A road trip can be defined as any journey by road, regardless of destination or stops en route. Characteristically, road trips in the contemporary society relates to long distances by automobile. Road tripping is typically about dreams; it encompasses dreaming on landscapes and cities and looking forward to exploring them. Road tripping and also entail hardships, paddling down rivers, slogging though thick canopies, confronting suspicious people, testing ones adaptability, exploring hostile places and anticipating for some kind of revelation. Both John Steinbeck and Dorothea Lange engaged in documenting what they saw on their road trip, one through books and the other through photography. Lange’s series of photographs on the Great Depression aptly describes her as an agricultural sociologist as hinted by Gordon Linda, (Gordon, Linda. "Dorothea Lange as Agricultural Sociologist"). Being on the road trip is so fascinating because people can explore both internally about themselves/their self-identity and externally about the environment/United States/places that are not familiar just like Steinbeck does in his writings and Lange examines in her photography. Ronald Primeau’s (1996) theory of social protest can also be found in this aural and visual documentation especially where the work on the Great Depression is concerned. The Great Depression was a terrible situation which was brought about by a combination of natural and man-made factors. Both John Steinbeck’s, ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ and Dorothea Lange’s photographic series go deep into the heart of the matter demonstrating the plight of those sharecroppers who were caught in this maelstrom from which there was little escape.
Steinbeck’s story revolves around the issues which caught the poor families into the Great Depression. In the opening chapter we have a vivid description of the Dust Bowl which as the phenomenon that affected such areas as Colorado and the Deep South and which practically destroyed all available and arable farmland. Dorothea Lange fits in perfectly with this mindset and her photographs, particularly those portraying sharecroppers and their families in Louisiana are strikingly effective and harrowing at the same time.
Steinbeck continues demonstrating the sheer horror of the situation regarding the dustbowl with this quote:
“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. Men stood by their fences and looked at the ruined corn, drying fast now, only a little green showing through the film of dust” (p. 1).
This apt description demonstrates the extent of the damage done by nature to the crops of the farmers who were already living below the poverty line in a good year but this tragedy destroyed them completely. Lange’s photograph of the child afflicted with malnutrition and rickets is also very instructive as it demonstrates the suffering endured by children who were powerless to desist and to not be affected by the Great Depression. One can only imagine what the parents felt in such a situation when their children wasted away before their very eyes, surely it must have been harrowing and full of grief.
In the photograph; Tents as Home: Brawley, Imperial Valley, In Farm Security Administration (FSA) migratory labor camp, Lange exemplifies the plight of this particular family who are peeping out of their tent as they watch the outside world while keeping a certain dignity. This is all exemplified in Steinbeck’s work as he vividly describes the humiliation migrant farm workers had to go through when they moved from one place to another in a desperate attempt to find work.
In Chapter 5 of ‘The Grapes of Wrath’, Steinbeck continues to expand on the situation where the owners and administrators of the fallow and stricken lands visit the farmers and threaten to evict them even though the lands went fallow through no fault of theirs.
“But where does it stop? Who can we shoot? I don't aim to starve to death before I kill
the man that's starving me." (p 55)
This harrowing quote shows the desperation into which the sharecroppers had descended. They did not care anymore about their fate but were full of deeply pent up anger, hatred and resentment towards those who were making their lives hell and who did not care one jot about their families or their intrinsic fate.
In his work Robert Frank in The Americans has changed the notion of contemporary photography by taking adventurous photo shots. He moves from Europe crisscrossed U.S. in his endeavor to understand the painful truth about his adopted residence. This is a clear indication on the importance of road trips. Road trip aids in exploring the American culture while eliciting thought from diverse scenarios along the way. An American Journey took 15,000 miles from Texas to Montana, then from Nebraska to Louisiana and lastly from NY to San Francisco.
In Ronald Primeau's book Romance of the Road, the genre of road trips has thrived due to a culture that both the writer and the reader share perceptibly literary techniques to reaffirm, question and explore their identity and where they are headed. In the contemporary American society, the road genre has evolved into a highly accepted form of literature./ the notion of open road, fast moving automobile and what might happen when road tripping has always fascinated the Americans seemingly because it comes with a sense of freedom and adventure from day to day life. Resembling John Steinbeck in his work Travels with Charley, he indicates that people he met in his journey had some he would want to see over and over again in every place he would visit across the country. This is an expression of a burning desire to explore. With such a great love for road tripping and freedom to explore, progress or escape that this journey consent to the road narrative gaining significance in the American literature. Primeau also focuses on the women road narratives. Primeau analysis moves from Kolodny's pioneer women of the twentieth century to demonstrate how women carried the community and how their presence was a remedy to fragmentation and isolation of their family. He elaborates that women journey about 200 years ago were about reconnecting with their families.
With the automobile revolution, Primeau states that the obsession of road tripping has only grown and acknowledges that;
"Americans treat the highway and road trips like a sacred space." Ronald Primeau (2)
As such it is then not surprising that they take road tripping as a pursuit for transcendentalism- taking the road narrative as its guide. Primeau defines road narratives as a blend of earlier genre i.e. picaresque and travelogue which has evolved into an extremely popular form of literature in America. American literature and cultural heritage demonstrates the obsession of road trips with travelers in its countless books and films that idealize characters like Dean Moriarty and Sal Paradise who drove across the nation together in Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road. Primeau indicates that a road trip is a flight of the imagination that gives both readers and writers liberty to proclaim their desires. As such these trips encourage strength of will and independence that make road a setting for adventure, particularly one that embodies the switch world around the characters. In keeping with Primeau, the genre of road expresses certain emergences that reflect the road hero that has evolved cultural and social beliefs and values. Notably, the American road account expresses the dynamism of the society and culture.
“writers and readers share clearly articulated literary techniques to question, reaffirm, and explore who they are and where they are going.” Ronald Primeau (x)
With time more reliable automobile and automobile services have made long distant road trips easier for many fans, as the time span used to cross the continent significantly reducing for months to days. The most comprehensive changes to the road trip in America were the start of Interstate Highway System. Road tripping was later boosted by expansion of the Highway System. This significantly increased the speed and controlled access to nature, it also allowed for greater distances to be travelled in less time and with enhanced security and safety since the highways were divided. The frequency of road trippers from Australia and other European countries increased. Canadians also venture road trips by taking advantage of the size of their country and close proximity to United States. Robert Franks work has changed the course of Photography in America; Philippe traces Frank's road trips through out the American continent in search for the same towns Vistas and tableaus on the unoccupied highways which inspired the photographer's personality. Seclier tries snot to replicate the work of Robert Frank but provides insight to experiences and to the process that resulted to his most successful work.
People who look upon road trips as hobby and not a means of transport are referred to as enthusiast, road-geeks or professional road trippers. They take the concept the concepts of road trip with a lot of seriousness and some have committed time and resources to pursue this hobby. While there are many characters in the road tripping community, majority of road enthusiasts’ advocate sharing roadways, safe driving and preservation of momentous and natural places. More like backpacking, professional road trippers subscribe to the initiative “Leave No Trace.” The chief objective of professional road trippers is to experience culture, history and nature as well as to celebrate an open road. Most of the people who are fond of road tripping study roadology which is the connection of road and culture. Many label themselves as road scholars which is a play of Rhodes Scholar. The Road trip by Horatio helps to disentangle the complex roots because it commemorates America's first transcontinental road trip. This road trip happened when the potential for vehicle travel had begun to be realized. The acceptance of Dr. Horatio Gentleman's bet to drive from New York to San Francisco changed the Americas landscape. The road trip combined adventure, education and exploration. Horatio's road trip offers scholars with invariable insights and allows them to experience the life of early 20th century traveler who was vital to shaping America's traditions.
“in their eyes something [he] was to see over and over in every part of the nation—a burning desire to go, to move, to get under way, anyplace, away from any Here” John Steinbeck (6)
The work of Seclier enlighten on the benefits of road trips. He revisits locations and handful of books most famous points like in Jay where Mr. Frank captured huge American Flag while in celebration of fourth July. He depicts the importance of photography which encompasses road trips to make adventurous shots. Basically photography as depicted by Mr. Frank's shots. The effects of the scene taken by Frank was to impress and show the helpfulness on an average American when confronted with overseas film crews
Larson (p 36) observes that road trip is historically a way for exploring identity. Steinbeck will to travel across America was motivated by intention to rediscover his enormous land and understand the actual meaning of the American identity. The Larson narrative begins fairly passionately: he remembers with anticipation the bizarre geology of the countryside and instantly exhibits his intent to abandon modernity by pursuing the country road and avoiding the cities. This desertion extends even with the Steinbeck's relationships and identity and he is determined to take this journey and complete anonymity. The idea of Larson in his argument of self identity does not seem to apply to Steinbeck as he is portrayed to be avoiding highways and to travel at slowly. One can argue that the establishment of the highway has redefined the American convention through placing unprecedented magnitude on speed and efficiency.
The contrast in both artists is palpable yet also complete. In what is probably Dorothea Lange’s most famous photograph, ‘Migrant Mother’ which was taken in 1936, we observe the sheer desperation and stark poverty which permeates this unknown mother’s face as she faces the ravages of poverty and displacement. Lange captures the stark fear in the woman’s eyes with her child also exhibiting a certain sense of fear. The images portrayed are full of stark beauty and are also intrinsically humane in the sense that they show what these people were actually going through.
The series of photographs documented by Lange have stood the test of time in a remarkable manner. They are full of reality and stark acceptance of the fact that poverty is very much part and parcel of our whole existence. Lange retouched some of the photographs in the series to enhance the effects demonstrated by the destitution which was created during the Depression and which was left to chance by the Hoover administration.
The familiarity and intimacy of the Great Depression photographs have to be seen to be fully appreciated. What’s more they are extremely intimate since they are full of that personal directness which was so typical of Lange’s work. This quote from Lange’s description of the circumstances surrounding the photograph is extremely instructive:
“I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet. I do not remember how I explained my presence or my camera to her, but I do remember she asked me no questions. I made five exposures, working closer and closer from the same direction. I did not ask her name or her history. She told me her age, that she was thirty-two. She said that they had been living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed. She had just sold the tires from her car to buy food. There she sat in that lean-to tent with her children huddled around her, and seemed to know that my pictures might help her, and so she helped me. There was a sort of equality about it” (Lange, 1936).
Lange’s photography is not simply an effort to create awareness or just mere sensationalism. The photos are intrinsic documents in themselves since they are frozen in time and create an immediate historical document which will certainly not go away and which has remained famous ever since.
Finally Larsen’s theory of the open road is important since this signifies the freedom and openness which Americans associate with their roads. Although not specifically tackled by Steinbeck or Lange, Larsen’s theory could be seen as being the culminating point in everything where Americans take to the road to explore the freedom.
Works Cited
John Steinbeck. Travels with Charley New York: Viking Press 1966. Print.
John Steinbecj; The Grapes of Wrath, 1935 Random House reprint 1999
Primeau, Ronald. Romance of the road: the literature of the American highway. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1996. Print.
Sčlier, Philippe. An American Journey. City: Steidl, 2013. Print.
Siegel, Kristi. Issues in travel writing: empire, spectacle, and displacement. New York: Peter Lang, 2002. Print.
Gordon, Linda. "Dorothea Lange as Agricultural Sociologist"
Larson, Lars Erik. “Free Ways and Straight Roads”
