The Story Of Okies In Jerry Stanley's Children Of The Dust Bowl

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Across time, Okies faced hardships and difficulties like discrimination. This problem comes along for Okies in Jerry Stanley's Children of the Dust Bowl. This book extends with Okies traveling to California which was described as a paradise but instead was greeted with hostility and prejudice. Despite all that, the Okies worked together with Leo hart to build Weedpatch school. Jerry Stanley tries to inform the reader about how the Okies worked together to change their hardships into hope. Stanley’s work inspires the reader to make the best out of things and to fight challenges. The author’s purpose is to inform the reader about the difficulties and discrimination that Okies faced and how it changed despair into hope. Although Californians treated Okies like “scums,” the Okies used teamwork to keep going. “Penniless, broken by hardship and poverty, they were determined to conquer adversity.” (Page 11) Even thought Okies earned a poverty wage, they still believed in themselves and that they could fight their difficulties. “You know, history is always full of choices. It’s possible to achieve anything. Look at these kids, and look at what they’ve become,” says Leo Hart as he looks at a photo of one of Weedpatch school’s earliest students. (Page 76) All the prejudice and hardships transform into the Okies into …show more content…

“Brick by brick, board by board, the children of the Dust Bowl, eight teachers, and Leo Hart built Weedpatch school.” This shows how something that may seem impossible to do by yourself possible with others. “There was no partiality, no embarrassment or ridicule. There was friendship, understanding, guidance, and love,” says Hart. (Page 51) Teamwork made the Okies gain confidence in themselves and be proud of who they were. In the text, it says that an Okie that helped build Weedpatch school says that he is proud of who he is and what he’s done. ( Page

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