![]() ![]() The extraordinary pessimism which embues Tobacco Road inexorably leads toward what could be termed the exact opposite of the ending of The Grapes of Wrath. Then again, the Lester family ain’t the Joad family, either. Tobacco Road, by contrast, is relentlessly pessimistic. ![]() In fact, despite the desperation that results in lives lost and ruined, it is safe to say that the pilgrimage of the Joads to the Pacific is a novel imbued with hope for the future. Things don’t necessarily get better for the Joads in California, but the novel ends on a notoriously hopeful image. ![]() The mechanics of agriculture and economics hurt the once fertile soil which had allowed the ancestors of people like the Joad to at the very least eke out a living. The Dust Bowl compelled the Joads to go west with young men, old women and children, but the Dust Bowl was not the result of a weather phenomenon alone. In light of the fact that Steinbeck’s novel was made into an iconic film and has essentially never left America’s educational curricula, it may surprise modern audiences to realize that in those years prior to the appearance of the Joad family, the Lester clan was the pre-eminent fictional portrait of the economic ravages which gave rise to the financial collapse head around the world Tobacco Road was published seven years before John Steinbeck’s definitive novel about the Great Depression, The Grapes of Wrath. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. ![]()
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