The Grapes of Wrath Turtle Quotes

The sun lay on the grass and warmed it, and in the shade under the grass the insects moved, ants and ant lions to set traps for them, grasshoppers to jump into the air and flick their yellow wings for a second, sow bugs like little armadillos, plodding restlessly on many tender feet. And over the grass at the roadside a land turtle crawled, turning aside for nothing, dragging his high-domed shell over the grass.

– John Steinbeck

The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 3. Nature goes about its business in this survive or die environment for small insect life. Sow bugs, or woodlice, are compared in a simile to miniature armadillos. This passage symbolizes the tough environment that sharecroppers like the Joads face, often stepped on like insects and abused by people from a higher social class. The land turtle is a metaphor for the Joads’ upcoming journey to California.

As the embankment grew steeper and steeper, the more frantic were the efforts of the land turtle. Pushing hind legs strained and slipped, boosting the shell along, and the horny head protruded as far as the neck could stretch. Little by little, the shell slid up the embankment until at last a parapet cut straight across its line of march, the shoulder of the road, a concrete wall four inches high. As though they worked independently the hind legs pushed the shell against the wall. The head upraised and peered over the wall to the broad smooth plain of cement. Now the hands, braced on top of the wall, strained and lifted, and the shell came slowly up and rested its front end on the wall.

– John Steinbeck

The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 3. A land turtle slowly climbs up a steep embankment to get to the highway. The turtle represents isolation and struggle. It is a metaphor for and symbolizes the Joad family and other migrant families searching for a way out of their poverty and homelessness. The turtle’s journey demonstrates persistence in the face of adversity, hope in the face of hopelessness.

She saw the turtle and swung to the right, off the highway, the wheels screamed and a cloud of dust boiled up.

– John Steinbeck

The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 3. A woman sedan driver shows her humanity when she spares the turtle’s life by swinging to the right off the highway to avoid hitting it. The car is personified here – "the wheels screamed." It should also be pointed out that the woman’s kindness is in stark contrast to the male driver who soon after tries to run down the turtle. Vulnerable migrants like the Joads will also meet compassionate people on their epic journey west to California, as foreshadowed by this passage.

And now a light truck approached, and as it came near, the driver saw the turtle and swerved to hit it. His front wheel struck the edge of the shell, flipped the turtle like a tiddly-wink, spun it like a coin, and rolled it off the highway.

– John Steinbeck

The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 3. While the woman driver goes out of her way to avoid striking the turtle, the truck driver doesn’t. We learn in a simile how the animal is flipped "like a tiddly-wink" as the driver cruelly and deliberately hits it. The truck incident is a metaphor for the people who want to hurt the Joads and other migrant workers and is foreshadowing of the inhumanity that they will meet on their journey west.

The wild oat head fell out and three of the spearhead seeds stuck in the ground. And as the turtle crawled on down the embankment, its shell dragged dirt over the seeds.

– John Steinbeck

The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 3. The turtle finally succeeds in reaching the embankment on the other side of the highway. In doing so the turtle also plays its part in spreading new life. An oat beard stuck to the turtle’s shell falls to the ground and the animal drags dirt over the seeds, so giving new life to them. The turtle’s journey is a metaphor for the struggles of migrant workers like the Joads, demonstrating that adversity can be overcome with perseverance and there is hope of a new life for them in California.

"Where the hell you s’pose he’s goin’?" said Joad. "I seen turtles all my life. They’re always goin’ someplace. They always seem to want to get there."

– John Steinbeck

The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 6. When Tom unwraps the turtle from his jacket and puts it on the ground, it continues to head southward in the same direction it was going when he picked it up. Here he is comparing the animal’s wandering to his. The turtle is a metaphor and a foreshadowing of the journey that migrant farmers such as the Joads will make in search of a better life.
Close