Shattered Identity of the Indigenous People Depicted in the Novel “The Grapes Of Wrath” by John Steinbeck.

Abstract

Identity is the way of our living and when we lose our identity, we will be shattered. Both nature and poverty becomes the major aspects for losing the identity for the indigenous people. People started migrating to different places leaving their own indigenous places. This paper “SHATTERED IDENTITY OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE DEPICTED IN THE NOVEL “THE GRAPES OF WRATH” BY JOHN STEINBECK” focuses on the indigenous people of Oklahoma especially the family of Tom Joad who  were kicked off from their hometown and forced to travel towards California in search of jobs for their survival because of the financial crisis, starvation and natural calamities like Dust bowl etc., The identity of the aboriginal people of Oklahoma was shattered and they were emotionally defeated, which leads to many people’s death. They lose the indigenous identity and on the whole become a non-indigenous part of another region.