Comparing The Grapes of Wrath and The Power of One Essay -- comparison

Comparing The Grapes of Wrath and The Power of hotshot Two heads are better than one, its always been said. But is another mortal always valuable, or back end extra baggage keep an individual from achieving his goals? Both sides can be argued effectively, and both may be true depending on the circumstances. Two historical novels, The Grapes of Wrath and The Power of One, show how two sets of characters took different routes to achieve their goals and how they fared along the way. In The Grapes of Wrath, The Joads, a family of penniless migrant workers, travel to atomic number 20 to look for work, depending on the help of assorted strangers along the way, while The Power of One tells the grade of Peekay, a young South African boy development up alone in a hostile world bent on destroying his chances of success. The books portray very different views on life that are as valid and convincing while The Grapes of Wrath is a tale that emphasizes the power that can be achie ved in numbers and the consequences of trying to survive alone, The Power of One is a testimony to the things one person can achieve when he is constrained to depend on and trust in himself only. The Joads, after they are forced to vacate their farm in Oklahoma, decide to pack all of their belongings and make the voyage to California, where there is supposedly so much work that everyone can make a living. But along the way, they readily run into trouble. They have little money, an unreliable vehicle, a truckload of people to feed, and miles to go before they reach their destination. The Joads quickly discover something that becomes a major theme throughout the book cooperating with others to achieve a common goal is sometimes necessary for surviva... ...ss birds banished, their rocky nests turned to river stones(513Ch. 24) each(prenominal) of these novels, although powerful and influential in its own right, contrasts the other greatly in terms of theme. The Joads in The Grapes of Wrath had to rely on others to obtain their goal, while Peekay in The Power of One struggled to find his way in life completely alone. Though each book is very different from the other, each is an emotional story of lifes obstacles and the tremendous human spirit, whether combined or individual, that it takes to overcome them. Sources Courtenay, Bryce. The Power of One. parvenu York Random House, 1989 Levant, Howard. The Fully Matured Art The Grapes of Wrath. John Steinbeck, Modern Critical Views. New York Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. 35-62. Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York Penguin Books, 1978.