John Steinbeck and Upton Sinclair: A Comparison “The Grapes of Wrath”, written by John Steinbeck and “The Jungle”, written by Upton Sinclair are two books that have and will forever be impactful on American history and literature. They are both considered very powerful novels. Although these books seem very different, they are much more similar than they seem. Steinbeck tells the story of a family making their way to California amidst the Great Depression and era of the Dust Bowl, while Sinclair tells the story of immigrants working in the horrifying conditions of meat pack factories in Chicago in the early 1900s. Steinbeck criticized the commercialism of farming in America and Sinclair takes a satirical approach to the flaws and
Symbolism used to describe deeper and more difficult ideas allow the readers to easily identify and understand the concept of the idea. The use of symbolism also creates many ideas for the reader to consider and allow them to take important ideas and concepts from each novel. It is almost like finding the moral of the story. Symbolism is used excellently by both authors and has allowed them to receive much praise and criticism for how gritty and descriptive each novel is. Although telling different stories, at different eras, the use of symbolism adequately pushes the idea of the novel. It conveys to reader what each of the authors were trying to express at the time and even years later. Religion is also brought up in both “The Grapes of Wrath” and “The Jungle”. Mrs. Sandry from Steinbeck’s novel is supposedly so Christian and a lover of Jesus. She talks behind everyone’s back very viciously. She exhibits an attitude that is completely opposite from the attitude of a true Christian. Steinbeck expresses that religion forbids normal human emotions and elements of normal human behavior such as dancing. Sinclair takes a satirical approach when he criticizes religion in “The Jungle”. Sinclair describes capitalism as something that destroys ethics and morals, in turn destroying religion. When his character Jurgis attends the evangelical meeting, the reader can see how Sinclair