The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962. Set during the Great Depression, the novel focuses on the Joads, a poor family of tenant farmers driven from their Oklahoma home by drought, economic hardship, agricultural industry changes, and bank foreclosures forcing tenant farmers out of work. Due to their nearly hopeless situation, and in part because they are trapped in the
The Reputable Family to take care of needy people, rather than pursuing high government posts for family reputation or individual glory. On the eve of his death, Choi Guk-seon ordered his son to bring all due bills specifying debts to be collected. He decided to return real estate-related documents to their original owners and burn IOUs for money. As Choi's last wish became generally known, people lined up in front of his house hoping to be tenant farmers on Choi's land. The farmers were eager to work, resulting in high productivity. Of 3,000 "seok" of rice the Choi family produced each year, the