The Turtle; by John Steinbeck

The turtle is a portion of a novel written by John Steinbeck. The turtle in the story is going through a lot of troubles in only a few minutes time. The troubles of slipping and sliding on the sands and gravel of the new highways that interfere with nature are portrayed effortlessly by the intricate description in Steinbeck's writing. Even though on the surface the turtle may just seem like a desperate turtle trying to cross the road. However, if one looks deeply into the writing and compares this portion of the story to the large idea of The Grapes of Wrath, there is a relationship between the turtle and the characters in the story. In The Grapes of Wrath, the family that John Steinbeck bases the story upon is a family of migrant workers. They are constantly on the road in search of a new job. The droughts in the north have forced thousands of jobless workers to roam the western coast in search of secure jobs and incomes.

The turtle wants to go to the other side of the highway. As he does so, a car comes along. OH NO! was my first impression. But then as Steinbeck continued to describe the car, I later found out that it was a woman who was driving the car. For some reason I knew she was going to avoid the turtle. The turtle quickly retreated into its shell. When the danger was over, the old animal crawled along once again. Its nails were slipping on the slick concrete, it's shell chipped. There was nothing I could do but to read on. As I had feared another danger was quickly approaching. A rumbling truck zoomed down the interstate, and the turtle was once again in a life threatening situation. This time a man was operating the vehicle, and immediately it occured to me that the turtle had a good chance of dying. The jerk tried to run the turtle over! The old turtle who just wanted to cross the road this time was clipped at the end of its shell and flipped. (Notice what effect the description had on me.) Still the turtle fought on, adn that is where the symbolism comes in. The family in The Grapes of Wrath was in search of a stable job, and were desperately needing a place where they could settle down. The turtle fought, and I can imagine the family fought. When someone knocked them down, they got back up. John Steinbecks description at times can be overwhelming, but the point is made clear and now I want to read The Grapes of Wrath.