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Grapes of Wrath essay: Power of Unity

The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, is an intriguing novel. It is a story about a family’s life, the Joad’s, during the Dust Bowl era who suffered as a result of the Great Depression. During this time era, many experienced an economic catastrophe which made them decide what was right from wrong. An individual can judge what is right from wrong after learning from their experiences in life and through their morals. Throughout the novel, Steinbeck tells a descriptive story on the tragedy that occurred during this time period and describes the conflicts the Joad family encounters in order to survive. As the Joad family and others struggle to survive, the novel reveals the individual’s role in confronting injustice. The individual’s role to confront injustice is to combine their efforts, in hopes of succeeding. Individuals normally confront injustice when it starts to affect themselves and others.

The Joad’s must overcome natural injustice, however there is not much they can do about it because they are not able to control nature and its’ actions. In chapter one, a family comes across poor farming conditions when heavy dust storms, violent winds, and rain occur. Many farmers’ adequate income decreases as they lost crops and started working on credit. “A gentle wind followed the rain clouds, driving them on northward, a wind that softly clashed the drying corn. A day went by and the wind increased, steady, unbroken by gusts.” (ch.1 pg. 2) The individuals were influenced from their society about believing what may be right from wrong. Depending on certain situations, society induces injustice. There is no way to fix this injustice besides just hoping for the best outcome. “The women studied the men’s faces secretly, for the corn could go, as long as something else remained.” (ch.1 pg. 3) The poor farming conditions left the Joads demoralized, as they tried to find ways to protect themselves from the poor weather and farming conditions. “The dawn came, but no day.” (ch.1 pg. 5) When the sky became dull, it represented a loss of life with an existence of sadness. The hazards of nature represent the hazards of civilization. In order to reach a favorable outcome, one must unite with others to confront the injustice.

Confronting injustice may be hard to endure, therefore an individual can come together with others who are suffering the same problems and hope for better success. The injustice in chapter three occurs when the new industrialization, which is represented by the truck, does not have enough infrastructure to maintain the changes for farmers, which is represented by the turtle. The turtle and the young man symbolize the government forcing the farmers out of their land. Steinbeck describes the turtle that crosses the highway as a way of symbolizing the Joads and their struggles. “As the embankment grew steeper and steeper, the more frantic were the efforts of the land turtle.” (ch. 3 pg. 15) The Joads were challenged with many problems due to the cruel environment, and like the turtle, continued on their path. The injustice is noticed when the truck driver hits the turtle. As the truck driver forces the turtle out of his comfort zone, it symbolizes how the government forced the Joads and other Okies out of their homeland. Another injustice takes place when the truck hit the turtle; the different parts of the shell are separated from one another, but are still connected to each other through the lines. This ties into how the Joads were all separated with their different thoughts and ideas but are still drawn together. The turtle and the Joads both travel south west on their journey as they begin to face injustice. The role of an individual in confronting this type of injustice is to unite with others and confront it as soon as is takes place.

In hoping to attain a good outcome, the Joads were temporarily homeless. In Homeless by Anna Quindlen, she describes how she finds a homeless person and confronts her of being homeless. Ann, the homeless person, disagrees and tells her that she has been living in a bus terminal for two weeks. This relates to how the Joads were homeless but found temporary small places to live in throughout their journey. “Where you lived was where you lived for three years, until you could move on to something else and something else again.” (Homeless by: Anna Quindlen) In order to confront this injustice, the migrants and farmers should unite because they were facing the same calamities. The homeless play a small role in confronting injustice. In some circumstances, it is unfair that the homeless people are homeless because it may not be their fault, and they might just be unlucky, as in war veterans, sicknesses, and other unfortunate events. However, many homeless people have no homes for a typical reason, whether it being due to drugs, alcohol, laziness, and lack of education. Moreover, in order to confront this injustice, the homeless must come together to resolve the unfair circumstances. Steinbeck describes the unjust habits of our economic system and its' unfair business bargains. In chapter seven, the salesmen seek to take advantage of the farmers by selling them beat up and old cars for an expensive price in order to support their own families. The farmers are very desperate in need for a car, that they don’t really pay attention to the price offered. The farmers did not know any better until many of their engines broke down, when they soon realized that they were being taken advantage of. “Yes, sir. ’22 Dodge. Best goddamn car Dodge ever made. Never wear out. Low compression. High compression got lots a sap for a while, but the metal ain’t made that’ll hold it for long.” (ch. 7 pg. 62) Injustice ties in this chapter when the farmers were put in poverty to begin with. The role of the individual is to stand up for themselves and protest against the salesmen’ false statements. In addition, they must all come together and create a surrounding in which they can survive by realizing that the salesmen are lying to them to make a living to support their own families. In order for the salesmen to sell a car to a farmer, all one had to do was make the costumer feel bad and then convincing them to buy an overpriced car. The wrong practices of the salesmen did not bother them since they knew they were making profit off of selling unfair deals to the farmers. With all the motivating excitement the salesmen accumulate, he tends to repeatedly say “"If only I could have one hundred jalopies. I don't care if they run or not." (ch. 7 pg. 63) The salesmen therefore have no pity for the farmers. The threat of a higher authority of power intimidates the farmers, which makes them frightened to even attempt fighting back. To end this injustice, the farmers should unite with one another, and by uniting they can combine all their minimum knowledge to create an abundant amount all together.

Throughout the whole book, the migrants and farmers are continuously being lied to. In the Ways We Lie by Stephanie Ericsson, it explains the different types of lies that individuals use. As expressed in the text, everyone lies at some moment in his or her life regardless if it is right or wrong. When the salesmen lie to the farmers about their cars, they use omission. “The cruelest lies are often told in silence” (R.L. Ericsson, The Ways We Lie) This quote reflects to when the salesmen leave out extra information about the car they want to sell to the farmers. Injustice occurs when the farmers’ and their families suffer the outcomes after the car breaks down. They had no clue that they had been cheated by the salesmen and can not do anything about it because it is too late. Even though the salesmen might feel guilty about lying to the farmers, they do not care because sometimes lying may be necessary. To confront this injustice, the farmers must do what is right by uniting themselves and oppose the salesmen.

Chapter twenty-one describes how the migrants from Oklahoma were referred to as “Okies”. He explains this by telling us how large companies and businesses control the workers and give them lower wages for their own profit. The business organizations do not care about the workers and their livings and whether it being right or wrong. The companies' and workers' outlooks of right and wrong differ. The companies think it is right as to their benefit for their gaining of profit, while the workers view it as wrong with the low wages that they are receiving. "We own the country. We can't let these Okies get out of hand." (ch. 21 pg. 283) Injustice in this chapter is witnessed when the farmers were forced off their land and had to find work wherever they could just like the Okies. The Okies and the farmers were paid low wages by the big companies. The Okies had no choice but to work and accept the low wages to support their families. “If he’ll take twenty-five, I’ll do it for twenty…No, me, I’m hungry. I’ll work for fifteen. I’ll work for food.” (ch. 21 pg. 283) Society's structure is unequal and may not please everyone. The role of the individual in dealing with this injustice is that they must all unite with other farmers and families to claim their justice.

With the companies controlling the workers and their wages, the government is also making the decisions as well. In Civil Disobedience by Henry Thoreau, it describes the role of the government, laws and punishments used against civilians, and how the laws must be respected. In part one, Thoreau talks about how the government’s laws are beneficial to society and how he would like to see it run systematically. “The government is best which governs least.” (Civil Disobedience by Henry Thoreau) In part two, Thoreau explains how unjust laws exist, and questions if we shall be content to obey them or if we shall attempt to correct them. An individual is obligated to fix injustice if one decides that something is wrong. Throughout the text, he confronts injustices of his own life. He gets sent to jail for one night because he protested against slavery and did not pay his taxes. By doing this act, he confronts injustice towards the government power. "But a government in which the majority rules in all cases cannot be based on justice, even as far as men understand it." (Civil Disobedience by Henry Thoreau) This quote exemplifies how the government should not govern anyone, and set rules based on the majority. It is injust that the laws are unfair and we have to obey them. Thoreau also believes that when the government is unfair towards the society, the people should not follow the laws. In chapter three, he continues explaining how the government has authority over everyone and may be unfair at times. “It can have no pure right over my person and property but what I concede to it.” (Civil Disobedience by Henry Thoreau) Overall, the text clarifies the individual’s duty to the government is to just obey the laws, even though they may be unjust.

Steinbeck illustrates the reason for the title of the book in chapter twenty five by using nature as a model for the workers' lives. He explains how it is nearly impossible for an individual to survive on their own, and only through unity one can overcome the injustice. As the Joads and other families wish to live a better life in California, they come across many dilemmas as they migrate from Oklahoma. When they arrive at California, they face injustice due to the low wages they receive from the farmers. By receiving low wages, it made it difficult to purchase food. “We can’t pay wages, no matter what wages.” (ch. 25 pg. 347) The individual’s role to confront this injustice is unite as one, to gain power and face the farmers. The workers are represented as grapes that grow full with anger. When the grapes fall to the ground and get squished, they release juice which symbolizes the oppression of the workers. A corrupted infrastructure may develop corrupt in the people's minds.

Throughout the novel, Steinbeck repeatedly reinforces the power of unity. The role of an individual in confronting injustice is to unite with one another to stand against the government that controls them. Each individual must decide what is right from wrong and unite together as one to confront the injustice. By joining together, individuals can correct the underlying infrastructure of society.


 * Works Cited**

Steinbeck, John. Grapes of Wrath. New York: Pinguin Books, 1939.

Ericsson, Stephanie. "The Ways We Lie." Mr. Pogreba's Classroom. 28 Mar. 2009 .

Thoreau, Henry. "Civil Disobedience." The Thoreau Reader. 28 Mar. 2009 .

Quindlen, Anna. "Homeless." 11 Mar 2009 .

N. Tasbihchi