Grapes Of Wrath Quotes

Frenchman Napoleon Bonaparte stated, “The surest way to remain poor is to be an honest man.” Bonaparte’s quote illustrates that many of those who fall into the pit of poverty are not there because they live dishonestly, cheat, and exploit others, rather they are there because they did quite the opposite. In fact, it is usually the few at the top of the ladder who acted in such a way. John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel, The Grapes of Wrath, is the story of the Joad family, who like many others from that era and region, lost their farm due to drought and economic ruin. They got word that California had plenty of jobs, and therefore, they headed west. However, the “Okie” migrants faced many challenges including hunger, poverty, and discrimination from

Steinbeck tells us exactly what the Californians think of the migrants, “They gonna look at you an’ their face says, ‘I don’t like you, you son-of-a-bitch!’” (pg 205). The prejudice shown towards the so-called “Okies” exemplifies just one issue the refugees of the Dust Bowl faced. This is important because it sheds light on the lack of concern and empathy that many held; this causes readers to begin to develop an emotional attachment to the characters of the book, and therefore, a fire is lit within his audience which makes them more likely to take action. Further along in the novel, Steinbeck writes, “The great owners were glad and they sent out more handbills to bring more people in. And wages went down and prices stayed up.” (pg 283). This again displays the ideology that the owners held: profit is far more important than the quality of people’s lives. Because there were no regulations or labor laws, it was not seen as problematic at the time, so Steinbeck wanted to change that. In order to accomplish this, the author utilizes the beliefs and morals held by the vast majority of people in the country at the