Exploitation And Self Preservation In The Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck

In Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, the common theme of exploitation and self preservation is displayed through the interactions between those characterized as “the monster” and the disenfranchised common people during the Great Depression. In chapter 7, the narrator is a head car salesman who is intentionally selling cars that are in bad condition and inflating the prices. The car salesman has multiple manipulative and deceptive techniques to sell these cars and he shows almost no regard for the fate of his customers. He knows that the people coming to buy cars from him are in dire need and vulnerable enough to accept whatever they can get, even if it means having to make monthly installments for a higher price, or accepting a car with a wrecked

This at first comes off as callous and somewhat selfish, especially since it is a car salesman who is judging random families who may not be able to afford the cars in his lot. As the chapter progresses, the techniques used by the salesmen are revealed. The head salesman says, “Watch the woman’s face. If the woman likes it we can screw the old man” (61). Next he makes people feel an obligation to purchase a car, since they’re using his time, and then proceeds to pour sawdust into parts of a Chevy to muffle the horrible sound coming from it (62). Steinbeck is highlighting the manipulation and deception coming from the salesmen to evoke emotion in the reader enough to blame businessmen. Then later on, someone enters the lot after seeing a car in the front that another salesman priced at $50. The salesman proceeds to basically gaslight the customer into thinking that the car is worth much more. He says “Fifty? He’s nuts. Paid seventy eight fifty for that little number. Joe, you crazy fool, you tryin’ to bust us? Have to can that guy. I might take sixty… Joes says I’m a sucker, Says if I don’t quit givin’ my shirt away I’ll starve to death” (64). He’s also attempting to make the customer feel bad enough to pay a higher price or the salesman will go hungry, which may or may not be true. These, at best, questionable business practices reminded me somewhat of the social darwinist principles that dominated the ideologies of wealthy business owners during the Gilded Age which was just 40 to 50 years before. Survival of the fittest is what robber barons used to justify their exploitation of poor people in their industries. However, it may not be fair to compare these car salesmen