In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

  • The Relevance of John Steinbeck:A West African Prespective
  • Stephen Macauley (bio)

John Steinbeck remains a very popular novelist in West Africa. His novels represent not only an American version of social protest that has now vanished with the twentieth century, but also an authentic portrayal of social truth that resonates profoundly with twenty-first century West Africa. Not surprisingly, The Grapes of Wrath has achieved the greatest fame for Steinbeck in this region of the world because its thematic preoccupations, scenes, and characters are very relevant and immediate to its readers. The hot, dry Oklahoma summer, the knocking down of the Joads' house, the heartlessness of the bank in forcing everyone unable to pay their bills to leave the land, the exploitation of the workers and tenants by corporations undergoing industrialization and mechanization, and the inability of workers to persuade the owners of the land to let them stay till they can perhaps relocate—all these events and situations reflect the difficulties and stifling atmosphere facing twenty-first century West African migrant groups. The hasty impulsiveness of the Joads in deciding at night to get on the road before dawn—and drugging Grampa with a bottle of "soothin' sirup" because he was reluctant to migrate—mirrors the rashness of West African migrants who move out of their home countries with meager resources and little preparation for their journey. They are driven, like the Joads, by a desperation that is political as well as economic, for some West African countries in the twenty-first century are still characterized by bad governance, dictatorship, and a despotism characterized by heartless mismanagement of God-given resources and total insensitivity to glaring poverty, suffering, and hardship. Dissident [End Page 103] political views are not allowed, and those who express them are subjected to witch-hunts, unjustly prosecuted, and often incarcerated. It is no wonder that anti-establishment politicians in some parts of West Africa migrate into foreign lands and seek political asylum in order to advocate for political reform and democratization in their home countries.

Like these more recent West African immigrants, the Joads are subjected to harsh traveling through steep mountains and hot deserts. Grampa dies of fatigue and dehydration. West African migrants often take a similarly excruciating journey with the hope of realizing their potentials to the fullest, but most of them die before they see the romanticized lands they seek to enter. Hope is the driving force for twenty-first century West African migrants, who anticipate enjoying a life they are denied in their home countries. They dream of attaining wealth within a short time without expending a great deal of energy. They believe they will experience the stories they have heard of economic boom and financial prosperity. They imagine they will integrate fully into their new society, actualizing their life's purposes and fulfilling its aspirations. Similarly, hope led the tenant farmers of Oklahoma to travel west, but only after they tried for a hike in cotton prices and even contemplated a war to stop the owners from using the land for cotton. Hope put the Joads on the road, but hope can be a cruel thing, as they discover, for their illusion that a better life might be found in California deafens their ears to the tales of people who are fleeing the dehumanizing life there. Like West African migrants who are initially pleased with the superficial appearance of their new paradise, the Joads' hope for a better life seems borne out by the breathtaking California scenery, the fields of fruits, and the nicely equipped government camps where they live for a month. Soon, however, the dream disintegrates. In the same way, West African migrants are inevitably faced with stark realities of poverty, hardship, and heartlessness of employers who exploit them. Because these workers in most cases do not have legal residential status, work permits, or social security numbers, they are paid wages well below subsistence level. These illegal migrant workers are forced to realize that romanticized paradise into which they have moved is actually a version of the nightmare they fled in their home countries, where they could not obtain decent employment either.

There are many indicators of...

pdf