The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck won a Nobel Peace Prize for Literature in 1968. The popularity of the book can be partly attributed to the fact that was considered extremely controversial at the time of its initial publication in 1939. While Steinbeck chronicled a fictional family, he did base the story on actual events. The Oklahoma Dustbowl and the mass flight of displaced farmers to the West, specifically California, was the backdrop of the novel's …showed first 75 words of 717 total…

…showed last 75 words of 717 total…own people. Even when life seemed bleak their individual contributions of helping others showed the human spirit at its strongest. Steinbeck won the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature because people felt the humanity of the Joads actions as well as the all-consuming desire to live a better life. The timeless aspiration of the human race to give their children more than they had will always allow readers to identify with the Joad's struggles in California.