Migration and quest: a study of the journey motif in Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath

Abstract

This work is an analysis of the journey motif in John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath. In the first part, the process of migration is discussed in its general causes and characteristics, as well as in its symbolic relation to man's archetypal quest for the discovery of himself. The second part deals with the characters, their individual stories, and the family's struggle for survival. The third part focuses on the symbolic texture of the novel, in special the Biblical associations, the myth of Edenic possibilities, and the main images which appear in the text. The fourth part deals with the reversal of the American Dream, represented by the failure of the Joads' search. The journey is then seen in its twofold role: as a motif which gives structural cohesion to the plot, and as a vehicle for the projection of the theme of the quest.