Reasons for the Negative Response

In the flurry of responses that followed the novel's release in 1939, contemporary critics latched onto two main aspects of the book: sentimentality and capitalism.

Steinbeck raises awareness and sympathy for migrant workers in his novel. This photograph by Dorothea Lange portrays their struggle

Sentimentality

A sense of overwhelming sentimentality pervades the book, in the literary sense, an appeal to the reader's emotions and feelings over rationality. Steinbeck portrays his characters sympathetically, painting a vibrant picture of the plight of the migrant workers. At the same time, the novel fails to show the alternate point of view of industrialists who are also struggling to keep agricultural business afloat during the Depression.

The Grapes of Wrath focuses on the plight of the migrant workers, struggling to find humane working conditions. Throughout, Steinbeck dramatized the journey west. Some say the narrative overemphasizes the poor workers to the detriment of the landowner's perspective.

Capitalism

Leftist writer Granville Hicks of the magazine, New Masses, rallied readers around Steinbeck's message. Granville writes that ''Steinbeck's insight into capitalism illuminates every chapter of the book.''

But, right-wing readers reacted negatively to the portrayal of the 'Oakie' migrant workers, thinking that Steinbeck was paying them too much credit. In California especially, the scene had grown dismal. So many people were migrating west in the hope of finding work. As a result, the state of California was becoming overwhelmed with hungry, destitute migrants.

For struggling farmers in California, the themes of labor unionization and social inequality come across as a negative critique of capitalism. Some interpreted Steinbeck's representation of unionization in support of socialism. Those who supported American industry denounced Steinbeck as a Red and a Communist.

How Does The Grapes of Wrath Hold up for 21st-Century Critics?

Today, critics find relevance in the relation between the themes in Steinbeck's novel and current issues of American immigration. From a 21st-century perspective, writes literary scholar Charles Cunningham, Steinbeck ''wrestles with the contradiction between a radical class politics and American racial nationalism.'' While the contemporary criticism focused on labor rights, the novel has again become relevant for its plea to take to heart the struggle of immigrant workers, especially as it relates to race relations and discrimination against Latinos.

Lesson Summary

Even though John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is considered by many today as a 'Great American novel,' contemporary critics responded to the novel in 1939 with mixed reviews.

Response to the novel was divided between right-wing and left-wing readers. Conservatives tended to respond negatively to Steinbeck's sympathetic portrayal of poor migrants, which they rejected as overly sentimental. Liberals praised the novel for its revolutionary political message.

Today, literary scholars understand the novel as a critical reflection on current events related to immigration. The struggle of migrant workers has not ended, but rather shifted from poor whites to uprooted Latinos.

John Steinbeck wrote 'The Grapes of Wrath' using biblical images and ideas. In this lesson, we'll discuss some of these biblical allusions and ideas that emphasize the Joad family's tribulations.

The Grapes of Wrath

In 1939, John Steinbeck published The Grapes of Wrath, a novel about an Oklahoma family who loses their farm during the Great Depression. Steinbeck wrote the novel after researching the Okies and migrant workers. The Okies are the dispossessed Oklahomafarmers that left to try and find work in the more fertile lands of California. Steinbeck visited migrant worker camps in California, assessed the living conditions, and interviewed the people. He realized the people were barely eating, the camps were in shambles, and the large land owners were treating these people very badly. His anger at the difficulty of their lives is what inspired him to write The Grapes of Wrath.