the grapes of wrath- history

This book reflected on many different historical events. Many events in history were referred to in this book. Events such as the great depression and the dust bowl were going on at the time that this story took place. By including these events, the author shows that he has a great knowledge of historical events and the past. One specific event that the author wrote about is the great depression. The Great Depression was a very tough time for many Americans. The Great Depression had started before this book had taken place, and was still going on during this time. The Great Depression was a very bad economic time for everyone. Many people struggled a lot and to top off their hard times, the Dust Bowl came along. The dust bowl was a terrible time for many American and Canadian farmers. It was a period of time in the nineteen thirties where many dust storms continuously damaged and killed the crops of many farmers. This was caused by a very severe drought paired with farmers not having the knowledge of the importance of crop rotation. Crop rotation is the act of switching crops every season so that one year you might grow corn and the next year, you might grow beans in that field. Switching crops yearly keeps the soil healthy and makes for better crop growth. Farmers back then did not know of the importance of doing this. Since the soil was unhealthy, there was not any moisture in it to keep the soil staying in place. There was also a drought, so no rain was there to hold down the soil. When the wind came, the soil blew all over the place, causing dust to cover everything. This is why they called it the dust bowl. By including these two events in the book, the author shows that he has a great knowledge of history and that knowing about the past is important to him. I enjoy when books include historical things in them because it is interesting to hear how people lived through things like this and the struggles they had to overcome.



Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.