Amy+Hartwell

Confrontation Against Injustice

Injustice in society plays a key role in making an individuals judgment on whats right very difficult to act upon. Trial and error shows that human beings attempt to learn from their mistakes, thus deciphering right from wrong. This judgment can vary greatly based on the circumstances, an individual’s societal surroundings, or the way one is raised. As viewed in the novel The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, injustice is witnessed in the eyes of the farmers migrating west in search of a better life during the Dust Bowl in the 1930’s. Their encounters with drought, no infrastructure, unfair salesmen, and cruel higher authority result in a struggle to stay alive. This fight against injustice must originate within each individual, but the movement for equality becomes more effective as people unite towards a common cause, furthering the claim that individuals can achieve greater success as an organized group.

Injustice in the novel is seen in a number of ways. The farmers are confronted with this injustice not only by higher authorities, but with nature as well. “The men were silent and they did not move often. And the women came out of the houses to stand beside their men… The children stood near by, drawing figures in the dust with bare toes, and the children sent exploring senses out to see whether men and women would break” (page 3). As a result, the conditions leave the families desperate and fearful of the bleak future. Steinbeck describes the agricultural environment with the intention of equating land to the sense of personal identity. The land is what they know and have been familiar with for the past generations, and therefore is significant to their individuality. "Everyday the earth pales..." (page 1) and that the "dawn came, but no day" (page 2) depict the hopelessness of the farmers situation. The injustices the farmers faced during the Dust Bowl is a natural injustice. The farmers are left helpless because they can not confront nature and are left sitting there, waiting for it to pass. Because they are helpless in the face of nature’s wrath, the families must decide on some remedy for their hopeless situation.

As a result of the natural injustice facing the many farmers, their only option is to pick up their belongings and head west. In chapter three of //The Grapes of Wrath//, the realistic description of an old turtle trying to cross the highway symbolizes the Joads and their journey. Similar to the turtle, the Joads are victimized by the harsh conditions in which they exist, but continue on their passage. Steinbeck follows the turtle in much detail as it too travels west; beginning with the turtle’s difficult climb up the embankment onto the highway, where it is kindly avoided by one driver, but purposely attacked by the next. "His front wheel struck the edge of the shell, flipped the turtle like a tiddly-wink, spun it like a coin, and rolled it off the highway" (page 15). The injustice in chapter three is the new modern industrialization represented by the truck that does not have sufficient infrastructure to sustain the change for the small farmers, represented by the turtle. “…little by little the shell pulled over and flopped upright” (page16). After being hit by the car, the turtle is described as being unharmed. This is because its shell is divided into different plates and when hit, the impact is distributed to the different plates, leaving the turtle unharmed. Similar to the Joads, it is the idea of family that holds them together. It is the family’s responsibility when faced with such injustice to distribute the impact among all family members and lessen the weight instead of putting all responsibility on one person.

Car salesmen in //The Grapes of Wrath// play a supreme example of performing unjust actions out of survival. "Now look here. I'm givin' you my shirt, and you took all this time. I might a made three sales while I been talkin' to you. I’m disgusted. Yeah, sign right here. All right sir" (page 64). In chapter seven the car salesmen is so concerned with making as many sales as possible for his income that he pushed his values aside and acts out rudely against the customer. The injustice is identified as unfairness or the feeling of being cheated. The role of the individuality in facing injustice is revealed in the unsuccessful actions of the individual who tries to confront injustice alone. When the salesman is challenged by a former customer about the potential of the car, the dealer becomes defensive and says, "Well you just get tough and I will call the cops" (page 65). The threat of a higher authority with the power to intervene on the side of the injustice is very intimidating, and therefore makes the efforts of the farmer to fight the injustice useless.

The unjust actions by the salesmen are seen again throughout the novel and represent the reoccurring theme of the need of the individual to figure out a way to successfully confront injustice. In chapter twelve, Steinbeck describes the experiences of the migrants as they travel along Route 66. He exposes the injustice of the car salesmen exploiting farmers by overcharging for necessary car parts. They must pay increased prices because the salesmen knew they could easily take advantage of them as the people had no other option but to pay. "They look a fella over. They know he got to go on. They know he can't wait. And the prices go up" (page 120). The injustice present in the chapter results from the lack of support built into society to protect the consumer from being taken advantage of and the lack of resources available to help improve their situation. "I'll go on the rim before I'd give that son of a bitch a dime" (page 121). Individuals can confront the situations by standing up and taking action, but with the lack of money and knowledge, there is virtually nothing they can personally do about it. But if they unite as a group towards a common goal, eventually they can achieve the results they had been hoping for since the beginning.

As the farmer's continue their journey west, the harsh competition to find jobs in California leaves many of the Okies impoverished and in dire need of food to feed their families. In chapter nineteen, they attempt to make secret gardens to find any means of food, but the authorities come in to destroy the gardens because they are trespassing. Steinbeck's purpose in this chapter is to show the digressions of a society in a corrupt era by resorting to acts of stealing. The civilians only want a few things, a decent wage, food for themselves and families, and a to place o live, but under the circumstances, many of the migrants farmers know that it’s possible, which results in them confronting injustice by breaking the rules and doing whatever they could to survive. "And guards with shot guns patrolling the lines so a man might not pick an orange for a thin child" (page 234). This portrays that the Okies will do anything if it means nourishing their family in order to stay alive.

Judging right from wrong can vary depending on who the action or decision can affect. A person can be challenged with the decision between right and wrong when faced in a situation when a lie can be told. In society, the right decision would be to not lie and tell the truth, however lying would get someone out of an awkward situation with ease and perhaps feelings would be spared. As told in her essay "The Ways We Lie", Stephanie Ericsson shows that it is in fact impossible to be honest with everything. Sometimes by lying, less trouble comes out of it when telling the truth. Ericsson relates with personal experience. "I once tried going a whole week without telling a lie, and it was paralyzing. I discovered that telling the truth all the time is nearly impossible. It means living with some serious consequences" (Ericsson). The decision of whether or not to lie is always decided with the same question, which one will get me in less trouble? Most of the time the answer is to lie. Judgment between right and wrong is based on previous experience and future perception of what will happen if the wrong or right decision is chosen.

The injustices the farmers face in the novel //The Grapes of Wrath// is very much similar to those of the homeless in a way that their situations are beyond their control. Since they do not have the money or knowledge to change their problem, it is left up to the higher members of society to change it. However, there are the handfuls of homeless known as dumpster divers that are not completely incapable and lead an abundant life on the streets. They have changed the injustice by making it just and made being homeless something not to be feared. Lars Eighner spends a significant amount of time on the streets and showed that everything necessary for survival can be found in dumpsters. He relates himself and dumpster diving with the wealthy saying "I think this is an attitude I share with the wealthy- we both know there is plenty more where what we have come from" (Eighner). Eighner confronted his own injustices that are beyond the reach of the people they are affecting. It is possible to change them for yourself, however, to fix the problem all together help is needed from higher authorities because they ultimately have the power to change things.

People have always used their morals to differentiate between right and wrong. Oftentimes, an individuals morals with be shaped by their parents in their upbringing, by their society, and most definitely by their own discernment. The author of “Homeless” reflects how her morals caused her to decide what was considered wrong before really knowing what was actually right or wrong. The author stated, “You are where you live. She was somebody” (Quindlen). She presumed that all homeless people were taboo bad and the fact that they didn’t live in houses reflects the actual person; the author’s presumptions were most likely shaped by her upbringing and most definitely shaped by society. In realization, the author learns that a homeless woman actually used to be somebody, which turned the author’s presumption completely around. This is an example of how an individual used their ethics to dictate right over wrong, (in this case wrong is being homeless); unfortunately, an individual’s assertions are not always accurate but are still used to differentiate between right and wrong.

Judging right from wrong is based on an individual’s moral standards and their interpretation of the situation. Their judgment is what helps them distinguish between what is just and unjust and what they should do when faced with an injustice. //The Grapes of Wrath// portrays traveling farmers that are constantly facing injustice, and shows how they unite together in order to attempt to overcome such injustice. The farmers of the Dust Bowl are the homeless of today and they are faced with the same challenges, and fixing these challenges to a great extent is beyond their reach.

Works Cited:

Eighner, Lars. "Dumpster Diving." 25 Mar. 2009 .

Ericsson, Stephanie. "The Ways We Lie." 29 Mar. 2009 .

Steinbeck, John. __The Grapes of Wrath__. New York: Penguin Books, 1976.

Quindlen, Anna. "Homeless." 21 Mar 2009 <[]>.

A. Hartwell