More Politics in The Grapes of Wrath

John Steinbeck never intended for his writing to be political, but despite his wishes, there's no doubt that The Grapes of Wrath contains more than a few political messages. The article "John Steinbeck, Proletarian Fiction, and the Racial Politics of “The People”" goes into a lot of detail about the message, or potential messages, that are present in Steinbeck's writing. The article specifically mentions The Grapes of Wrath and who the book was meant to appeal to as well as what it was promoting. The article claims that Steinbeck was attacking many of the institutions in America, including the capitalism that had caused pain for so many migrants. Additionally, the article also suggests that Steinbeck was promoting socialist ideals. I would recommend this article to anyone who is considering writing about politics or the historical context of The Grapes of Wrath as it offers a lot of good background information