On The Evolution Of Community Thought In The Grapes Of Wrath

In recent years,the idea of community with a shared future for mankind has been deeply rooted in people’s hearts.Many literary critics have also begun to pay attention to the idea of community in literary works.Steinbeck’s masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath also contains a wealth of community ideas.However,research on this aspect is still rare.By applying Ferdinand T?nnies’s theory of community,this article will analyze the organic nature and demise of the village community in The Grapes of Wrath,the mutual assistance and disintegration of clan community,and the spiritual community that tends to reach a consensus.By doing so,this thesis intends to explore the trajectory of the evolution of Steinbeck’s community thought and expresses his concerns about the living conditions of immigrants.This thesis is composed of an introduction,a body,and a conclusion.The introduction provides information of Steinbeck’s life,the main brief content of The Grapes of Wrath,and its research related to the status quo at home and abroad,as well as the argument and the layout of the thesis.The body consists of three chapters.The first chapter analyzes the manifestation of the organic nature of the village community and its demise in this novel.By delineating the relationship between tenants and the land,Steinbeck shows how indispensable the land to the tenants.By analyzing the relationship between plants,animals,the human being,and nature,Steinbeck shows the unity of the three,criticizes the destruction and abuse of nature represented by the land by mankind,and expresses Steinbeck’s agreement with the village community and his appeal for harmony between man and nature.However,in the face of the era of big machines brought about by capitalism,Steinbeck had to admit that mechanical agriculture would replace traditional manual agriculture.Capitalists represented by banks and companies used tractors to further squeeze and destroy the land.Therefore,the village community is bound to die out.The second chapter illustrates the clan community of sharing weal and woe and mutual help and its disintegration in the novel.When tenant farmers who lost their land were forced to move to California,Steinbeck had to think about ways to help migrants tide over the difficulties along the way.By describing the migrants represented by the Joads family,they not only encourage each other within the family,but also actively accept other migrants such as the pastor Jim Casy to move with them,and offer and get help with or from other migrants such as the Wilsons and the Sairys along the way.Different kinds of problems have been solved by them together,reflecting Steinbeck’s approval and praise of the idea of clan community.However,with the cruel exploitation of immigrants by local landlords in California and the hatred of immigrants by local tenant farmers who lost their land,Steinbeck had to admit that the clan community was also falling apart.The third chapter analyzes the manifestation of the thought of spiritual community in the novel that affects human will to reach consensus and move towards cooperation in desperation.After the disintegration of the clan community,Steinbeck deeply realized that a higher-level community must be necessary to rescue migrants suffering from the development of society.Steinbeck described Tom Joad’s transition from an immature man to a spiritual leader,who was deeply influenced by Jim Casy’s idea of going into the crowd and uniting them and inherited his ideas,decided to lead migrants to resist landowners’ merciless squeeze.He also described immigrants’ conversion from competition to cooperation.Besides,he described that Rose of Sharon,who was deeply influenced by Ma Joad’s mutual help and fraternity idea,finished her transformation from egoism to devotion.By all those,Steinbeck believed that only when all immigrants reach an agreement for the same target can they work together to break free from the shackles of exploitation by local California landlords and help each other survive the flood.Interpreting The Grapes of Wrath from the perspective of community thought can provide new ideas for the study of the novel arouse people’s attention to the natural environment and poor people.This novel embodies Steinbeck’s exploration of the track of community thought,and reveals his concerns about the living conditions of oppressed and poor immigrants.Also,it shows his support and nostalgia for the rural community,where man and nature live in harmony,and his appeal of a spiritual community of mutual assistance and cooperation.