Migrant Workers In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed; those who are cold and are not clothed.-Dwight D. Eisenhower”
The Grapes of Wrath is written by John Steinbeck, it is about the trials during the Dust Bowl. It is also about the Joad family, who like among many others were forced off their land. Steinbeck wrote the book from his personal views on the Dust bowl. The most powerful and meaningful chapters he wrote are the ones about the migrant workers. When reading the book you can tell where Steinbeck stands on the matter of the government vs. the people.
The first chapter of the book Steinbeck talks about the impending Dust …show more content…
Bowl, and how the people first reacted. The book defends the quote because all throughout the book you hear from the Joad family and the migrant workers how they think the government doesn’t care about the people in need, “The gov’ment’s got more interest in a dead man than a live one.”(140). The government took away the people's land, which in turn made have to move in order to find a job.
Throughout the book the government hasn’t treated “Okies” and the migrant workers the best: they have cheated them out of their own houses, and has cheated them out of work “His scale is fixed. Sometimes he’s right, you got rocks in the sack.Sometimes you’re right, the scales is crooked.”(407) The quote from Dwight D. Eisenhower says that the making of guns, the launching of warships and every rocket fired is a theft from the people who need the help. The migrant workers blamed the government for them being jobless and homeless. They blamed them for being jobless, because they believed that the government wouldn’t stop the businessman from cheating them out of work. The businessmen would lower the wages, because the people who were desperate would work next to nothing, “ so last night the member from the bank told me, he said You’re paying thirty cents an hour. You’d better cut it down to twenty-five.” (295) The government didn’t care about the business owner’s cutting down the wages, to a low and inhumane rate.
The migrant people and “Okies” were treated like the lowest of low, they were treated as if they were not human.
Most of the migrant people were hated and treated poorly because the californians were scared that their jobs were going to be taken away by the migrants. “They were hungry, and they were fierce. And they had hoped to find a home, and they found only hatred.”(233)
The Joad family has experienced first hand what people will do to get the “Okies” to leave. The police would start fights with people, or would arrest them for no apparent reason, “ Ever see ‘im before? The contractor insisted. Hmm, seems like I have. Las’ week when that used-car lot was busted into. Seems like I seen this fella hangin’ aroun’. Yep! I’s swear it’s the same fella. Suddenly the smile left his face. Get in the car… Tom said, You got nothin’ on him.”(263).
“ Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed; those who are cold and not clothed”- Dwight D. Eisenhower. This quote to me means that the government may not think the people a top priority, and only truly think of a quick and effective way to make more money. Very soon people started to believe that their life wasn’t important, all because the government only seems to take interest in people who have already died, rather than the people who are still alive and are in desperate need of
help.
When reading the book, I learned many things about what life was like during the Dust Bowl. People were always scared of something: starving, not having enough money to survive, where to live, and for some people they feared each other.
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed; those who are cold and are not clothed.-Dwight D. Eisenhower”
The Grapes of Wrath is written by John Steinbeck, it is about the trials during the Dust Bowl. It is also about the Joad family, who like among many others were forced off their land. Steinbeck wrote the book from his personal views on the Dust bowl. The most powerful and meaningful chapters he wrote are the ones about the migrant workers. When reading the book you can tell where Steinbeck stands on the matter of the government vs. the people.
The first chapter of the book Steinbeck talks about the impending Dust …show more content…
Bowl, and how the people first reacted. The book defends the quote because all throughout the book you hear from the Joad family and the migrant workers how they think the government doesn’t care about the people in need, “The gov’ment’s got more interest in a dead man than a live one.”(140). The government took away the people's land, which in turn made have to move in order to find a job.
Throughout the book the government hasn’t treated “Okies” and the migrant workers the best: they have cheated them out of their own houses, and has cheated them out of work “His scale is fixed. Sometimes he’s right, you got rocks in the sack.Sometimes you’re right, the scales is crooked.”(407) The quote from Dwight D. Eisenhower says that the making of guns, the launching of warships and every rocket fired is a theft from the people who need the help. The migrant workers blamed the government for them being jobless and homeless. They blamed them for being jobless, because they believed that the government wouldn’t stop the businessman from cheating them out of work. The businessmen would lower the wages, because the people who were desperate would work next to nothing, “ so last night the member from the bank told me, he said You’re paying thirty cents an hour. You’d better cut it down to twenty-five.” (295) The government didn’t care about the business owner’s cutting down the wages, to a low and inhumane rate.
The migrant people and “Okies” were treated like the lowest of low, they were treated as if they were not human.
Most of the migrant people were hated and treated poorly because the californians were scared that their jobs were going to be taken away by the migrants. “They were hungry, and they were fierce. And they had hoped to find a home, and they found only hatred.”(233)
The Joad family has experienced first hand what people will do to get the “Okies” to leave. The police would start fights with people, or would arrest them for no apparent reason, “ Ever see ‘im before? The contractor insisted. Hmm, seems like I have. Las’ week when that used-car lot was busted into. Seems like I seen this fella hangin’ aroun’. Yep! I’s swear it’s the same fella. Suddenly the smile left his face. Get in the car… Tom said, You got nothin’ on him.”(263).
“ Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed; those who are cold and not clothed”- Dwight D. Eisenhower. This quote to me means that the government may not think the people a top priority, and only truly think of a quick and effective way to make more money. Very soon people started to believe that their life wasn’t important, all because the government only seems to take interest in people who have already died, rather than the people who are still alive and are in desperate need of
help.
When reading the book, I learned many things about what life was like during the Dust Bowl. People were always scared of something: starving, not having enough money to survive, where to live, and for some people they feared each other.