Blog 34

Usually in books, especially classic books as the ones that we are being forced to read in an Honor's English Course at Pleasant Plains High School in Springfield Illinois, the title has some value and relates to the story.

Obviously Old Man and the Sea was about an Old Man and the Sea...But as far as the Grapes of Wrath I did not completely understand why this was chosen as the title. I understood the words wrath because the whole book is about the hardships and the "wrath" the Joad family endures throughout the whole entire noveld(Steinbeck 399). I just did not understand why the word Grapes was involved. Because this thought was both interesting and gave me an idea for another blog I decided to look into why this was chosen as the title and see what was up. The title alludes to the words "grapes of wrath" in Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic. " In Chapter sixty three verses one to six. In the book Isiah envisions the lord in the role of a Messiah coming forth from the land after enduring wicked punishments. He is in a bloodstained robe and tells Isaiah that he has trampled the enemies of Israel as if they were some bad grapes from a bad harvest. The "juice" from the bad grapes are the blood that is covering his rovbe. In the book Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck the grapes are the harvests that are planted by the landowners and the farmers. The grapes never took off and the never succeeded and because they never took off they made the families, much like the Joad family, endure much wrath.
After learning the title had a little bit of a religious background it made me have some more respect for the author, Steinbeck. I think he is a religious man and I like that about him. It was very interesting learning about how the title of a great book like so came about.

"The Grapes of Wrath: a Study Guide." Free Study Guides for Shakespeare and Other Authors. Web. 15 Aug. 2011.

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print