Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath Echoed FDR’s New Deal

After Herbert Hoover’s presidency, the suffering American poor were ready for laws that would do away with the unregulated laissez-faire economy. John Steinbeck’s novel, Grapes of Wrath, embodies the New Deal and a shift towards government regulation by presenting Weedpatch Camp.

To understand how Weedpatch Camp embodies the values of the New Deal, one must look at how Steinbeck…