High Demand for "Grapes of Wrath" -- Still Relevant
Written by Bruce Goldstein Sunday, 22 March 2009 08:57
The Washington Post reports that John Steinbeck's classic novel, "Grapes of Wrath," is being widely read thanks to the "Big Read" program of the National Endowment for the Arts.
While the article suggests that other Steinbeck work is even better reading for a recession/depression, "Grapes of Wrath," published in 1939, remains a powerful tale about America and justice. It is also relevant to migrant farmworkers today. Much has changed for farmworkers since the Joad family was chronicled, but there are certain fundamentals that don't don't change.
The battle over the labor supply -- over-recruiting of migrant workers entering California from the Dust Bowl and forcing down wages, for example -- continues. One of the lessons is the need for workers to stick together and fight for better working conditions and government policies, rather than allow themselves to be pitted against one another for the benefit of those with economic and political resources.
Farmworker organizations have taken these lessons to heart but in these deeply troubled economic times, there are serious challenges to overcome.
The Henry Fonda film version of the book is still a great one (and not just if you love movies about working people and labor organizing). If the Steppenwolf Theater (of Chicago) production of the play every comes around, go see it. The lessons of "The Grapes of Wrath" are still relevant.
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