John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath is an American classic which utilizes many different kinds of philosophies. One such philosophy is proletarianism. Proletarianism is the description of the injustices of the laboring classes. Put simply, it is when one social class is pitted against another. There are many examples of this philosophy throughout Steinbeck’s novel. One such example is when Steinbeck’s character Tom Joad manipulates a truck driver into giving him a ride out to Joad’s family’s place even though the truck driver is forbidden to have passengers. When the truck driver points out the No Riders sticker on the windshield, Joad responds with “Sure--I seen it. But sometimes a guy’ll be a good guy even if some rich bastard makes him carry a sticker” (Steinbeck 7). the truck driver then allows Joad to ride with him. This is an example of proletarianism because it pits the truck driver against the “rich bastard”. With this example, Steinbeck could be making the statement that …show more content…
The tire salesman then states “It ain't that big. The whole United States ain't that big. It ain't that big. It ain't big enough there ain't room enough for you an' me, for your kind an' my kind, for rich and poor together all in one country, for thieves and honest men. For hunger and fat. Whyn't you go back where you come from?” (Steinbeck 120). This is an example of proletarianism due to it pitting the tire salesman against the migrants. In this example, Steinbeck could be stating that the fortunate look down on the less fortunate as if they are another race or species entirely. He could also be stating that money causes the wealthy to isolate themselves from the poor and that riches bring forth