Introduction
It is important to note that the given analysis will be focused on the drama film titled The Grapes of Wrath, directed by John Ford. The storyline revolves around the Joad family, who travel from Oklahoma to California seeking a better life through rumored work available for the people. The journey happens to be harsh and challenging, during which they lose their grandfather. Upon arrival, they find that the reality is far more depressing since many worker camps are filled with starving individuals exploited for cheap labor. The family travels from one camp to another and engages in the strike, where Casy is killed, and Tom kills the guard in revenge. The incident results in a major problem for the protagonist, who spends some time in hiding. Tom finally understands Casy’s wisdom, which is why he decides to dedicate the rest of his life to fighting injustice. The focus of the essay will be on the main protagonist Tom Joad and his hero journey throughout the movie. It should be noted that Tom’s development and the story arc are reflective of the growth of the Joad family as a whole. Thus, the film uses Tom to show him as an embodiment of how a meek, selfish, and individualistic person can become a selfless, compassionate, and courageous hero if given a chance to see the strength of the collective and wisdom to carry the mission of social justice.
AXES
In the film, John Ford shows through Tom the fact that a hero is made from the shift of perspective from being selfish and individualistic to becoming selfless and concerned with the collective, such as the community and the poor exploited class. After Tom is released from prison, his selfish and unpathetic nature is properly revealed during his conversation with Jim Casy when he encounters the latter under a tree. Tom states, “I don’t mind more, I would do what I did again … killed the guy” (Ford). During this statement, Tom throws his empty bottle shattering it loud, which is accompanied by carelessness about the fact that he ended a person’s life. In response, Casy is clearly shocked and asks whether or not he regrets it, to which Tom doubles down about the lack any empathy for his victim (Ford). The scene uses pathos as the main type of rhetorical device, especially dysphemism, where even Casy, a faithless preacher, finds his cold-heartedness toward Tom shocking. The given example is also accompanied by cinema elements, such as costuming, casting, and setting. The two men are dressed in a polar opposite fashion, where Casy is ragged, and Tom is wearing a dark suit (Ford). Henry Fonda is also an outstanding actor who is able to portray the selfish character of the protagonist. The setting takes place in the countryside and farmland under a tree, where Tom behaves in a relaxed manner explaining the reason why he went to jail. In addition, the camera angle is pointed directly at the two characters at a medium range with no alternations or changes in the shot direction or range. This static element and the lack of music bring a sense of realism to the conversation and bring a viewer closer to the characters due to the absence of distractions. Tom is an ideal reflection of the events taking place throughout the story because he is always involved in the heat of the action. Tom starts his journey as a selfish and individualistic man interested only in his own problems and needs.
The entire narrative reveals the true nature of exploitation and injustice imposed upon the poor working class by the rich landowners and bankers. The unchecked power of the wealthy and powerful allows them to abuse and oppress any dissent from the oppressed to the point of using physical violence and killing. However, towards the end of the film, a stark change in personality can be observed during the conversation between Tom and his mother. Tom states, “I was thinking about Casy … about us, about our people who are living like pigs,” which is followed by a comparison of injustice, where one man can have thousands of acres of land (Ford). The type of rhetorical device used is also pathos, but there is also an element of logos and ethos as well. The scene provides an example of a specific rhetorical device of anaphora, where Tom starts each of his statements with “I was thinking” (Ford). The protagonist is highly empathetic and emotional about the injustice he was subjected to and observed being done to others. He also provides a logical comparison of how the poor live worse than animals, but the rich can have excessive amounts of land. The ethos is reflected in the clear appeal towards the unethicality of such unfairness and unjust distribution of essential resources. The scene is accompanied by cinematic elements of setting and alternating the camera angle. In the case of the latter, whenever Tom speaks, the close-up shots are made focused on his face, and sight is directed past the top left angle (Ford). In other words, he is not looking at his mother but rather into the distance of nothingness since his mind is focused on the subject of his rhetoric. The setting takes place outside a camp house, which is vastly different from the wilderness-based shot in the first example (Ford). This reflects that he is no longer a selfish and wild loner but rather a person involved in the people’s affairs, risking his life by fighting injustice, hiding from his enemies, and wanting to help the exploited by being continuously exposed and even brutally attacked by the powerful shifts his perspective through compassion and care for justice for others. He always has been outside and rebelled since the beginning because he was released from prison.
Conclusion
In conclusion, John Ford uses Tom to show him as an embodiment of how a meek, selfish, and individualistic person can become a selfless, compassionate, and courageous hero. The transformation takes place after Tom is given a chance to see the strength of the collective and wisdom to carry out the mission of social justice. The protagonist becomes a hero due to ideological and philosophical changes through empathy for the oppressed and exploited working class. The larger context is rooted in the fact that heroism is an act of selflessness and focuses on the collective. The key takeaway is for viewers to stop being self-centered as Tom was in the beginning because becoming a hero requires compassion and care for others, from which comes true strength. A reader of the given essay should know that many significant problems of the modern world cannot be solved within a framework of self-development only, which is why people should always engage in the collective effort.
Work Cited
Ford, John, director. The Grapes of Wrath. Twentieth Century Fox, 1940.