essay on grapes of wrath

AP Assignments for The Grapes of Wrath

By tim roberts san dieguito academy encinitas, ca, 2009.

On a schedule in which there is never enough time and within a curriculum in which everything, at least on paper, has to be tied to the AP Language exam, finding a place for a novel the size of  The Grapes of Wrath  can take some doing. What follows are two suggested AP writing assignments that could be done with the book to supplement whatever other literary or response-based approach you may choose. As far as teaching to the test, the language exam has a number of qualities to recommend for it despite its necessarily superficial and abbreviated format. Rhetorical analysis promotes close reading, and the interchapters lend themselves well to such analysis. They are rich in imagery and figurative language, widely range in tone, and employ syntax to varied and dramatic effect. The synthesis essay calls on students to use research materials in forming a coherent argument; there are a number of topics in the novel that could be grouped with outside readings to provide the basis for such an essay. It’s an assignment that would lead students to examine the novel’s themes more thoroughly and explore their significance more deeply.

Rhetorical analysis

I’m familiar with  The Grapes of Wrath  as a staple in AP Language classes that had their roots in American literature courses. It’s still possible to invest the time to read the book with students while preparing them for the exam. I’ll assume that most students would have been introduced to rhetorical analysis already. The interchapters represent a stylistic tour de force on Steinbeck’s part, kind of the writerly equivalent of a jazz musician referencing Dixieland, swing, bop, and free jazz in a concept album. “Perhaps no aspect of Steinbeck’s accomplishment in  The Grapes of Wrath  has been overlooked as often as the sheer genius of prose style throughout the novel,” writes Louis Owens in  The Grapes of Wrath : Trouble  in the Promised Land . His excerpt on style, “From Genesis to Jalopies: A Tapestry of Styles,” is an adequate reference on the interchapters’ stylistic variety from the opening’s biblical cadences and epic sweep to the fragment-filled passages that render the confusion generated by the fast-talking used car salesmen.

The analyses could be approached in a number of ways. An entire chapter could be analyzed; the students could identify what they see as Steinbeck’s major purpose in the selection and explain what rhetorical elements uses to convey it. Alternatively, students could be given a section of the chapter, perhaps of a roughly equivalent length to an AP selection. For example, Chapter 23 has several short scenes depicting the migrants’ pleasures at the roadside camps, including telling stories, making music, dancing, getting drunk and getting saved. Any of those slices would be a suitable subject for analysis. Even a more seamless interchapter, such as Chapter 15, can be divided into smaller, more manageable units (the initial description of the diner, Mae and Al; the description of the “shitheel” couple). In another variation, the prompt could be focused to mirror some of the AP rhetorical analysis exercises. For example, students could analyze how Steinbeck conveys his criticism of the used car salesmen in Chapter 7, or his view of technology as expressed in the depiction of the tractor in Chapter 5.

Synthesis essay

In addition to the rhetorical analysis, the multitude of developed topics in  The Grapes of Wrath  could be used to give students practice with the synthesis essay. The essay calls for students to integrate at least three of six to seven given sources into a coherent argumentative essay. Teachers could choose topics and passages for the students to integrate into an essay supplemented by material that they have found or that students locate through research. In addition to the skills involved in crafting a solidly argued synthesis essay, the assignment could have students meet a number of other goals. For example, they could learn to identify thematic topics in novels such as are developed in  The Grapes of Wrath . They could also research supplementary works to complement their topics.

A few suggested topics with suggested supplementary works follow. (If you’re like me, you want to use your own. I usually find more reasons to reject people’s suggested titles than adopt them, preferring to find my own. An assignment of this nature might work best if the teacher or students chose works of particular interest to them. However, the suggestions are offered in the spirit of providing some leads and examples.)

The alienating nature of technology Steinbeck presents conflicting views.

In Chapter 5, the tractor is presented as an insect-like destructive force that rapes the land and separates its driver both from the land and the community. However, in Chapter 10, Al is described as closely in tune with the truck, monitoring it for problems. That close relationship is echoed in Chapter 12, the interchapter depicting the migrants’ “flight” along Route 66. Finally, in Chapter 16 Steinbeck gives nearly step-by-step instructions in how to replace a con-rod in 1925 Dodge that highlight the men’s intimate relationship with the machine. The intimacy that characterized the farmers’ relationship with the land now colors their relationship with machines. These alternative attitudes toward technology – intimate and alienating – can be found in a number of other works. I’ll suggest three:  Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance  by Robert Pirsig (that dates me);  “The Case for Working with Your Hands”  by Matthew Crawford, which appeared in the May 21, 2009 New York Times Magazine and is adopted from his book  The Soulcraft of Shop Class ,; and “ Brain Candy: Is pop culture dumbing us down or smartening us up? ” by Malcolm Gladwell, which first appeared in  The New Yorker .

The immorality of capitalism

Throughout the novel, Steinbeck presents an indictment of a capitalist system that allows people to starve, exploits them mercilessly and, ultimately, is complicit in their murder. That topic is explored in a number of short essays by eminent economists, philosophers and politicians entitled  “Does the free market corrode moral character? ” available at the John Templeton Foundation website.

The morality of working for the good of the group

In the novel, Steinbeck charts his characters’ growth from looking after their own self-interests to caring for the good of the whole, depicts their movement from “I to We.” This is a topic with a rich tradition in American literature from which to draw: Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance”; the poetry of Walt Whitman; aspects of Mark Twain’s  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . An interesting companion piece might be William Golding’s  Lord of the Flies , a staple of early high school years with an arresting counterpoint to Steinbeck’s view of the group behavior. For an interesting evolutionary biological view, try Natalie Angier’s  “Of Altruism, Heroism and Evolution’s Gifts ” from the September 18, 2001  New York Times .

There are a number of other lesser topics that can be followed and extracted out of  The Grapes of Wrath  that could make for engaging work: the crippling effects of guilt, sin and shame, as illustrated by Uncle John’s condition, the nasty shopkeeper that Ma converts in Chapter 26 and misery-dealing evangelicals; the nature of work, both satisfying and alienating, seen, again, in the alienated tractor driver in contrast with the pleasures of hefting a pickaxe in Chapter 22; the dangers and uses of anger, providing people with the righteous outrage to fight on bookended in the first and penultimate chapters but worrying Ma that it will reduce Tom to a “walkin’ chunk a mean-mad”; the advisability of taking life one day at a time and going with the flow suggested in Tom’s repeated strategy of just putting one foot in front of another and Ma’s ability to ride easily in the truck and adjust to the life changes, the latter explained to Pa in Chapter 28.

The above is not, by any means, intended to lay out a complete serving of topics in  The Grapes of Wrath . (I haven’t even broached the repeated references to road kill.) It does suggest ways to incorporate a lengthy novel in a curriculum hemmed in by the demands of the AP Language requirements.

The Grapes of Wrath

John steinbeck, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Humanity, Inhumanity, and Dehumanization

In The Grapes of Wrath, the most brutal adversity the Joads face doesn’t come from the unforgiving natural conditions of the dustbowl. Rather, the Joads and the Okie community receive the cruelest treatment from those most capable of helping them: more fortunate individuals, typically ones who wield institutional power. Throughout the book, establishments and technological advances are shown to corrupt the humans behind them. Steinbeck’s depiction of the state police shows that they’ve been perverted…

Dignity, Honor, and Wrath

Despite their destitution, Okies are shown to be extremely conscious of maintaining their honor. No matter how dire their circumstances, the Joads are unwilling to stoop to accepting charity or stealing. When they do accept help, they are quick to repay the debt—for example, when the Wilsons offer Grampa Joad a deathbed, Al repairs their car and Ma replaces the blanket used to shroud Grampa. With this strong sense of honor comes an equally powerful…

Faith and Guilt

At different times in The Grapes of Wrath , nearly all of the main characters endure spiritually trying times. Casy is the first to address this theme when he speaks of his reformed faith: instead of the black-and-white teachings of Christian dogma, Casy has come to believe in a natural unity of the human race. Tom , too, comes to this realization later in the novel, after hiding from the law in the woods. Finally…

Powerlessness, Perseverance, and Resistance

The novel often focuses on characters who resist in situations that seem hopeless. At the beginning of the novel, the Oklahoma sharecropper families are rendered powerless by the repossessing landowners. All the same, Muley Graves remains on his land, in spite of regular run-ins with law enforcement. He knows he can’t change his circumstances, but he refuses to let go of his heritage. The land turtle that appears in an early chapter, is a metaphor…

Family, Friendship, and Community

Time and again in The Grapes of Wrath , Steinbeck demonstrates the profound ties and nuanced relationships that develop through kinship, friendship, and group identity. The arc of the Joad family shows, on one hand, a cohesive unit whose love and support of one another keeps them from abandoning hope. On the other hand, however, the novel shows that this unity comes with complications. Ma Joad ’s assertive leadership strips Pa of his masculine identity…

“The grapes of wrath”, analysis of the novel by John Steinbeck

Introduction.

The grapes of wrath, a book that was published in 1939 by American novelist John Steinbeck. The book was so well crafted that it received the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction. It gained popularity and became an American classic. It courageously highlights the severity of the Great Depression and the challenges of migrant farmworkers. However, being popular did not save the book from being banned in a couple of cities. One of them is Kern County, in California, because of its border to Mexico. Some speculate the ban was politically motivated.

Idea of the book

We follow the Joad family as they move from city to city, facing all kinds of hardship. Steinbeck depicts man’s inhumanity to man in a masterful way. Migrant farmers are forced to turn against their brethren just to survive. They are treated like animals by landowners, and there is a clear divide between the rich and the poor. The migrants and poor people are identified as the source of evil and suffering.

We witness the saving power of family and fellowship. When the Joad’s meet the Wilsons, they merge as one. Through hardships, they commit to one another. One loss becomes their loss. Their livelihood depends on their union.

Steinbeck shows us the dignity of wrath at every turn. They refuse to be broken by the challenges they face, from some members leaving the family to others dying. The multiplying effects of selfishness are brought out clearly in this text. We see the greed of people who are only persuaded by self-interest. As a result of this, thousands of families sink into absolute poverty and destitution.

Detailed plot of the book

After being released from prison, Tom Joad goes back to his farm and home in Oklahoma City. He meets Jim Casy, a former preacher, whose beliefs are not what they used to be. His only idea at the moment is equality among people. When they get to Toms’s home, they find no one. An old neighbor, Muley Graves, passes by to inform them that everyone has been forced off the land. Most families have now gone to California to look for work.

Tom and Jim make their way to Toms’ uncle Johns’s place. He finds his family in the activity of packing up their belongings for the long journey to California. On the exhausting trip to California, a bitter Grampa Joad passes away. He did not want to leave his land behind.

The Joad family meets Sairy and Ivy Wilson. They are invited to travel with the family, and at the California border, Sairy becomes unable to continue with the journey. She is sick.

The first days in California prove to be quite tragic. Granma Joad dies, and the job market is depleted. Moving from camp to camp, the family struggles to find food. Connie, the husband to Tom’s sister, Rose of Sharon leaves, and so does Noah, the eldest of the Joad children.

In California, they are labeled “okies,” because of the flood of newcomers and migrants. The available work pays so little that it is hardly enough to buy a decent meal for a whole family. Tom and several other men get into an argument that turns very aggresive. Jim Casy strikes the sheriff unconscious and is promptly arrested.

A government-run camp proves to be hosting to the Joads, and they find work and accommodation. Upon learning that police want to shut down the camp, Tom alerts and prepares other men. They avert the crisis. However, the Joads have to move on.

Their next employment comes in the form of picking fruit and along with a decent wage. Tom runs into Jim, who has been released from jail. Jim has made a few enemies among the elite landowners. The police soon kill Jim in the presence of Tom. Tom retaliates and kills a police officer.

Tom goes into hiding, and the family moves into a cotton farm. Fearing for her sons safety, Ma Joad finds Tom and sends him away. Tom takes on Jim’s previous work of organizing workers. The end of the cotton picking season means the end of work.

The floods set in, and Rose of Sharon gives birth. Unfortunately, her child is stillborn. Forced through grieving, Ma Joad is desperate to find a safe place for the family. She finds a barn for the family. In the barn, there is a dying man and his son. He is starving to death.

Realizing that Rose of Sharon is producing milk, Ma Joad instructs her to nurse the dying man off of her breast milk.

Problems of the text

Profanity, communism, and sexual depictions. Parents and teachers do not accept the book as literature suitable for teaching. It is full of foul language, violence, and obscene sexual content. Formal objections by religious organizations have been made to protect young readers.

The novels’ promotion of labor unionization led to riots of workers everywhere. Landowners and local business people advocated for the burning of this book because of the negative consequences it had on businesses.

The book has been proved to be historically inaccurate in rendering historical facts, misplaced Oklahoma Geography, and stereotyped characterizations of various characters.

Description of main characters

• Tom Joad . The main protagonist of the text. He is the favorite child and a fierce protector. He earns the respect of his family and the workers he organizes.
• Grampa Joad . Armed with a foul mouth and a cruel temper, Tom Joads’ grandfather delights in shocking others with sinful talk and tormenting his wife. His family is forced to drug him to get him to leave the land.
• Granma Joad . Toms’ grandmother delights in casting hellfire at her husband. However, she soon dies after her husband dies.
• Ma Joad . She is the healer and arbitrator of the family arguments. She keeps the family together. She is the matriarch.
• Pa Joad . Toms’ father is a good-hearted man. Unable to find work after directing his family to California, he finds himself looking to Ma Joad for strength and leadership. It shames him.
• Jim Casy . In the book, Jim articulates unity. He is a true friend of Tom Joad and even goes to prison while protecting his friend.
• Rose of Sharon . Ma and Pa Joads’ eldest daughter. She is also Connies’ wife. She begins her journey in the novel, pregnant and has dreams of having a grand life. However, harsh realities ground her when her husband leaves the family, and her baby is stillborn. She emerges stronger and becomes like Ma Joad.
• Al Joad . The youngest son of the Joad family. He is a competent mechanic and idolizes Tom. However, we see him emerging as his own man when he falls in love.
• Connie . Rose of Sharon’s husband. He leaves and abandons his pregnant wife and the Joads. This act of selfishness surprises no one in the family. Rose of Sharon, however, gets the shock of her life.
• Noah Joad . The eldest of the Joad siblings. He is slightly deformed. He is slow and quiet and leaves his family behind at the California border. He feels that his parents do not love him.
• Uncle John . Tom’s uncle who never forgives himself for his wife’s’ death.

Steinbeck clearly states his reason for writing the novel was to bring everyone who brought about the great depression to shame. To quote the book, ” for man, unlike any other thing, organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, and emerges ahead of his accomplishments.”

Recent Posts

• Literary analysis of “A Retrieved Reformation” by O. Henry
• Literary analysis of “The Cop and the Anthem” by O. Henry
• Literary analysis of “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry
• Literary analysis of “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry
• Literary analysis of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde
• Albert Camus
• Arthur Rimbaud
• Bertolt Brecht
• Charles Baudelaire
• Charles Dickens
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• Chinua Achebe
• Daniel Defoe
• Emily Brontë
• Ernest Hemingway
• Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann
• Francis Scott Fitzgerald
• Franz Kafka
• Frederic Stendhal
• Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• Gustave Flaubert
• Guy de Maupassant
• Hans Christian Andersen
• Henry Fielding
• Honore de Balzac
• Jane Austen
• Jean-Paul Sartre
• John Collier
• John Steinbeck
• Jonathan Swift
• Kurt Vonnegut
• Leo Tolstoy
• Oliver Goldsmith
• Oscar Wilde
• Paul Verlaine
• Prosper Mérimée
• Rainer Maria Rilke
• Ralph Ellison
• Ray Bradbury
• Richard Bach
• Richard Wright
• Robert Burns
• Samuel Richardson
• Sylvia Plath
• Theodore Dreiser
• Thomas Mann
• Toni Morrison
• Victor Hugo
• Virginia Woolf
• Walt Whitman
• William Golding
• William Shakespeare

The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck

The Grapes of Wrath essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.

The Grapes of Wrath Material

• Study Guide
• Lesson Plan

Join Now to View Premium Content

GradeSaver provides access to 2360 study guide PDFs and quizzes, 11007 literature essays, 2767 sample college application essays, 926 lesson plans, and ad-free surfing in this premium content, “Members Only” section of the site! Membership includes a 10% discount on all editing orders.

The Grapes of Wrath Essays

Contrasting the movie and novel form of the grapes of wrath christopher m. earhart, the grapes of wrath.

John Steinbeck wrote the The Grapes of Wrath in 1939 to rouse its readers against those who were responsible for keeping the American people in poverty. The Grapes of Wrath tells the story of the Joad family, migrant farmers from Oklahoma...

Four Pages of Fear, Hostility, and Exploitation James Boo

Steinbeck's intercalary chapters in The Grapes of Wrath have nothing to do with the Joads or other characters of the novel, but help describe the story in different terms. They are similar to poems, offering different viewpoints of the migration,...

All in the Family in The Grapes of Wrath Theoderek Wayne

The indefatigable spirit of unity emerges as the one unfailing source of strength in John Steinbecks migrant worker classic The Grapes of Wrath. As the Joad familys world steadily crumbles, hope in each other preserves the members sense of pride,...

The Importance of Chapter Twenty-Five Tom Hale

Chapter Twenty-Five is central to John Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath. Besides containing the title of the book, this chapter clearly, forcefully, and elegantly drives home Steinbecks central messagethe injustice of life in the Depression-era...

Grapes of Greatness Michael Jin

Historians have noted that works of literature often adopt the mood of the times in which they were written. It is thus not surprising that The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck in the desperate nadir of the Great Depression, appears to...

Problem vs Picaresque Erica Frank

John Steinbeck wrote two novels in the thirties concerning human behaviors during the depression entitled The Grapes of Wrath in 1939 and In Dubious Battle in 1936. The Grapes of Wrath is the better novel because it fulfills the requirements of...

Camaraderie: Deciding an Individual's Fate Sarma Vemuri

Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath, two novels published concurrently by John Steinbeck, both depict camaraderie between dust bowl migrants. The main characters in Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie, form a bond, while struggling to reach...

Christian Influence in The Grapes of Wrath Trey Burch

Authors often use religious allusions to further the significance of a novel. It is when the reader recognizes and understands these influences that the importance of the novel can be truly understood. In John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath ,...

Class Consciousness in The Grapes of Wrath Timothy Sexton

Steinbeck's novel "The Grapes of Wrath" has been the subject of much critical attention. Many of the novel's detractors have concentrated their critiques not upon its literary failings, but rather its politics (Zirakzadeh). At the time of the...

Ma Joad: The Progression from Family to Humanity Olivia Hudson Gray

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck introduces a family rooted in the leadership of men. The journey of hardship they endure, however, disintegrates this patriarchal control, leaving the women, Ma specifically, to take charge. As Pa falls...

Depression-Era Philosophies: Steinbeck and Sturges Anonymous

Though operating in vastly different mediums, novelist John Steinbeck and filmmaker Preston Sturges were among the first American artists to explore philosophical solutions to the economic travesty that gripped the national psyche from 1929 to...

The Harbinger of Tom Joad: John Steinbeck’s Approach to Documentary Reportage in “The Harvest Gypsies” Anonymous

Nearly sixty years after John Steinbeck put pen to paper and wrote the series of San Francisco News articles that would later inspire The Grapes of Wrath, a renowned singer-songwriter from Freehold, New Jersey wrote a beautifully tragic song...

Themes and Style of the Writings of John Steinbeck Anonymous 11th Grade

John Steinbeck’s novels The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men enable readers to capture a glimpse of the time of the Great Depression in the United States. In The Grapes of Wrath , the Joad family of Oklahoma, accompanied by thousands of other...

Nourishment as a Symbol in The Grapes Of Wrath Johnathon Roy Kreider 9th Grade

Nourishment as a Symbol in The Grapes Of Wrath

In The Grapes of Wrath, families traveling to California suffer starvation and exhaustion because of malnourishment. The Dust Bowl is a physical embodiment of their starvation. Possibly more important...

The Fundamental Features of Human Unity: An Analysis of the Meaning of Family in The Grapes of Wrath Makayla Hays 11th Grade

A family functions like a grapevine; its coarse green vines intertwine from the dusty dirt that conceals the intricate network of roots to the first cluster of sweet grapes that grow in the hot California sun. Similar to the growth pattern of a...

Jim Casy and Chris McCandless: Transcendentalism Gone Wrong Jim Casy and Chris McCandless: Transcendentalism Gone Wrong 12th Grade

The philosophy of transcendentalism has played a major role in shaping American literature for the last 150 years. At its core, transcendentalism is a set of principles designed to guide a person to happiness through their relationships with God,...

Society and Collectivism Jonathan Monahemi 11th Grade

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s experiences in life create a pathway that guides the development of his morals and values. Through his journey, he establishes a unique interpretation towards life that he culminates in “Self Reliance.” By understanding...

Emersonian thought in Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath Anonymous 11th Grade

Steinbeck’s characterization of Jim Casy in The Grapes of Wrath stems from Emersonian thought, as expressed in Emerson’s essay “The Over-Soul”. Jim Casy forms beliefs based on the ideas presented in this piece, as evident through his action of...

Grapes of Wrath as a Compassionate Social Narrative Aaisha Mumtaz College

“Like William Faulkner and Willa Cather, John Steinbeck wrote his best fiction about the region in which he grew up and the people he knew from boyhood…” Paul McCarthy

Steinbeck’s novels of the common people and the troubles that beset them have...

The Use of Color Throughout The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath Anonymous College

In both The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath, color is used in order to reflect the atmosphere or mood. This allows Fitzgerald and Steinbeck to illustrate the events in a more sophisticated style and intensify the clarity of actions; therefore...

The Struggles of Life Described In the Dust Bowl: Comparing “The Grapes of Wrath” and “The Worst Hard Time” Anonymous 11th Grade

Depicting a world where the struggle to survive is elemental, two incisive narratives emerged to describe what life was like during the Dust Bowl. Timothy Egan’s The Worst Hard Time comprises a non-fiction description of life following actual...

Society, Poverty, and History in The Good Earth and The Grapes of Wrath Anonymous 12th Grade

While The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and The Good Earth by Pearl Buck vary greatly in basic subject matter, their thematic content and general intent are strikingly similar. Both award-winning literary works in their own right, together...

Reality in “The Grapes of Wrath” Anonymous 11th Grade

America is known to be the land of freedom and opportunities, but in times of crisis it can turn into a disaster. During the 1930s America was going through a terrible drought, no rain and extremely high temperatures, which later on led to the...

Bringing a Social Movement to Life

The author Adam Hochschild recommends books that vividly illustrate moments of great change.

This is an edition of the Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here.

Occasionally you read a book that changes your sense of what a book can do. For me, that title was Adam Hochschild’s King Leopold’s Ghost , which recounts the history of Belgium’s brutal colonial rule over the Congo and how an early-20th-century human-rights campaign managed to bring world attention to the atrocities taking place in the name of profit. I went on to read all of Hochschild’s other books, and each one achieved the same difficult feat: bringing narrative flair to the story of a movement, whether the 19th-century abolitionist struggle in England or the republican cause taken up by Americans in the Spanish Civil War. What Hochschild does is not easy. He uses the conventions of a fiction writer to make the push for human rights extremely readable. It was a thrill to have him write an essay this week on a new book by David Van Reybrouck, Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World , about that nation’s independence struggle—Hochschild says the book “fills an important gap.” I took the opportunity to talk with Hochschild about some other books he’d recommend, especially those focused on moments in history when people manage to accomplish great change.

First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic ’s Books section:

• Would limitlessness make us better writers?
• What the author of Frankenstein knew about human nature
• “My Book Had Come Undone”: a poem by Carolina Hotchandani

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Gal Beckerman: Besides your own work, what are some books you recommend that do a good job presenting the dynamics of activism and making change?

Adam Hochschild: One of my favorite books—and one of the great nonfiction works of the 20th century—is George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia . In 1936, Orwell volunteered in the Spanish Civil War to fight fascism. But once in Spain, he found two things he didn’t expect: the most far-reaching social revolution Western Europe has ever seen, and a war-within-the-war as other parties in the Spanish Republic crushed these changes. No reader can forget Orwell’s description of what it feels like to be hit by a bullet: like being “at the center of an explosion.”

Beckerman: The book you reviewed exposed me to Indonesia’s independence movement for the first time, I’m ashamed to admit. Are there any books that did that for you—opened you up to a new part of the world or a history you didn't know about?

Hochschild: One piece of history I long knew too little about was the Philippine War of 1899–1902. Gregg Jones’s Honor in the Dust: Theodore Roosevelt, War in the Philippines, and the Rise and Fall of America’s Imperial Dream is a good narrative introduction. And Vestiges of War: The Philippine-American War and the Aftermath of an Imperial Dream 1899–1999 , edited by Angel Velasco Shaw and Luis H. Francia, is an extraordinarily rich collection of documents, photographs, film scripts, poetry, and more.

Beckerman: Are there works of fiction that you think offer an important lens on human rights?

Hochschild: If Not Now, When? is the best of the two novels by the great Italian writer and Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi, who devoted most of his writing life to nonfiction about the Holocaust. John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath is an unforgettable portrait of human suffering in the Great Depression, and Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle , set in a meatpacking plant, gave us the Pure Food and Drug Act. However, that was not the intention of Sinclair, who was more concerned about labor rights. “I aimed at the public’s heart,” he said later, “and by accident I hit it in the stomach.”

Beckerman: Finally, do you have one book you might press on a young writer looking to work in the same narrative-nonfiction vein as you?

Hochschild: To me, Robert Caro is our greatest living nonfiction writer. Start with his first book, The Power Broker , about New York City’s parks and the highway czar Robert Moses. You don’t have to be a native New Yorker like me to appreciate this massive demolition job on the man who laced our glorious city with ugly freeways and had a lifelong contempt for Black and poor people. It’s a masterpiece of storytelling and one of the best books about the exercise of power ever written.

The Particular Cruelty of Colonial Wars

By Adam Hochschild

A new history of Indonesia’s fight for independence reveals the brutal means by which the Dutch tried to retain power.

Read the full article.

What to Read

Multiple Choice , by Alejandro Zambra, translated by Megan McDowell

If you’ve ever taken a standardized test in your life, you’ll recognize the format of the Chilean writer Zambra’s book immediately. The author grew up under the Pinochet dictatorship, and in this work, based on the structure of the Chilean Academic Aptitude Test, he uses multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blanks, and long sample texts to confront the authoritarian instincts that underlay his own education and that continue in many rigid, exam-based educational systems today. Its many questions begin to create a creeping sense of dread and nihilism, and that mood comes to a head in the last section, which is made up of three short stories and a series of questions about each. Yet even with these dark undertones, the book is both a quick read and hilarious. You may have thought that you never wanted to encounter fill-in-the-bubble-type tests again, but rest assured, Multiple Choice does all the work for you; it’s brilliant, and well worth your time.  — Ilana Masad

From our list: Six cult classics you have to read

Out Next Week

📚 Mean Boys , by Geoffrey Mak

📚 The Unexpected: Navigating Pregnancy During and After Complications , by Emily Oster and Nathan Fox

📚 Silk: A World History , by Aarathi Prasad

Your Weekend Read

We’re All Reading Wrong

By Alexandra Moe

The ancients read differently than we do today. Until approximately the tenth century , when the practice of silent reading expanded thanks to the invention of punctuation, reading was synonymous with reading aloud. Silent reading was terribly strange, and, frankly, missed the point of sharing words to entertain, educate, and bond. Even in the 20th century, before radio and TV and smartphones and streaming entered American living rooms, couples once approached the evening hours by reading aloud to each other.

When you buy a book using a link in this newsletter, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic .

Explore all of our newsletters .