MovieChat Forums > The Grapes of Wrath (1940) Discussion > Help Please - plotline?

Help Please - plotline?

posted 15 years ago by portugaluva166-1
3 replies | jump to latest

Hey I was writing a report about symbols and motifs for this book, and I couldn't remember if in chapter 4, Tom lets that turtle go. I wanted to say:

Is it possible the turtle represents a man who is trying to survive during The Dust Bowl but his attempts become thwarted? Are the cars that knock the turtle over supposed to represent the government workers that wish to take away the land from the farmer?

And so if Tom let the turtle go that could be foreshadowing a happy ending, where the govt lets the tenants live freely and they end up owning their own land.

What's your take on this?

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Harry Potter's not a Necessity...

HES JUST UP THERE WITH OXYGEN

[–] jtyroler 13 years ago

Interesting question about the BOOK. This scene isn't in the MOVIE though. BTW - the government wasn't taking the land - it was unnamed people in the East who ordered the banks to foreclose. Sharecroppers didn't own the land that they lived on, even if they lived on it for 50-70 years like the Joads or Muley's families. They paid rent from what money they made from the crops.

[–] CinematicFinatic 13 years ago

That's an interesting take...and YES, Tom does let the Turtle go.

[–] rekcilorf 11 years ago

The OP's take on the turtle symbolism is correct. However, this sort of literary imagery is hard to translate cinematically without coming off as arty and pretensious. I doubt even Ford could have pulled it off. Anyway, Ford's style was straight forward narrative. The turtle is just not his method of story telling.