We gathered on a Thursday evening in
South Edinburgh to tackle one of the most feted books in American
literature, ‘The Grapes of Wrath’. To the disappointment of one of our
number this wasn’t a Star Trek sequel, but a story of the Great
Depression, of the exodus from the dust bowls of Oklahoma and
neighbouring states to California in search of fruit picking in the
promised land. Clearly, this had timely echoes in current economic
migration within Europe.
The proposer had not read much American
literature, with the exception of Steinbeck and Hemingway (covered
elsewhere in our blogs). He noted that Steinbeck was a great literary
figure, winning the Nobel prize for literature in 1962, and found this
book well worthy of the accolades. There was digression to talk of
Steinbeck’s fascination with Camelot, encapsulated in a posthumous
publication, ‘The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights”. Is there a
connection? Maybe this exists in the depiction of ‘noble peasants’
within The Grapes of Wrath.
Our proposer noted that Steinbeck was
anti-business, anti authoritarian, and this wasn’t exactly surprising
given his body of work and this book in particular. The book was widely
acclaimed when it came out, yet criticised by some as an inaccurate
socialist polemic, for example by the California Farmers Association. In
passing, we noted that those who instigated the original clearances in
Oklahoma seemed to somehow escape with lesser censure. Maintaining the
anti-authoritarian posture, Steinbeck shows how the authorities
supported the farmers against the immigrants. However there is reference
to the ability to get relief and the setting up of Federal camps. It
was suggested that the unsympathetic portrayal of business and authority
was largely accurate, and one could draw parallels with the use of
illegal workers now, although the practices depicted were legal in 1939.
Sanora Babb, whose notes from employment within the Farm Security
Administration were used by Steinbeck, would add support to the
Steinbeck thesis. Her own, consequent book wasn’t published until 2004,
having been gazumped by the Steinbeck novel in 1939.
Another member found the book harrowing,
relentless, employing a style of writing which reflects the relentless
pressure on the immigrants. The only uplifting factor in the book is the
indomitable human spirit of the migrant workers. Steinbeck juxtaposed
the story of the Joad family and their co-travelers with the overall
historical descriptions of the Great Depression as a very clever
structural component. He highlighted the gap between the American dream
and the American reality.
The next speaker went further. It is just
too long and relentless. There was a lack of light and shade, the text
lost its pace, and sometimes went flat. He had read it firstly as a
youth, then finding it boring, but now appreciated it more.
Nevertheless, he did not join in the generally favourable criticism,
even now.
Inevitably, the major issues are
universal and pertinent today. Today, Western Europe is regarded by some
as new land of milk and honey, but nevertheless there are food banks
and illegal worker exploitation as noted above. (Strangely as I write
this note after a long dry spell there are stories of a lack of migrant
workers to pick fruit, post Brexit referendum, and the gaps are not
being filled by the local population.) Having said that, there is
considerable social buffering in comparison with the 1930s and allegedly
the gap between rich and poor may be decreasing, although that probably
depends on how you interpret the statistics. In The Grapes of Wrath,
the migrants were treated almost as a sub-human species; is that the
case in the UK or Europe today? One suggested that the Brexit referendum
result was caused by illogical fear and panic rather than rational
debate based on sound arguments put forward by politicians (Surely not!
– Ed.). If alive today, Steinbeck would still find ample subject matter
for some new books.
So, in this text, the California farmers
don’t get a good press. What of the depiction of the migrants
themselves? In general, not all migrants are noble, law-abiding and
upstanding citizens, are they? Some are good, some bad, as with any
section of population. One questioned the lack of aspiration of the
migrants; perhaps they should raise their horizons? Are they ‘losers’ to
quote the current US president? Au contraire, many migrants to the UK
are highly educated and aspiring and many sectors of the economy, such
as the high technology business, and public service, such as the NHS,
are very dependent on such citizens. OK, there is some mention of
aspirations to study vehicle maintenance but no real practical effort to
fulfill these aims. Ah yes, said another, but this a polemic, not a
balanced argument. It is quite justifiable to argue case with
considerable bias. In some countries, revolutions occurred; here, there
are references to the formation of labour movements, strikes etc., but
these are peripheral to the main threads.
“Rich fellas come up and they die,
and their kids ain’t no good and they die out, but we keep a-coming.
We’re the people that live. They can’t wipe us out, they can’t lick us.
We’ll go on forever, Pa, cos we’re the people.”
There is an emphasis on family, and on
the mother figure, Ma Joad, who holds the family together with such
emphasis. Religion is a target of the book, it is implied that religion
is a thing of the past, explicitly stated for Jim Casy. The references
to religion are quite controversial.
“Maybe there ain’t no sin, there
ain’t no virtue… It’s just what people does… Some things folks do is
nice, and some ain’t so nice … And that’s all any man’s got a right to say…”.
Can they, should the California farmers
feed the world? Should fruit picking not be mechanized? Progress is the
elephant in the room and to what extent is a job a job for life? The
Steinbeck solution is, arguably, unworkable, you cannot turn Californian
land over to small peasant farmers and feed the country. A car salesman
is also portrayed as dishonest; there is a reference to taking a rotten
and a god half cucumber and joining then together with a matchstick. Is
there no such person as an honest salesman or benevolent farmer?
Again, one emphasised that this book is a polemic and therefore one
shouldn’t expect balance or unbiased thinking. This contributor loved
the sentimentality of the narrative, he felt empathy with people who
work on the land, the gnarled sons of the soil, the salt of the earth,
romanticised and self-indulgent. This was absolutely justified in this
opinion.
Was there an absence of humour, was the
subject too serious for humour? There were occasional passages that
raised a smile, as when Tom tricked the driver, The Indian half breed
regretted he wasn’t a whole breed as he missed benefits. One called it a
misery memoir – that word ‘relentless’ cropped up again.
As the evening drew on, the talk turned
to the possible soundtrack of the book, Bruce Springsteen, Dolly Parton,
Lonnie Donnegan, Merle Haggard, …
“I’m proud to be an Okie from Muskogee …. We like livin’ right, and bein’ free..”
Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie (the Oklahoma poet!), …
“The highway is alive tonight, Where
it’s headed everybody knows, I’m sitting down here in the campfire
light, With the ghost of old Tom Joad”
Joan Baez, Linda Ronstadt, Country Music –
right wing, south of the Mason Dixon line. Poor white music, three
chords and the turn.
“Won’t you get hip to this timely tip, When you make that California trip, Get your kicks on Route sixty six”
To conclude, most thought the novel
worthy of the ‘great’ accolade, but this was not the unanimous view.
Those who could make the comparison thought this his best book. Is he a
good writer? One called the descriptive passages excellent, with
dialogue that made the characters believable. Opinion was always
divided. An absent colleague was in no doubt, describing the work as a
masterful piece of literature. The story romped on, leaving the
reader desperate to find out what happens next. The ending was
controversial but interpreted as hope for the future and of inbred
humanity through Rose of Sharon….hoping for a child but giving her milk
to a dying stranger at the end.
… and we missed the England – Belgium game…..
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