Land Workers In John Steinbeck's Grapes Of Wrath

Grapes of Wrath is similar to Roger and Me with a couple significant differences. Both groups of workers were losing their jobs, but the land workers in Grapes of Wrath were losing more than their jobs. The tenant men would no longer work in the fields but they were also losing their homes at the same time. In Flint, when the factory workers were laid off, they still had a home to live in for at least a short period of time and would have had food in their cabinets. They had been paid well and possibly had a little money in the bank. The factory workers could stay in a home and look for work. The land workers (and families) were immediately kicked out of their homes. They had to vacate the premises, load up in their vehicles and move. The tenant families barely had enough to eat when they were able to work the land. They had very little in their cupboards and no money. There was no cushion at all for field working families.

The decisions were to benefit the company or to keep the company profitable. A noticeable difference was in the attitude of the owners. The owner or CEO of the factories in Flint did not appear to care what affect the decision had on the workers and their families. He had no compassion and he wanted to remain removed from the plight of Flint. Most of the “owner men” in Grapes of Wrath, were compassionate and despised having to evict the tenant families. Even the owner men that were cold in their affect was that way out of self-preservation. The coldness was to protect themselves because they had no choice except to evict the land