The Grapes of Wrath and Marxism

            Karl Marx introduced Marxism into the world because he believed that social standing was determined by money. Through creating such divisions as the upper, middle, and lower class, the theory of Marxism analyzes what ways capitalism can be used against the people. In the book The Grapes of Wrath written by John Steinbeck, the main character, Tom Joad, struggles with being in the lower class because of the limitations set by the rich. As Karl Marx said in The Communist Manifesto, "The modern bourgeois society that has sprouted from the ruins of feudal society has not done away with class antagonisms. It has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, new forms of struggle in place of the old ones" (18). There are several key factors that play an important role in the argument such as Marxism, the class system, and the effects of these on Tom Joad.
             Karl Marx was a German philosopher whose firm beliefs were his theories about society, economics, and politics. He was the brain behind Marxism, the idea of only the strong survive. He felt so passionate about this subject that he wrote The Communist Manifesto, which described in great detail just what was wrong with capitalism and how it was destroying the economy John Steinbeck alludes to Karl's idea by having clear segregation between the three main classes that Marxism is made up of. The Communist Manifesto, as this work is commonly known, was published in 1848, and shortly after, in 1849, Marx was expelled from Belgium. He went to France, anticipating a socialist revolution, but was deported from there as well. Prussia refused to renaturalize him, so Marx moved to London. Although Britain denied him citizenship, he remained in London until his death.
             The greatest authors will always put a great meaning into the title. John Steinbeck carefully chose his title, The Grapes of Wrath to allude to Julia Ward Howes's song "Battle Hymn of theRepublic" which helps understand the title and the book as a whole once read.