The Grapes of Wrath - 2

The three main conflicts in this novel are that the Joads, and most other American families, are furiously looking for work- to no avail, trying to find food, as well as trying to hold their families together on top of everything else.

Most farmers had been "tractored" off of their land and started heading West. Actually, Tom says "They is a whole country movin'. We're movin' too." (Steinbeck 173)

Since so many people were kicked off of their land, they had nowhere to go but West, because they heard that things were good in the West and had hope that they would find work there. There was work in the West, but the problem was that there was not enough of it. As the Joad family was almost to California, they encountered a poor man on his way back from California. As Pa Joad questioned him on how there could be no work there, this is how he replied:

"Look," said the man. "It don't make no sense. This fella wants eight hundred men. So he prints up five thousand of them things an' maybe twenty thousan' people sees 'em. An' maybe two-three thousan' folks gets movin' account a this here han'bill. Folks that's crazy with worry."

Pa replied, "But it makes no sense!"

And the man told him, "Not till you see the fella that put out this here bill. You'll see him, or somebody that's workin' for him. You'll be a-campin' by a ditch, you an' fifty other famblies. An' he'll come in. He'll look in your tent an' see if you got anything lef' to eat. An' if you got nothin', he says, 'Wanna job?' An' you'll say, 'I sure do, mister. I'll sure thank you for a chance to do some work.' An' he'll say, 'I can use you.' An' you'll say, 'When do I start?' An' he'll tell you where to go, an' what time, an' then he'll go on. Maybe he needs two hunderd men, so he talks to five hunderd, an' they tell other folks, an' when you get to the place, they's a thousan' men. This here falla says, I'm payin' twenty cents an hour.' An' mabye half a the man walk off. Buy they's still five hunderd that's so goddamn hungry they'll work for nothin' but biscuits." (Steinbeck 189-190)

In California there are hundreds of acres of fertile land that migrants would be able to farm, but they cannot. They cannot farm the land because most of the rich men of California own hundreds of acres of unused land. They do not want the poor "Okies" trashing their town and making camps there. They do not want the "Okies" farming their land either. All it would take would be an acre of land, and that could save dozens of families.

Since so many people got kicked off of their land, many are moving West. Since so many are looking for jobs, the wages decrease significantly. Families have to keep looking for work, as well as try to find food, which eventually tears most families apart. So the three conflicts of looking for work, trying to find food, and trying to find a job are problems that are not easy to solve, and many people die because of it.

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

The Grapes of Wrath - 1

The author of the novel The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck, has many personal values that he brings into light in this book. From what I can tell he has a fairly modest view on most things and truly values family, unity, and character- all very biblical and moral things to value.

In this novel, the Joad family always sticks together. They tell of their great-grandfather fighting the Injuns for their land, and they have lived together on that land as a family ever since. As a matter of fact, the whole family lived together. Before the depression, Granpa, Granma, Pa, Ma, Noah, Tom, Al, Rose of Sharon, Connie, Ruthie, and Winfield all lived together and even joined Uncle John when they lost the farm. The reader can tell that the author values family by the way they help each other and when one of the members of the family leaves, it is a very tragic happening in the book. Even though the Joads spend much of their time arguing, they truly love each other and care for each other and that is something that the author values.

In my opinion, Steinbeck also values unity. There are many things that point to unity in this book, but one quote that really gets one thinking is from Jim Casy. He tells Tom Joad, "I figgered about the Holy Sperit and the Jesus road. I figgered, 'why do we got to hang it on God or Jesus? Maybe,' I figgered, 'maybe it's all men an all women we love; maybe that's the Holy Sperit- the human sperit- the whole shebang. Maybe men got one big soul ever'body's a part of.' Now I sat there thinkin' it, an' all of a suddent- I knew it. I knew it so deep down that it was true, and I still know it." Jim Casy speaks of a unity, in a sense. The kind of unity that Casy refers to can also be called oversoul. Oversoul is "the spiritual unity of all being".

Another thing that Steinbeck values is character. One thing that most all of the families live by is not stealing unless that is the only thing that will keep them alive. Other things that point to good character is that the family works hard and always sticks together. Working hard takes much character. Also, Tom Joad, the protagonist in the novel, is a man of great character. He actually gains character throughout the novel, which is a very neat thing to see happen and also points to the belief that Steinbeck values good character.

Dictionary.com unabridged. source location: Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/oversoul.Availlable: http:dictionary.reference.com. Accessed: August 18,2011.

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

Fahrenheit 451 - 15

There is much that can be learned and applied today from the book Fahrenheit 451. The theme of the book can be understood and be very useful in any era, and the lesson is definitely not out-dated. The book wrestles with issues of character, integrity, and many other moral values. Those things are good to learn no matter what stage in life you are, what generation you are in, where you live, and will still be beneficial for future generations to come.

I believe this novel is truly timeless. Even though the technology in the novel may become out-dated, the idea of it will never become out-dated. Our world is always growing and changing and becoming more advanced in technology, and that is what this book speaks to. In a world that is becoming more self-centered, and falling farther away from valuing biblical truths, this book helps put those values back in place by showing the reader the true danger of our culture moving towards shallow selfishness and away from living with integrity.

In the book, it shows the lives of many selfish, self-righteous, and careless people. It shows the extremes of those lifestyles and it helps the reader to identify the disgusting qualities of those lifestyles, therefore, helping the reader to realize that they do not want to live a lifestyle like that.

Also, the characters from the book Fahrenheit 451 are also timeless and a reader can still identify with the characters, even though the book was written many years ago. The characters are easy to identify with because their behaviors and feelings are those of human nature, and human nature is sinful and always has been, is, and will be, so in that aspect, the characters are very easy to identify with and they always will be.

The book Fahrenheit 451 is a book that is very easy to identify with because it deals with matters of human nature, and that will be something that can always pertain to people.

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. Print.

Fahrenheit 451 - 14

This book addresses the inward battle that everyone faces against living a life of integrity versus living a life of laziness. In the book Fahrenheit 451, the culture of the people is extremely lazy. The people take the easy route by only living for themselves. They sit all day and watch television and they do not spend time with their families. They burn all of the things that they are too afraid to face, and they do not have to work hard for anything.

It is so easy to fall into the trap of living a shallow life and only worrying about yourself, and it seems that the author really understands that about human nature and he shows the daily inward battle that we face of integrity versus laziness.

I think the theme of this book is fighting for character. It takes a lot of effort to go the extra mile to do things to help others that you do not really want to help. It takes a lot of effort to truly be concerned of the well being of others over the well being of yourself. It also takes a lot of effort to fight for what you think is right and to live a life of character and live how you want to be.

The author really portrayed this theme by sharing thoughts, actions and daily life scenarios of Guy Montag, the main character of the book. Montag consistently had to make character choices throughout the entire book. He had to choose to listen to his instincts or to listen to his authorities. From what I have found, that is always a very tricky thing to do and it is a tough decision because you need to respect your authorities but not if they are being sinful. It is often a tough line to decipher when dealing with sinful authorities.

I believe that the author of Fahrenheit 451 had much experience on his topic of writing, and did a very good job portraying the theme.

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. Print.

Fahrenheit 451 - 13

In my opinion, the conflict in the book Fahrenheit 451 is a conflict within the main character, Guy Montag. He lives in an extremely selfish world, and in the book he begins to find who he is withing that world. He always would live just like everybody else. Montag would do things that were pleasing to him, and would only think about himself. He would live a reckless lifestyle and not even think about the things that he was doing. He claimed that he was happy and that everything was good and how it was supposed to be. However, deep inside, Montag knew that he was not happy or satisfied with his life at all.

A girl, Clarisse Mclellen, moved into the house next to Montag. She was not like other girls. Clarisse took time to stop and think about things. She did not think about the things that most people thought about, like which television show to watch, but she thought about things that actually matter. Clarisse thought about things that were deep and actually took thought. She also asked questions. Most people around them did not ask questions, but Clarisse did. She questioned everything that happened. She did not live like the other girls, she cared about things that mattered.

Clarisse inspired thought in Montag. He had never witnessed a person who was like her, and it really got Montag questioning his motives, his morals, and his reasoning on everything that he did. The conflict in the book was Montag against himself. One part of him was comfortable with how he lived and it seemed like that was how he was supposed to live. The other part of him questioned the reasons that he did what he did and wanted to live for more and was sick of the culture, even though he was not quite sure at first what it was that he was sick of.

As the story progressed, Montag stopped living like he used to and started changing his mindset. He stepped out of his comfort zone and did things he never thought were possible. He did those things because that is what he believed to be true and right.

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. Print.

Fahrenheit 451 - 12

In my opinion, I believe the author of Fahrenheit 451 must have very good values and moral standards. I think he wrote his book showing the negative things about our society, except he put them to the extreme. I think he did this to help the reader see how awful it is and identify that the things that are happening are bad, and then see that those things are happening in our society, but just in different ways and on a smaller scale.

I believe that Ray Bradbury's perspective in writing this book was that he was against all of the bad things that were happening in our society and wanted to portray that to others in a way that they could understand and realize the reality of. Since he did not want those things to happen, he had much knowledge of the things, and amped them up so that it would show the reality of the bad things and help the reader to realize that those things are bad in nature and can ruin families, friendships, societies, and countries.

Fahrenheit 451 confronts how people deal with issues such as family, character, integrity, morals, time management, electronics, fun, leisure, pleasure, laziness, etc. In the book, it shows people who do not manage their time well, instead they do whatever they please and do not spend time doing important things. The book also tells of people who have no character or moral standards and do not value family or helping others. This book shows many people who simply live for themselves.

I think Ray Bradbury's focus on the book was to show what living for yourself can do to the society as a whole, and to show the damage that can happen when you try to run from your responsibilities and consequences. He portrays those things by showing the behavior of the people in the society that he writes about. They do not solve any of their problems, instead the burn them. And most of the people in the city live as sluggards and live a life that only touches the surface and does not go deep at all.

I think another thing he wanted us to realize that being fake and only talking about things on the surface and never going deep with people and having hard conversations or being vulnerable can lead to a sad and desolate world of fake people

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. Print.

Fahrenheit 451 - 11

As Montag left the city and looked back at it, he thought,

"What did you give to the city, Montag?

Ashes.

What did the others give to each other?

Nothingness." (Bradbury 156)

In looking back at the city, Montag was looking back at his life. He realized that he gave nothing to the city. He gave nothing to the community or to the people or to anything for that matter. He tealized that he made no impact. Things would be almost exactly the same had he not even existed. He lived for himself and nobody else, he might as well not have even lived at all. There were no traces of him left back in the city, and nobody would remember him by the next day. And he was not the only one in that boat, the rest of the city lived for themselves as well.

Granger, one of the men in the group that Montag joined, told Montag;

"Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said...

The difference beween the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching. the lawn cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime.

...Grandfather's been dead for all these years, but if you lifted my skull, by God, in the convolutions of my brain you'd find the big ridges of his thumbprint. He touched me." (Bradbury 156-157)

As easy as it is to live selfishly without thinking of others, and as often as people do that, it is not often that we realize that everyone wants to touch somebody. Nobody wants to die and to be forgotten. It is actually scary to think of dying and nobody remembering you or caring that you are dead. With that said, it is quite shocking to think of the vast majority of Americans that live a life concerning themselves and nobody else. Many of us do not realize how precious life is and tht in an instant, it can be lost. We do not know hte number of days we will live. A quote I have heard before is "dream like you will live forever, but live as if you will die tomorrow". That quote should be the motto of all of our lives, but it simply is not.

Many people would agree with all of these things that I am saying, but few would actually plan how to accomplish living that lifestyle and even fewer would actually try to do it. There is just something in us now days, that is missing. Maybe it is a lack of urgency or that we live by the assumption that we will live forever. Whatever the problem is, that thought process needs to be changed. I am not just saying that because I want to sound better than everyone else or because I think it is a cute idea, but I truly think it is in the best will of overyone.

So please, take into consideration that you should live like you are dying.

Bradbury, Ray. "Burning Bright." Fahrenheit 451. New York:

Simon & Schuster, 1993. 156-157. Print.