Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is an epic novel written in the third person that depicts an Oklahoma family struggling against nature and society to survive.
As such, it is a work of naturalism, or a naturalistic work, featuring humans as victims of natural and societal forces. The Joad family members are victims, but they are not passive, as is sometimes the case in naturalistic fiction. Their struggle is epic, even though, perhaps, impossible to win. They do manage to maintain hope, however, and are still struggling at the close of the novel.
It is a work about the Great Depression, The Dust Bowl, and migratory laborers.
One thing the novel does not do, however, is reveal a full study of the issues involved. It presents the issues and themes from only the point of view of the victims.
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