Grapes of Wrath Chapters 14, 15, and 16

Both Chapter 14 and 15 are short history referencing stories. The pattern from the first 11 chapters seems to no longer be true since this is twice now that there was a double dose of historical information in the form of telling about life during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. Oh well. I guess Steinbeck couldn't have split a Joad narrating chapter in half or even unequally to continue with the pattern. Apparently John Steinbeck didn't have OCD like I do.

I really enjoyed reading Chapter 15. The diner alongside Route 66 and its inhabitants had a really interesting story. Both the customers and the employees have to make a living and feed their family. But for each side to do so, someone gets cheated. The way that the waitress Mae starts off as a hard person who has to make a living for herself regardless if another family starves, then turns into a caring person who gives two little boys candy that was worth ten cents, but she gave the candy to them for a penny anyway. Her transformation is a reassuring one that gives hope to traveling families that not everyone is cruel and heartless like the banks.

Chapter 16 was back to the Joads' tale. There was two things that got to me in this chapter. One being the one eyed man and the other was the ragged man whose two children and wife starved to death. At the "wrecking yard" next to a service station, a man with one eye was working when Tom and Al came looking for car parts. Now I wouldn't have a problem with the man's one eyed-ness, except for the fact that he doesn't wear an eye patch or attempt to cover the eye socket in anyway whatsoever. That is gross and I have no doubt that he isn't getting any girls (Steinbeck 179). If he at least covered the missing eye then he could have played the Nick Fury battle scarred eye card to get the ladies, not sulk and not even try to cover up the eye sore (haha that is punny), then complain about his love life. The ragged man's story bothered me. I understand that he couldn't find work and his family starved. But why is he still alive? First, if I saw my children and spouse die in front of me because I couldn't provide them food, then I would probably die of grief and guilt. Second, there would be a good chance that if 75% of my family died, I would be starving to death also. Unless I was holding out on them, but I don't think the ragged man did that. No father could do that to their child. So my problem is the fact that the ragged man is alive. He should have starved with his family. How and why did he survive?

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.