The Grapes of Wrath - 10

There are few novels that are timeless and you can read in any era, generation, or time, however this is one of those books. This is a great book and it really helps us to learn from the past. As well as helping the reader learn from the past it also helps the reader to focus on the present things that are of importance, as well as look toward the future.

The book The Grapes of Wrath gives the reader a glimpse into the past, and helps us learn from the past. It shows the value of pulling together through hard times and never giving up. It also is a great novel for my generation, as well as others, in that it encourages to not get down on yourself and spend time sulking, but instead be proactive, like Tom and actually do things that help the situation you are in. This book shows, by revealing the past, that together people can accomplish so much more than trying to do things alone. Just as the people in the government camp that the Joads stayed at worked together to form unity that nobody could break, we can learn from that and apply it to our own lives.

From the book The Grapes of Wrath we also learn to focus on things that are in front of us in our present. As Tom says, "I'm jus' puttin' one foot in front a the other." (Steinbeck 173) We see that Tom does not worry about the future. He knows that worrying will not solve anything and no matter how hard he worries, his situation will not change, except that he loses time that he could be doing something productive with. Instead of worrying about the troubles ahead, Tom focuses on his family, others, building character, and his core values.

As well as learning from the past, and being proactive in the present, we also learn from this book to keep the future in mind. We see not to be worried about the future, but it should be of some concern and on every one's radar. As we learned from Tom, it is not good to worry about the future, but it is good to take steps toward the future you want and to think about the future and start preparing for it in the present. There is always a bigger picture, whether we see it or not. Sometimes it is hard to look outside of yourself and think about the future and others in the future, but we learn from Tom that it is an important thing to do.

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