Essay for Romeo and Juliet question 2 REPOST

When viewing literary works, one tends to see different methods of delivering a point or creating an idea that the author employs to draw the reader’s attention. One of these techniques is symbolism. Symbolism can be used by authors to convey emotions, ideals or reality from a different perspective.
In the literary work, “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck, one can see the use of symbolism throughout the story. One of the symbols that Steinbeck uses is that of the turtle.
The turtle has nothing to do with the actual story, but has everything to do with what the story is about. The turtle is a symbol of human suffering and resilience in the face of trials and hardship.
“…A land turtle crawled, turning aside for nothing, dragging his high-domed shell over the grass.” Steinbeck uses the turtle to symbolize, not necessarily humans, but the resilience that human’s posses in the face of hardship. The turtle turned aside for nothing, as does a human with a purpose and a set goal. Steinbeck’s point is that human’s are strong in the face of hardship to the point of stubbornness. The turtle has a huge load on its back; it is carrying its home around with it. That is the same as the Okies that were migrating to California; they carried all their stuff with them and turned aside for nothing. They had the set goal of reaching California and wouldn’t stop for anything.
The story focuses on a family by the name of the Joads. The Joads face all sorts of trouble along their journey. Their grandfather dies very early in the trip, then their grandmother soon follows. Their dog is killed by a truck and then the husband of one of the family members runs off. Despite all this hardship and trouble they still persevere and are strong.
“As the embankment grew steeper and steeper, the more frantic were the efforts of the land turtle.” The embankment in this part is also a place where Steinbeck uses symbolism: the embankment is all the troubles that the Okies have to face along the way. As they get further along in their journey, their hardships increase and the journey gets tougher and tougher. However, as the incline gets steeper and increases so does the effort put forth by the turtle. It is the same with the Joads. They are met with challenge after challenge, yet are able to persevere in the face of all their troubles and continue along with their journey.
Steinbeck is able to use a description of five minutes of a turtle’s life to summarize and emphasize his whole story. He has captured the hardships to be faced, the challenges to be bested and the troubles to be met, by using the symbol of a turtle. More importantly though, in that small hard shell and large green eyes Steinbeck has captured the perseverance and resilience of humankind, and of all living things who are on the brink of failure and must fight for survival every second that they live.