Kim+Haycraft

Injustices of a Corrupt Infrastructure

Injustices exist in every society and it is an individual’s inherited responsibility, as humans, to preserve or to create a type of social infrastructure that can adapt and evolve to support all individuals. To create that type of infrastructure, an individual must decide the difference between right and wrong before eliminating injustices. An individual can judge right from wrong by reflecting on their moral standards and the standards of society. Society and personal experience all influence and contribute to an individual’s understanding of what is right and wrong. As a member of society, an individual's role in confronting injustice is to bring the injustice to light and to actively seek ways to stop or to prevent that injustice from corrupting society. Alone, an individual is weak, but once united for a common cause; individuals are powerful and thus can more affectively remove injustices from society.

In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck portrays the many injustices that exist in society. The novel depicts the lives of ordinary individuals and their families, whom under desperation and oppression; find ways to unite to overcome the effects of a depression. The injustices that Steinbeck depicts in his novel represent the injustices that occur in a real society. The story chronicles the Joad's struggle to confront injustices in their pursuit for happiness.

The major theme and symbol depicted, in Chapter One of The Grapes of Wrath, is a family's struggle to overcome injustices in their effort to survive a natural disaster. The Joads watch as their land is slowly shriveled by the drought. Poor farming conditions and a sense of hopelessness leaves the family desperate and fearful of the bleak future. Steinbeck specifically describes the land as a whole much like he portrays the family as a whole, to show unity and a sense of connection, to each other, their land, and their suffering.

An individual’s understanding of what is right and wrong is subjective and thus is merely an opinion. The initial injustice that the Joad's must overcome in their eyes is nature. Although Steinbeck portrays the drought as gradual, graceful, and as an event that poses no threat to farmers, the farmer’s think otherwise. In the farmer’s eyes, the poor agricultural conditions are unfair therefore they see Mother Nature’s actions as an injustice or as the evil. The families can only wait anxiously for the drought to pass. “The men sat still-thinking, figuring” (page 7). The Joad's do not directly confront the natural injustice, but instead they seek ways to protect themselves to survive. “The weeds grew darker green to protect themselves” (page 1), and in similar way “Houses were shut tight, and cloth wedged around doors and windows...” (page 5). The Dust Bowl reaps the family of their land, identity, and opportunities. Farmers are left vulnerable, defenseless, and desperate. There is no infrastructure to support the families in an agricultural disaster so the families are left to fend for themselves. The Joads are left wondering what they can do, in a system that can’t really help them or relieve them of the natural burdens of their land. In their minds, nature's wrath is the evil, not society's infrastructure. Blaming society's infrastructure for their suffering would be unrealistic because it is an object that the families can't overcome or change. Individuls like to put blame on something they can defeat. Society has such a large and systemic identity that the families choose not to confront because it is too large and too corrupt to influence.

The families associate their identity with their land because it’s familiar and when their land is taken away, so is their materialistic identity. Because the drought plagues the land, the families feel a sense of loss. The stories, ideals and morals of the families are not threatened by the drought, but financial security of the family is at risk because they no longer have a sufficient source of income. Yet, the Joads stay hopeful because although they lose their land their less materialistic identity remains with them. “Homeless,” by Anna Quindlen is relative to this situation because her work explores the idea that home is where the heart is. “There is a man with no mirrors, no wall to hang it on. They are not homeles. They are people who have no homes. No drawer that holds the spoons” (page 2). Identity is a sense of belonging and self assurance, not a materialistic belonging that society encouages. And because individuals lose posessions are never gain possesions they are manipulated or treated as less in society, which is an injustice. Society associates identity with material possessions because material possesions are proof of success. Individuals are always competing amongst each other to prove their success which reflects on their greedy identity. When individuals are too occupied with finding ways to succeed they forget about the injutices and ultimately contribute to make a more corrupt society.

Power is achieved when many individuals come together and are committed to a common cause. Chapter three is symbolic not only of the Joads struggle, but all of the displaced migrants. The turtle’s ascent across the street after being hit by the truck represents the everyday struggle of individuals. The turtle’s shell and its small counterparts that make the whole shell represent the individual’s in a society. The reason the turtle survives after being hit is because the pain is evenly distributed to the tiny parts that make his shell. The idea of unity is revisited again and again throughout the upcoming chapters to emphasize community. Strength in numbers is a concept that Steinbeck depicts as a successful method in confonting injustices.

Injustices occur in society because individuals are greedy. Chapter seven depicts how the auto salesmen cheat the families and manipulate them into buying cars that are in bad condition to gain more profit. The car salesmen desire profit because profit is a sign of success and this desire for what society believes is success makes them greedy. Steinbeck depicts the manipulaters as “Salesmen, neat, deadly, small intent eye watching for weaknesses” (page 79). The families in need of cars are ignorant about  automobiles therefore they are weak in the eyes of the salesmen. Their lack of knowledge about cars makes them easy to manipulate which is why they are subjected to unfair treatment. According to “The Ways We Lie,” by Ericsson, “omission involves telling most of the truth minus one or two key facts whose absence changes the story completely” (page 2). The car salesmen chose to not inform the consumers that the cars are flawed. This type of lying can not be controlled and is used a tool to manipulate. The car salesmen are more powerful than the families because they have what the families need. The injustice of manipulation is inevitable because individuals are greedy for profit. Individuals feel inadequate or unsuccessful if they do not have material possessions as proof of success. An individual lies for other reasons as well, for face, for pride, as a reaction to anger, or as an escape. Lies and greed are the reasons many injustices occur in society. Greed leads to lies. Just like a person that wants more, lying is like a person that's greedy to change their circumstances. Injustices manifest and multiply because of lies. To prevent and to confront injustices, individuals must remain honest and true.

When individuals are desperate they are often faced with two choices, accepting the injustice that made their circumstance desperate or to confront the injustice by sacrificing to receive fair circumstances. In Chapter 21, the Okies accept lower wages because they would rather have something than nothing at all. The Okies do not act on injustices because they are desperate and because the infrastructure of society allows for powerful people to manipulate the powerless. The only way the Okies can overcome the unfairness of low wages is to sacrifice the little they have to gain fairness. This type of injustice exists in society and in chapter 21. The migrants are manipulated by the farmers and the farmers are manipulated by the canneries. “And as cannery owner he paid himself a low price for the fruit and kept the price of canned goods up and took his profit” (page 364). There is corruption and manipulation everywhere. Migrants don’t have the resources to survive and can only blame the farmer, which is ironic because all individuals desire the same thing, no matter what their status is. The migrants are greedy for a good paying job, the farmers are greedy for profit, and so are the canneries. It’s a never ending cycle of injustice and corruption. Everyone is responsible for the injustice, but society blames the system because this type of injustice is so rampant that no individual can be blamed for society's failure.

Injustices are dangerous to humanity because it manifests and affects every person at every level, rich or poor. Chapter 25 gives the reason for the title and essentially for the main idea of the book. Every individual has the desire to succeed in a way that their success can be envied. The grapes of wrath represents the inevitable dangers in society when individuals pursue “success” or greatness. “In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filing and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage” ( page 449). The gapes represent the potentian of an individual. The grapes grow in bunches which represents communities and the connection and dependence on each other. Farmers watch grapes carefully, checking the temperature, soil, and every detail to ensure that the grapes turn out good and during this process they pick the bad grapes off. Picking the bad grapes is symbolic of an individual's desire to get rid of obstacles that might hinder them from being succcessful. Every bad grape infects the good grapes which represents how corruption spreads in society. Vintage is the result of hard work and attention to minor details, it represents success. The farmers put so much effort in making vintage wine, but are caught up in a system that is corrupt. “The smell from the ferment is not the rich odor of wine, but the smell of decay and chemicals” (page 447). What individuals believe to be a success is simply a delusion of lies and greed. In the pursuit to success, individuals forget their role in confronting injustices.

A corrupt infrastructure makes elimating injustices impossible, and often compassion motivates individuals to confront injustices even if they are not injustices that directly effect their own circumstances. The stillborn in Chapter 30 is symbolic of how injustices are inevitable. “The sack floated away, and the box, caught in the swift water, floated quckly away, out of sight, behind the brush.” (page 572). Metaphorically, society's failure to deliver an alive baby represents how corruption spreads and affects those that don't even choose to be involved. The baby floats behind a brush and appears hidden much like how corruption and injustices are hidden in a society. The baby symbolizes how society can not produce a pure offspring to save or change their society; every individual is tainted. On the sixth day of the rain, the Joads come upon a dying man and a small boy. The man's health is impared and out of compassion, Rose of Sharon asks everyone to leave the barn and despite his objections, she suckels him. Although she can not save her baby, she finds the opportunity to offer some kind of help to the dying man. She may not fully empathize with his circumstance, but she sympathizes and she realizes he is helpless therefore she seeks a way to change his unfair circumstances. Barbara Lazear Ascher reflects on similar events in “On Compassion” She mentions, “We cannot deny the existence of the helpless as their pressense grows” (page 2). Individuals have a duty to help others who face conditions and injustices worse than theirs.

When individuals are faced with an injustice that threatens their curent situation, they pursue to eliminate it. Pursue is no guarantee of success, it is the journey to success. When confronting an injustice, many individuals fail to expose the injustice because the individual is caught up in a system where they are just as corrupt as the individuals they seek to expose. The Grapes of Wrath illustrates how lies, greed, manipulation, and the desire for success can manifest into a cycle of corruption that is unavoidalbe and ultimately inevitable. Alone individuals can not fully eliminate an injustice that threatens an already flawed society, but together individuals are more powerful. Realistically, a society can never really rid itself of all the injustices, because such injustices are sprouted from  Societal standards evolve, but the corrupt societal infrastructure allows for such evils and injustices to exist.

Ascher, Barbara L. "On compassion." 30 Mar. 2009 .

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

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin Books, 1976.