Blog #25: The Grapes of Wrath

Woah, We're halfway there; whoa-oh livin' on a prayer! (:

Okay, back to The Grapes of Wrath! When I begin to plan what I am going to write this blog about, I keep thinking back to the previous blog post about the behavior and the social issues of the time period. I think that this book was much more historically accurate than The Old Man and the Sea! I actually could follow the historical connection between the reality and the fictional story line. I think that the accuracy of the historical elements throughout the story made the book much more interesting. The author, John Steinbeck, obviously wants to show the social structure in the population. He thinks that it is important to show how the migrating farmers were treated during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. I noticed in chapter twenty-seven "Sack's full now...Argue. Scale man says you got rocks to make weight. How bout him? His scales fixed." (Steinbeck 407) This show the relationship between the workers and the bosses. It is absolutely ridiculous that the bosses use the migrant workers for all they can get. They put up the signs to advertise the work in the cotton fields and the wages are decent, but they are going to make the workers pay for the bags to collect the cotton?! I think that is absurd! Even at that they are still going to abuse the workers by rigging the scales so they do not weight correctly. I do see the fact that the workers are putting the rocks in the bags because they need the money. They are not simply doing this to upset the bosses or try to abuse them, they actually need the money to live. I am very glad that in today's business there are laws and other rules to keep the employers in line. I sympathize the migrating workers who were not treated fairly, but I also realize that they tried to cheat the system which do not make me very proud of them.

Bon Jovi, Jon, Richie Sambora, and Desmond Child. "Livin on a Prayer." Slippery When Wet. Bon Jovi. 1986.

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. NY: Penguin, 1939. Print.