Dust Bowl

Farmer and sons walking in the face of a dust storm. Cimarron County, Oklahoma April 1936 by photographer Arthur Rothstein

The above photo can be found here : Dust Bowl Photo 1

“The muffled sound more completely than fog does. The people, lying in their beds, heard the wind stop. They awakened when the rushing wind was gone. They lay quietly and listened deep into the stillness…They knew it would take a long time for the dust to settle out of the air. In the morning the dust hung like fog, and the sun was as red as ripe new blood. All day the dust sifted down from the sky, and the next day it sifted down. An even blanket covered the earth. It settled on the corn, piled up on the tops of the fence posts, piled up on the wires; it settled on roofs, blanketed the weeds and trees. The people came out of their houses and smelled the hot stinging air and covered their noses from it. And the children came out of the houses, but they did not run or shout as they would have done after a rain” (Steinbeck, 3).

This photograph taken by Arthur Rothstein replicates the description Steinbeck writes in The Grapes of Wrath. During the Dust Bowl period, severe winds blew tons and tons of dirt and dust mainly over the Great Plains. From this, a lot of the land areas and crops were damaged, forcing individuals to move out of the area and go to states like California for job opportunities. In the picture, there’s a man and two children walking through the dust filled land and the littlest child is covering his eyes to avoid any particles from the outside storm. Just as Steinbeck described, the people who walked outside during the Dust bowl did not run or try to avoid the dust, they simply just walked like it was a normal day (besides covering their mouths). The landscape shown in the picture allows us to realize how dusty the air was because we’re not able to see anything in the distance.

 California at Last: Four families, three of them related with fifteen children, from the Dust Bowl in Texas in an overnight roadside camp near Calipatria, California. By Dorothea Lange 

The above photo can be found here : Dust Bowl Photo 2

“Grampa grunted and fought weakly against awakening, and when he was finally settled he went deeply to sleep again. Pa said, ‘Ma, you an’ Granma set in with Al for a while. We’ll change aroun’ so it’s easier, but you start out that way.’ They got into the cab, and then the rest swarmed up on top of the load, Connie and Rose of Sharon, Pa and Uncle John, Ruthie and Winfield, Tom and the preacher. Noah stood on the ground, looking up at the great load of them sitting on top of the truck” (Steinbeck 113).

The above photograph taken by Dorothea reminded me of how many people let Oklahoma in the Joad’s car. Thirteen people in The Grapes of Wrath squished into one little car,. During this time period, many families could not afford to buy multiple vehicles, thus forcing them to carry 10-15 passengers in one car. Each person in the photograph reminds me of each of the Joads plus Casy. The picture depicts the size of the family in one car and all the necessities and belongings they brought, which shows us how much families struggled to get to California for job opportunities.