The first theme that I found while reading the Grapes of Wrath was that of perseverance. The Joad family encountered many different trials and hardships on their long journey from Oklahoma to California. First of all, they had very little money to do anything with. This caused many problems within itself especially when more terrible things started to happen such as Grandma and Grandpa dying off. In order to have a proper funeral for their loved ones they had to pay money so both of them died nameless. Through situations like this, the Joad family persevered and grew closer together because of it. .
The second theme I found was that of the era of the Great Depression. The Great Depression was a hard time for most Americans. It especially was not easy for people who were making a long journey across the United States with quite a few people and limited amounts of money and food. The Depression was a way for Steinbeck to show the many needs of not only the Joad family, but also of the people in the United States during that time. .
The third and final theme that was very apparent to me was that of the importance of family. Through the good times and the bad the one thing that the Joad's always had was each other. I truly believe that this is what sustained them for such a long time on their journey. Steinbeck is sending all of his readers a message in this theme saying that if you love and stick by your family, they will always love and stick by you. You should always anyway, but in life you never know what kind of twists and turns it is going to give you and if you have your family there then you need not worry about what is ahead. .