"(Red) Square Dance"
20"x24"
oil on canvas

John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" appears on the ALA's list of most challenged books of the 21st century.  It was also burned on a number of occassions - including in Kern County CA which was the endpoint of the Joad family's migration in the novel.  Critics accused Steinbeck of being a socialist and of championing communist beliefs.

Dana Ellyn's painting, "(Red) Square Dance", stems from the migrants being called "reds" or "communists".  The book depicts the deplorable conditions that the migrants dealt with in the camps.  But one night there is a square dance which offers q brief respite from the misery.  The composition of "(Red) Square Dance" is meant to evoke a communist propoganda poster. 

Additional symbolism:
Girl holding orange: throughout the book, the Joad family dreams of getting to California and finding fields of orange groves and getting jobs picking fruit.
Pig: "communist pig".
Grape vines:  inspired by quote in chapter 25: "...and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage."
Shack: image of the ramshackled home the Joad family left behind in the Dust Bowl before heading out to California with their dreams of a beautiful new life.