John Steinbeck has encapsulated the experience that was collectively endured during The Great Depression. He paints the heartbreaking, honest truth that permeated and defined the common American life during the 1930s.

Whilst following the enduring hardships of the Joad family, Steinbeck manages to let their experience take on an observant eye of the social-economic injustices that often plagued the American citizen. It manages to keep its feet firmly in the mud with its protagonists, while also speculating and highlighting the manipulative and disruptive strings that pull them to their misfortunes. Though undoubtedly what initially felt like too large of a cast at first glance, rapport and sentiment were gained upon every turned page, finding familiarity and investment in these characters where their small glimpses of triumphs and abundance of tragedies become felt as they passed.

If weak points were to be found, they exist in the chapters that Steinbeck placed between the Joad narrative. Some of these pauses allow for further enhancement to its already established themes and also sets forth a particular tone that would add to its succeeding chapter. However, some of them halted the momentum that he established far too aggressively, coming off as more of a distraction rather than a welcomed addition, perhaps, even making the entire novel feel far too long for its own good.

This American novel is a beautiful example that conveyed the other side of its country's life. If a story like The Great Gatsby demonstrated the limitless excess that thrived within its borders, The Grapes of Wrath is a contrast of that with its view on the sweeping cultural prejudice and systemic induced famishment that scattered within those same borders.