Prompt 2

Prompt 2: Choose a character in a novel or play of your choice (from the AP List!) and write about the conflict(s) that arise since they are in conflict with the society they are from. This may be socially, religiously, and/or morally. Dig deep! You should also address whether your character comes to a good/bad fate due to this conflict(s).

Imagine a world divided, two different classes of people at war with one another. Each feeding off of the “grapes of wrath within”. In John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath the character Tom Joad walks into a world full of agony and distress. After being paroled form prison during the time of the great depression, Tom experiences a whole new world, one he detects as a changed and consequently desolate society.

He walks amongst the street on his way home and is unable to understand where all the life went. He recalled visions of hundreds of acres of growing crops as well as farmers out in the hot sun harvesting their daily load. Unable to discern what happened when he was gone, he walks towards his parents house and is shocked to find the state his family has been living in for the past couple years he was gone. He learns that his family has lost their farm to the government and that their only hope of making a living is to move to California.

On their way to California Tom is in conflict with both the society and his family. Although he is in the same physical situation with the rest of his family, internally he must feel a bit distinct in comparison to them. Being that he just got finished serving time in jail, he ought to be shamed that his family had to go through this without him. Throughout his sentence he was oblivious to the chaos and utter animosity floating through the air. His whole family was going through this tumultuous time and he wasn’t there to lend a helping hand. Regardless of the fact that he wasn’t given the chance to help out, he was also not apart of the family decision to move to California. This could have added a deeper level of conflict internally that influenced the character in dealing with other conflicts amongst his society.

Once they settle into the heavily conflicted environment between the migrants and the landowners in the West, Tom not only has to adjust to this heavily prejudiced society, but he also must resolve the major conflict within himself. Throughout the novel Tom has been portrayed as a man with a good, kind, heart; with that however arises conflict. Tom struggles with the conflict of doing whatever is necessary for him and his family, and doing what is right for the common good of everyone-even if it means risking his own life.

As the story continues forces such as man’s inhumanity towards man, Casy’s murder, and the ongoing battle between the laborers and the landowners forces him to work for the common good of all people. He decides to leave the family but reminds Ma Joad that she will be reminded of him through every working soul she meets, and he is doing this for the rights of all workers.