Had to read it also didn’t enjoy the book too much but I did end up renting the movie which helped me to understand it more. You can rent the movie that would help. Deals with farmers in depression years in Oklahoma.

point of view · The narrative shifts dramatically between different points of view. In some chapters the narrator describes events broadly, summarizing the experiences of a large number of people and providing historical analysis. Frequently, in the same chapters, the narrator assumes the voice of a typical individual, such as a displaced farmer or a crooked used-car salesman, expressing that person’s individual concerns. When the narrator assumes the voice of an anonymous individual, the words sometimes sound like what an actual person might say, but sometimes they form a highly poetic representation of the anonymous indiv-idual’s thoughts and soul. The chapters focusing on the Joad family are narrated primarily from an objective point of view, representing conversations and interactions without focusing on any particular character. Here, the characters’ actions are presented as an observer might witness them, without directly representing the characters’ thoughts and motivations. At certain points, however, the narrator shifts and presents the Joads from an omniscient point of view, explaining their psychologies, characters, and motivations in intimate detail.

narrator · An anonymous, all-knowing, historically aware consciousness that is deeply sympathetic, not only to the migrants but to workers, the poor, and the dispossessed generally.

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/grapesofwrath/facts.html

I know the Grapes of Wrath has to do with farmers migrating because of the Dust Bowl event.

futility