The novel takes place during the Great Depression. A poor family of tenant farmers, the Joads, is forced to leave their home in Oklahoma because of drought, economic hardship, and changes in farming principles. In an almost hopeless situation, they head to California together with thousands of other “Okies,” hoping to find a way to survive there. Images of terrifying disasters, the stubborn persistence with which they overcome them, and the sacrifices made to reclaim their dignity are available only to a great writer. “The Grapes of Wrath” brought Steinbeck great fame and became an integral part of world literature. It won the Pulitzer Prize and is included in many school and college curricula in the United States.