Peer Feedback #1 essay 2

The Grapes of Wrath Social Analysis

            “There ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue. There's just stuff people do (The Grapes of Wrath).” People are evil to each other without a justification. In the aftermath of a huge economic downturn, people turn on survival mode and lash back at those that need help. It is inhuman how men treated the migrants who simply were trying to make a living for their family. John Steinbeck yearns for the better treatment of these migrant workers, as well as decent treatment of humanity to each other. Steinbeck utilizes symbols, such as a turtle, to convey the difficult tasks humans must do and yet there are still humans that work while others are contumacious.

            Humanity will be its own downfall. Some people are narrow-minded and have a high level of self preservation. Why is it that in a crisis that so many people suddenly flip that switch of preservation and do anything possible to survive? Steinbeck is telling this story in order to convey some of the atrocities that are committed.  The landowners of the West, specifically California, were dogged and incapable of seeing the migrants as equals. The Dust Bowl was the cause of this economic influx in which all available work load was in the west. They treated the migrants like dirt by bullying the incoming people. Police officers, who are meant to keep the peace, actually attacked people and killed one of the Joad family members. If people shared the wealth (not talking a communism) for a short time period while the crisis leveled out, maybe, just maybe, the world will be a better place. In the officers’ perspective, I wouldn’t have to live with the fact that I killed someone and that I violated what I represent to society.  Humanity has the potential to go a great way but that potential rapidly depletes when humanity chooses to save ones’ elves over others. Steinbeck wants to challenge this self preservation mechanism and open eyes to what cruelty could occur if we do not simply share a little, even if it’s for a small time a little makes all the difference.

            The turtle, in the beginning of the book, is a symbol that represents a small creature that tries and tries to cross the road. Even if it is a small creature that goes a slow pace, it is an arduous task that he is determined to complete. This turtle embodies the migrant workers because it is determine to do work in order to survive. Even if the turtle is hit by cars (migrant workers bullied by officers) it thrives on. Steinbeck uses this symbol to convey the feelings of the migrant workers and to depict their self preservation.

            Steinbeck tries to persuade the audience to give a little in order to get a lot, in The Grapes of Wrath. He wants to show, through the use of symbolism, that people will stop at nothing to survive. If humanity works together, eventually we will go back to normal and conflict can cease for now. But if some choose to exploit others, the potential to go back to the norm depletes.  Humanity can go far if it only works together to preserve and aid each other.