Thanks to the internet SparkNotes is an easy way for students to access a summary and analysis of a book that they must read. This is of course the improper way to use it, it's best to use it when someone has a difficult time comprehending all the symbols and themes of a story. SparkNotes also brings up ideas that someone alone may not have thought of; in this sense SparkNotes is a very handy tool to use when analyzing literature, such as the The Grapes of Wrath.
This book probably isn’t the hardest to find themes in, especially since the sort of themes are depicted in different medias and are political issues that people face today. The main theme I found in the story was to never give up or as SparkNotes phrases it “The Saving Power of Family and Friendship.” The Joads and other migrant families are faced with all sorts of issues that could easily stop anyone; such as not being able to find work, being harassed by other people, and the struggle just to survive. The Joads continued to work towards their goal of getting to California and starting a new life there, SparkNotes leaves the prosperity of the family to their undying loyalty to each other. I found that Ma was the main person holding the family together as she was always pushing everyone to work and get themselves together in order to do what needed to be done. Even after Connie, Casy, Noah, and Tom left she was still focused on the main goal. This could have easily stumped anyone, especially a mother who lost two kids and one of her daughters is grieving over her lost partner and stillborn baby. Another aspect SparkNotes pointed out was the friendship between the Joads and Wilsons. The two families are able to gain assets when partnered together, this points out a theme that unity leads to prosperity.
The main theme suggested by SparkNotes was “Man’s Inhumanity to Man.” Migrants often deal with several things while trying to survive, but one of the hardest things to overcome is the way other people treat them. This is seen in how the migrants are treated while moving, they’re called “Okies” and are often told to move along or just to stay away. Both sides are struggling to get jobs and people in higher positions than migrants intend to stay in their position, resulting in their hostility. SparkNotes says “The novel draws a simple line through the population―one that divides the privileged from the poor.” Which is true in this story, people become so paranoid in situations that require a lot of change and lots of people don’t handle it well because they feel attacked, and this is something Steinbeck depicts successfully throughout the novel.
As stated above people feel hostile when their social status is threatened, but one of things the Joads never lose is their own humanity. Despite everything they’d been through they still welcome the Wilsons and Casy on their trip, and at the end of the book Rose of Sharon feeds a hungry man. The family could barley supply themselves let alone take on another family or just one person, also, the family has basically no food by the end of the story, yet they put another man’s needs before their own. The family had lost so much and were likely to continue to struggle after the final pages of the book, yet the final moment of the book shows that the Joads hadn’t changed their moral values. SparkNotes agrees as well on this subject, pointing out that through the entire story Steinbeck showed the “self-respect in order to survive spiritually.”
One character I think showed a lot of self respect even though it was particularly hard was Casy, who doesn’t get enough credit, and who is also a character used to strengthen several other themes in the book. The man was once a preacher, and their had been several times where he was asked to become a preacher again, but that wasn’t who he was anymore. His morals had changed to believe that no amount of praying would do anything, that people needed to unite as one (relating to an earlier theme). He goes on to get a group together to organize the migrants, which gets him killed, relating back to once again another earlier topic. SparkNotes and I both agree that out of all the characters, Casy undergoes the most character development and is substantial to the plot and themes.
So, SparkNotes can enforce the understanding of a novel such as The Grapes of Wrath. Bringing up other themes that one person doesn’t always think up themselves and resulting in a greater understanding of a novel. Multiple people work on a story for the website, which in a way creates a discussion group for anyone to experience at home after reading the novel. When used in that respect SparkNotes is one of the most helpful tools on the internet.
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