John Steinbeck wrote a book, The Grapes of Wrath, that would forever change the way Americans thought about their social classes and even their own families . The novel was completed in 1938 and then published in 1939. When this novel was released critics considered it very controversial. Some critics called it a masterpiece, while others called it pornography. Steinbeck's attack on the upper class and readers' inability to distinguish the book's fiction often left his readers dissatisfied. The time period in which this book was written was the 1930s, while the Oklahoma region was experiencing a terrible drought and during the Great Depression. Thousands of Oklahoma families were forced off their land due to their inability to farm and as a result were unable to pay their bills, so banks foreclosed on their homes. This resulted in the migration of a huge population of people west to California because they were promised work on the large fruit plantations. Unfortunately, when this mass of people showed up, the high-wage jobs advertised in the brochures were not there. This left them homeless and in deep poverty with nowhere to go. The families would remain in California in Hoovervilles or government camps. Steinbeck takes you with the Joads on their trip to California. Although Steinbeck shows some comparisons between the Joads and the larger migrant community, the Joads are not a microcosm of that culture because they differ in the leadership of the family and also the Joads' willingness to give to anyone. The Joads leave their farm, it is clear who is the head of the family. Once Pa is taken away from his land, his leadership disappears and he is lost without having to deal with the harsh regime of agriculture. Without waiting for Dad to get over the loss, Mom steps up to guide the family and make crucial decisions. But he foresees the way the family will deteriorate without proper leadership and so he takes what little strength everyone has left and pushes the family together westward. This shift in power is evident from the beginning; When the family leaves, Tom asks if Casey can come with them and it's the mother who intervenes to answer: "He's not related, we?"?