Zachary+Mikol

Confronting injustice and judging right from wrong:

 An individual judging right from wrong as well as how to confront injustice is dependent on many surrounding factors. The individuals state of mind, place in society, mental and social condition are all various factors governing the actions of the individual, also expressed throughout John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, as also in outside literature including actions of the homeless, liars, and society in general. Each excerpt of text includes contemporary ideas of an individual’s judgment of right and wrong and confrontment of injustice.

An individual is prompted with circumstances before being able to confront an injustice. In chapter three of Steinbeck’s novel, there is a prime example of an individual confronted with a dilemma of an unjust action, being a turtle instigated by an oncoming truck attempting to harm the turtle. The innocent turtle still survives the blow committed by the truck but only due to its shells very own infrastructure, one such found in a society. "Lying on its back, the turtle was tight in its shell for a long time. But at last its legs waved in the air, reaching for something to pull it over. Its front foot caught a piece of quartz and little by little the shell pulled over and flopped upright."(15) The shell was the key to the turtle’s survival demonstrating how the infrastructure of a society should be pieced together. The shell was pieced together by many segments rather than one individual plate allowing each segment to share the impact instead of collapsing, very much so like a group in society confronted by a social or economic problem. This group in society would band together, working together knowing the fact each individual would not be able to prosper through such a difficult problem. The turtle reflects the families throughout the great depression as depicted throughout Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath.

Confronting injustice is also a primitive discussion of journalist Joseph Perkins in his article, Homeless: Expose the Myth. Joseph Perkins confronts the injustice of the government pouring their services which is not helping the problem of homeless people crowding the public. Perkins confronts the injustice by preaching to the public and informing them of the problem but the viewpoint on the subject by individuals, deciding whether to confront the injustice, is based on their place in society. Perkin’s own experience in a real life situation supports the claimer that an individual’s role when confronting injustice is too take action and decipher which motive is right from wrong. Some sections of society is influenced by the government and supports its ineffective methods of changing the matter, and the other section takes great heed to excerpts such as the one Joseph Perkins edited.

The essence of confronting injustice as being an individual’s role is supported in //The Grapes of Wrath//, chapter seven. Chapter seven of the novel includes the idea of that unfair treatment and cheating is called upon as unjust. The car sales man is trying to make a working wage by selling his used cars to oppressed people migrating to California. “** Sure we sold it. Guarantee? We guarantee it to be an automobile. We didn't agree to wet-nurse it." (pg.65) This exemplifies that to judge whether these actions are right and wrong is based on the point of view of the aggressor and victim .** To the oppressed travelers, the high prices of the used cars are unbeneficial to them and not necessary for the salesman thus seen as an unfair injustice. In retrospect, the salesman sees it as fair and a way to make a living. The idea of whether something is unjust or just, is depicted on the individual’s point of view on the subject. The salesman would manipulate the farmers and try to make a profit though the financial state of the farmer.

This chapter also includes the essence of how an individual judges right from wrong. Both individuals judge the event in contrasting ways because they are seeking opposite goals. In the eyes of the salesman, what he is attempting to do is benefiting him thus being just, and the farmers are wrong and unjust for not going according to his plan. To the farmers they are enforcing the right idea as the salesman is selling used cars and unethical prices which are viewed as wrong by the oppressed farmers. Therefore the judgment of right and wrong and how to confront injustice, depends on the deciding factor of whose point of view the individual is in.

The decision of right or wrong is evident through chapter 11 of //The Grapes of Wrath,// thus supporting. Through the chapter, Steinbeck uses the farmers and the tractor driver as examples to portray what’s right and what’s wrong by having the farmers evicted by the bank as the wronged in the decision. ."Grampa took up the land, and he had to kill the Indian's and drive them away. And Pa was born here, and he killed weeds and snakes"(33).  This quote from the chapter shows how that the farmers feel wronged by the bank’s decision but their past decisions are no better than that of the banks. The viewpoint of the pacifist and the aggressor determine whether the act is unjust or not, leading to a confrontation of the problem which is evident the farmers do in both situations. Their confrontations include killing the Indians in the past and then migrating to California in a plea to start a new life, though the bank didn’t have to confront anything due to being unaffected and judging the problem as just. Confronting injustice requires judging a problem as right or wrong, consequently to whether the party should act or not.  Chapter 11’s example of the farmers’ eviction in //The Grapes of Wrath,// by John Steinbeck, reflects Americas past history through the 1919-1920’s, after World War One and before the present time throughout the novel. America founded the League of Nations under the result of the Treaty of Versailles. They had hoped to prevent war but America only gave themselves power and exclaimed that another country could not forcefully take over another nation for personal gain. This left opposing countries in complete disagreement since America had done the exact same under the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. This historical context is the same scenario as the farmers killing the Indians, in their mind being just, but feeling wronged by the banks though they had done the same.  The individual’s role is deciding right from wrong when confronted with injustice. The main deciding factor for an individual judge right and wrong and judge confronting justice, is the individuals point of view on the confrontation. Throughout John Steinbeck's //The// //Grapes of Wrath// each chapter provides the examples of individuals confronted with injustice and how to judge right from wrong. In most of the cases an individual would base their analysis on which the judgment would be benefiting and how they would be benefited. Therefore if the group of people judge the injustice right, their confrontation would not be necessary, but if the injustice had wronged them, they would confront it in a different manner. Hence judging the issue is to be performed by an individual before confronting it in their own conduct. 

Perkins, Joseph. "Homeless: Expose the Myths." March 2009 <[]>. Steinbeck, John. Grapes of Wrath. New York, N.Y: Penguin, 1992