Personal Philosophy Statement

Throughout The Grapes of Wrath we are introduced to Steinbeck’s philosophy, which has evoked my own philosophical feelings.  As a junior, and during life itself, many different obstacles have been thrown my way, but yet I, like many others, have found the will to keep going and survive the ever strenuous cycle of life.  Everyone remembers the Disney film, Finding Nemo, and those famous words “Just keep swimming”, and that is what I have learned is best in life.  Throughout my life, that quote has seen to be true and has helped me through some pretty difficult times.

My early years of life were relatively easy for a kid, go to school, go to swimming, come home, sit around with my mom, and sleep.  This constant cycle was what I was used to and what I was happy about, but one day the rather unsettling news that my grandparents were coming to move in with us. Long story short, my life along with my parents’ was, and continues to be, drastically changed.  Although at first it was very hard to adjust to this new lifestyle, we had to trudge through it because we had no other choice.  We accepted the responsibility, somewhat unwillingly, and now we had to deal with the consequences, so no matter what we are forced to continue our life, and keep going, no matter how hard it is.

Countless afternoons have passed where I have done absolutely nothing, and yet when it comes to 8:30pm, I start freaking out, and soon enough when it hits 10:30 I actually start going into overdrive and begin completing my numerous assignments.  Granted, I did know what I was getting myself into when I stared lifelessly at a talking sponge five hours prior, but yet I did not, and probably will not, have the willpower to start my homework before 5pm.  Eventually, however, the lack of sleep and low quality of work produced after midnight does catch up to me, and I end up feeling like, simply put, shit. In an adventure to pull up my grades before the grading period end, all while having my parents breathe down my neck about colleges, the SAT, APs and many more, it begins to feel impossible.  Sometimes I will just sit there wondering, is all this effort, all the rigorous courses, all the extra time outside of school, really worth it in the end, will all this work right now pay off later in life? In order to satisfy my compelling questions about the meaning of life, I am self-obligated to mush through the semester.

As life continues, I am taught to jump over any hurdles, climb the highest mountains, and ultimately conquer the world, no matter how hard it is.  In the beginning, everything seems difficult, sometimes impossible, but with perseverance everything is possible.  So, that’s why my motto is to “just keep swimming” because you never know what is on the other side, until you get there.  

Chapters 11 - 15 (B)

Source

    Cyrus Avery was a businessman who saw the need for better roads in his home state, Oklahoma.  He proposed the idea of a highway from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California, which was soon approved in 1926.  This iconic highway was named U.S. 66, also called the "Main Street of America", appropriately named because many travelers migrated through that route during the 1930's to get to the promise land, California, including the Joads.  

  The route as shown on the left Source

     

     However expansive Route 66 was, it brought people together nevertheless.  Hitchhikers were infused with tight knit families, creating an even tighter bond between two unlikely groups.  Men of the families joined together to create travel plans, working together to increase productivity.  Women banded together to comfort the young, and to provide essentials to the men.  All these somewhat forced relationships were made with one purpose in mind, to survive.  This is shown in the book by the alliance between the Joad's and the Wilson's, and how they stuck together to fix the Wilson's car and to bury Grampa.  It was essential that these ties occurred to withstand the grueling 2400 mile highway and the challenges it brought with it.  

A typical stop along the road

Source Source Source 

Chapters 16 - 19 (F) *

Tom Joad has two main beliefs that lead him through life.  One of these is the idea of putting one foot in front of another, which he adopted from his time spent in Mac (the jail he was incarcerated in for murder).  He states “I’m jus’ puttin’ one foot in front a the other.  I done it at Mac for four years, jus’ marchin’ in cell an’ out cell an’ mess in an’ out mess.” (173). While in Mac, and when he was first released, it was clear Joad only cared about himself.  However, as the book progresses, and as he becomes closer to his family, he starts to become a family man, having to think about others besides himself.  On the Joad’s journey west, Tom has to make many decisions that he would not have initially made if it were not for his family’s accompaniment.  When cornered by the native westerners who called the Joad’s “Okie[s]”, Tom almost made the rash decision of attacking them with a jack handle, but with Ma’s encouragement, he turned his judgment around, for the better of the family (and not his own, shown later one by how he forgot his parole regulations).  By his changing motives, it is clear that being surrounded by his family has changed his position in life, and because of that his believes have changed, from a single sole to the figurehead of the family.  This change is the cause of a reality check for Tom.  When he gets out of prison, he is at first all on his own, and eventually finds Jim Casey and Muley, who help him get to his old house.  During this time he still had not reconnected with his family, but when he does, his ideas are shifted from self to group, showing a change in personality as well.  

Chapters 16 - 19 (A) *

RULES OF THE ROAD

1. Do not foul near camp.

2. Do not foul the drinking water.

3. Do not eat rich food in front of the hungry, unless you are prepared to share.

4. Always greet fellow travelers.

5. Respect others privacy.

6. During night hours, remain quiet.

7. No adultery, rape, theft, or murder.

8. No seduction.

9. The sick and pregnant above all.

10. Relationships are allowed only if the men agrees to protect the child long term.

Chapters 11 - 15 (D)

"'No,' Casy said, 'you couldn' a done nothin'.  Your way was fixed an' Grampa didn' have no part in it.  He didn' suffer none.  Not after fust thing this mornin'.  He's jus' stayin' with the lan'.  He couldn' leave it.'" (146)

The quote above affected me because it shows how Grampa was affected when he was forcefully removed from his land.  He had grown up on that land, and his roots were planted deep, and moving was like yanking out his reason for living. 

Chapters 1-10 (H)

"The surface of the earth crusted, a thin hard crust, and as the sky became pale, so the earth became pale, pink in the red country and white in the gray country." (1)

   When I think of crusty I think of a crusty pie, just ready to collapse.  Thus when Steinbeck says the earth is crusty, I believe he is trying to say that the earth is really fragile, and beginning to break.   This point is further proved with the addition of the crust being "thin".  The repeated "pale" shows how earth has become sickly almost, unable to function and missing vital nutrients.  The repetition makes me believe that Steinbeck was trying to portray the earth as a crumbling, weak place, clearly in need of some help.

                                                                                     

Source

Chapters 1-10 (G)

MAN vs. MACHINE

Throughout The Grapes of Wrath it is clear that improved technology has been taking place of the simple American livelihood that sustains most, farming. The two quotes below illustrate this fact:

Chapters 1-10 (D) *

     In this last year, an approximate 15.6 million cars were produced.  84 years before, in 1929, national automobile production reached a peak of 5.3 million units, an unprecedented high for that time.  One year later, in the beginning of the 1930's, car production plummeted 2.4 million units. In June of 1932 Alfred Sloan made a Board of Directors for the famous car company, GM.  They came together to discuss the struggles the depression has brought them, especially their slow selling Cadillac's.  The Board came to a decision or halting production of Cadillac's, until Nicholas Dreystadt, an engineer during that time, proposed the unexpected -- to increase profits, sell to African Americans as well.  Given 18 months to do so, and show improvement, Dreystadt did the impossible, and by 1940 Cadillac achieved a 1000% increase in sales.  This raised the bar for every other car company, and broke racial barriers as well.  

     Besides GM Ford and Chrysler made their big debuts in the 1930's as well, named the "Big Three".  The average prices for many of these cars was around $650, with an inflation of 13.5% adds up to an approximate $10,000 in modern dollars -- quite a hefty price for a country hit by a depression.  Upper class cars had all the latest technologies; electric windshield wipers, hydraulic brakes, and four wheel drive to name a few, all of which are basic necessities nowadays.
   The most peculiar concept of that time period was that many teenagers drove around older people, some whom were unfamiliar with driving, effectively becoming their chauffeurs.  Oh, how times have changed, try to get a teen from this generation to willingly drive around an older fellow!

Chapters 1-10 (A)

The 1930's proved to be one of the worst decades in history in the United States.  One relationship in direct correlation to that is the drastic decline in immigration rates.  Many aspects contributed to the decreased immigration rates including the harsher immigration laws, the upcoming war, and the Great Depression.  There were many acts that restricted immigration including The Immigration Act of 1924, also called the Johnson - Reed Act.  This act controlled the amount of immigrants allowed to enter America by their nationality.  Immigration visas were only given to two percent of each nationality, and on top of that, any immigrant from Asia was turned away.  This act also prevented an alien from entering who were previously ineligible for citizenship, and by extent any person from Japanese heritage, creating tension between the two nations.

Picture source 

As clearly shown by the graph above, the number of immigrants into the US during the 1930's were the lowest our country has seen since well before the 1830's, a hundred years prior.  The many reasons for this include the barring immigration laws, WWII, and the Great Depression.