Author: spoellinger20

In 1939, two books were published that we read together in class. The Grapes of Wrath and The Day of The Locust. Both were set during The Great Depression. A time of uncertainty and unrest among American citizens, and it wasn’t much better in the rest of the world. The Grapes of Wrath and The Day of The Locust are not the only two books that I have read that take place during the depression. As a kid, I read books that took place during the depression, such as, Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis and some of the American Girl Doll books about Kit.

I think I know the reason why so many of the books I have read take place during these chaotic years and those following. I think it is because everyone knows about this time period and the effects it had on American society today. It was the chain reaction that started the creation the modern America we know today. A time period where new problems faced America never seen before but we faced them head on.

There are points in The Grapes of Wrath and The Day of The Locust it is shown that “The American Dream” is not always possible, but there has to be a reason people come today for a better life. I think if there is one thing that The Great Depression showed people about America is that we are tough. We had a massive amount of our population jobless, homeless, and starving, and a few years later fighting a war and winning it.

These thoughts have led to a sudden revelation for me. Over the last semester I have been asking myself what defines a novel as “American”. I know what defines a good novel but what about the American part. I have come to the conclusion there is no one way that defines a novel as an “American” novel, but if there is one way, it should be about showing America for what it is. A young and flawed nation built on dreams and hopes that do not always come true. A nation that continues to thrive to this day.

In 1939, Nathanael West published The Day of The Locust. It did not do that well when it was first published, only selling around 1,480 copies. It was only years after West’s death that the novel began to receive acclaim, receiving a movie adaption in 1975. Continuing to receive praise to this day. That is because it presents the three things that define “A Great American Novel”; well written, an interesting story, and themes that still mean something years after the book has been published.

West does not shy away from describing violence and lust in his novel.  In one graphic scene, Tod is watching a cock fight at Homer’s house. “A large bubble of blood rose where the beak had been.” (Pg.155). This dark tone is used in both describing the character’s surroundings, but also their thoughts. This is shown when Tod goes to the movies with Faye. After her looking for work to support herself. “Her self-sufficiency made him squirm and the desire to break its smooth surface with a blow, or at least a sudden gesture, became irresistible.” (Pg.141). Certain parts of the novel are hard to read because of these disturbing lines, but it only adds to the story. Showing the unpleasant can allow the reader to get a closer look into the flaws of each of the characters, and make their later actions more real.   

The novel starts off following Tod as he goes about his life as a designer on the sets of Hollywood, and ends with him in a massive riot. Even if a reader does not like a lot of violence, the way Tod got to this point still makes for a very interesting story. The plot is easy to follow along with and the characters are also easy to keep track of. However, the novel gets more satirical as it goes on, and by the end it is dripping with satire. This separates itself from other works written about The Great Depression. Making it a very unique story.

The spot where West’s brilliance shines is in the way he shows his themes. He shows one overarching theme of apathy throughout the story. Shown by Tod’s lust for Faye. Tod even tries, drunkenly, to sleep with Faye at her father’s funeral. “That was because her beauty was structural like a tree’s, not a quality of her mind or heart.” (Pg126). Showing his lack of empathy for her situation. He also keeps some of his themes hidden, only for them to show their importance in the ending. An example of this is the idea of “The American Dream” in California. Tod ends up meeting multiple people who travel to California to look for stardom in Hollywood.  One of these people is Maybelle Loomis. She takes her son, Adore, to California to make him a child star. “Like California”, she laughed at the idea that anyone might not like it. Why, it’s a paradise on earth!”  (Pg.138). Like her, they did not realize how hard it would be and became disgruntled that their dreams were not coming true. This comes to a head in the book’s climax, Homer ends up killing Adore outside a movie theater with an already tense crowd. Pushed over the edge by Adore continually mocking him. This starts a riot with everything falling into chaos, showing “The American Dream”, is not always what it turns out to be.

 The themes that West uses in his novel still apply to American society today. People show apathy to others on social media. Bullying them or spreading lies about them without thinking about the things that might be going on in their own life. Even in America today, “The American Dream” can be difficult to achieve even when you’re already an American citizen. Even though The Day of The Locust is disturbing at times, it still holds a lot of truth about American society today. That is why it still receives praise to this very day.

Death is a common thing in literature. Whether used as a plot device or as a theme in a novel, it can be used to the author’s advantage. In No Country for Old Men, and The Grapes of Wrath. We see how two different authors use death in their works.

In No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, death is heavily used to forward the plot of the story and to showcase themes. It is commonly used to show Chigurh’s dark nature as he kills without remorse, and the danger Moss faces as he runs from the cartel. Yet, McCarthy writes about Moss’s death as the police come upon the crime scene with Moss already dead. Showing a brutal crime scene, but not the protagonist death itself shows how casually he treat Moss’s death. Showing that not all heroes get happy endings.

The Grapes of Wrath treats death differently though. When Grandma and Grandpa die, the family knew that they did not have much time left. Yet, they still showed grief when they passed. This showed a less analytical, and a more thoughtful way of looking at death than in McCarthy’s writing. Even though Casy’s death still showed similar amounts of brutality to McCarthy’s writing, Tom stilled showed that Casy’s death would not be for nothing and promised to continue to try to help people.

Jack London’s The Call of The Wild, and John Steinback’s The Grapes of Wrath are widely considered to be some of the greatest American novels. Even though they have their differences, they still have a lot in common.

Even though both books take places in different times and even different countries, they still have plot similarities. Both plots revolve around travel and journeys for similar reasons. Both books revolve around traveling as a way to find money. The Call of The Wild taking place with travelers using sled dogs to travel to find gold. The Grapes of Wrath taking place in the Great Depression, where a family tries to find work in California.

There are also certain similarities in the type of characters. Just like in The Call of The Wild, some of the owners, Buck, the protagonist experiences are good, yet he experiences abusive ones as well. Similar to the flaws that some of the characters show in The Grapes of Wrath. The book shows corrupt car salesmen and farmers trying to prevent unionization in California as awful human beings. Yet, people like Jim Casy are still shown in the book. People who are willing to help others even at risk of their own.

Even though these two books are considered “Great” in their own regard. They still have similarities that have caused them to be regarded as classics for more than 90 years.

In Nathanael West’s, The Day of The Locust, there is a large amount of apathy shown by all of the characters in the book. This apathy is defined by how uncaring all of the characters are towards each other’s problems.

When Faye, a rising actress, is trying to mourn her deceased father during his funeral, a drunk Todd Hackett, attempts to sleep with her. He ends up getting a kiss from her but has to let her go. “Raging at him, she was still beautiful.” (Pg.126). Even during her father’s funeral, Todd cannot control his wants for Faye. Instead of showing sympathy, he gets drunks and attempts to sleep with her. Ignoring her own problems for his own selfish pleasure.

There is also apathy even shown by minor characters. At the end of the book. A riot breaks out after Homer Simpsons brutally kills Adore Loomis mocks him. After escaping the riot Todd finds a group of people watching the riot going on. One man causally says, “This is a riot you’re in,” (Pg183). This causal tone, even with violence raging all around them, shows just how much apathy everyone in this book shows. From Adore Loomis and his mocking of Homer, to Todd objectification of Faye. Everyone only cares about themselves.

During the Great Depression, an era that lasted through 1929-1939 caused lasting impacts on the world to this day. Many families lost everything during this time period. This time also had a major impact on women as well.

            The physiological effect of losing their job and being unable to care for their families caused a large amount of men to abandon their wives and children. Forcing them to fend for themselves, this forced women who were abandoned to be both a caretaker for their children, and a provider as well. Yet, despite these difficulties, many women attempted to keep their families together.

The Grapes of Wrath showed these problems that women suffered through during the Great Depression through the charters Ma and Rose of Sharon. Connie, Rose of Sharon’s husbands ends up abandoning her and their child. Just like many men did during the Great Depression. Ma also attempts to keep the family together throughout the book. When a family friend’s car breaks down, Tom and Al want to stay and fix it while the rest of the family continues on the trip. At first, Ma refuses to leave. Afraid that they will be separated from the rest of the family. “I ain’t a-gonna go” (Pg.184). After a large amount of bargaining, she leaves to boys to work on the car. This mindset that Ma had is similar to many women of that era. Wanting to keep the family together in trying times.

“The ancient song coursed through him and he came into his own again, and he came because men had found a yellow metal in the North.” (Pg.23) is one of the greatest lines in Jack London’s The Call of The Wild. It tells about the most important dog in the book, Buck.

Buck was born on an estate in California until he was put on a train to Canada where the Klondike Gold Rush was in full swing. He was then trained to become a sled dog. This is where he gained his more primal instincts to survive.  

The modern dog evolved from wolves 15,000 years ago. The ideal picture of a dog is proud, loyal, and handsome. While the most prominent image of a wolf is a strong beast that hunts in packs and will kill anything it sets its eyes on. Buck combines the image of these two animals. Buck is physically a dog, but possess a wolf like ferocity when it comes to fighting. Yet he still has some doglike traits, he is loyal to only John Thornton after he saved Buck. Yet after John dies, he turns into a wolf. He remains a dog yet he fully transforms into a wolf like mentality.

During Buck’s journey, he faces many trails, some more painful than others. Yet he truly turns into what his circumstances forces him to be. All this is because man wanted the yellow metal in the north.

In Jack London’s The Call of The Wild. The main dog Buck is saved from three incredibly abusive owners, Hal, Charles and Mercedes, by a man named John Thornton. Buck was starved and beaten, and Johns ends up healing Buck back to health. They form an incredibly close bond. Buck ends up thinking “This man has saved his life, which was something; but further, he was the ideal master.” (Pg.61).  Buck had very little respect for his previous driver, Hal. Yet the fact that not only John is a skilled driver and treats his dogs right gains a mutual respect between the two.

There is also Buck’s more primitive side that begins to show through after an encounter with a wolf. John decides to take a trip to find a legendary mine, they live off the land and while their Buck meets a wolf. The wolf and him merely sniff each other and go on their ways. This sparks a wilder side in Buck. “The blood-longing became stronger than ever.” (Pg.79). Buck begins to hunt more and more for his own food and begins to stay away from the camp for longer periods of time. Yet he always comes back to John and the team.

Buck has two sides in The Call of The Wild. One is a wild side, one resulting from being forced into the wild. Being starved and beaten, and needing to fight to survive. The other side is dog-like. He likes the affection he receives from John. He likes being treated well. Buck is the result of receiving the call of the wild. 

In Jack London’s Call of The Wild, the protagonist, a sled dog by the name of Buck, used to be a house dog before being taken to Canada to be used as a sled dog. He eventually reverts back to some of his more primitive instincts when he is forced to survive with little help in the north. Spitz is the lead dog and is extremely aggressive to Buck. This irritates Buck and he begins to want the lead spot on the team. After finally killing Spitz during a fight, Buck is made team leader. Chapter three’s title is, “The Dominant Primordial Beast.” This is where Buck wins the fight. Buck finally shows his true colors in the fight. Showing that even though he was a house dog for so long, he still can revert back to his fighting instincts when he needed to.  Even one of their sled drivers, Francois, knew it, “Lissen: some dam fine day heem get mad lak hell an’ den heem chew dat Spitz all up an’ spit him out on de snow.” (Pg.29). 

In Jack London’s The Call of The Wild, sled dogs are trained by being beaten and then put on a team. “Be a good dog or I’ll whale the stuffin’ outa you. Understand?” (Pg.12). The treatment that the dogs suffer under these men today would be considered animal cruelty and would result in jail time. The cruelty that the dogs suffers show the cruelty of the drivers early on in the book. Teaching the dogs that they are not their friend, but their master.   

Yet this cruelty also teaches the protagonist, Buck, self-reliance as well. Buck was raised in a place where everything was handed to him. After realizing he had to sleep out in the cold, he literally stumbles onto one of companions hiding under the snow. He decided to burrow into the snow, finally feeling warm enough to sleep. When he wakes up, his sled driver named Francois remarks “Dat Buck for sure learn queek as anyt’ing.” (Pg.19). Buck realizes he cannot rely on his fellow dogs or even his sled drivers. The one pup he can always rely on though, is himself.