to pay attention to the people around you who are easily ignored – the middle-aged man who works odd jobs at the gas station, the aunt who has been standing at the supermarket cashier all day, and the homeless man who was hurried by you. They are not the numbers in the news, not the background board. Like the Joad family, they have their own stories and dignity that does not want to be crushed.
If you feel that you are quite difficult recently, turn it over. It’s not to make you miserable, but to let you know that there are people in this world who are more difficult than you, but they have not collapsed. Then let’s not collapse easily.
