Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath, a novel by John Steinbeck, exposes the desperate conditions under which the migratory farm families of America during the 1930's live under. The novel tells of the Joad family's migration west to California through the great economic depression of the 1930's. The tries and tribulations of the Joad family stretches to a greater concern for the family of man than for a selfish concern of themselves. The Joad family begins their westward journey in Oklahoma, a place where many men and women became migrant farmers. These people received the