Grapes of Wrath Chapters 21 and 23

It seems that a pattern is back! The past eight chapters have been alternating between the Joads and anecdotes about the time period that Grapes of Wrath is set in. Maybe John Steinbeck just slipped up for a couple of chapters in the middle of the book. But as long as the pattern is back, then I am happy (I guess that this shouldn't bother me too bad, but it does and I hope that the rest of the book alternates narration or I will be upset again).

Chapter 21 showed that the banks and great corporations did themselves in by being too greedy. By creating the canneries and lowering the price of the fruit so the farmers don't make a profit, the corporations are killing people. The farmers in California can't maintain their farms and have to turn the land over to the bankers, therefore becoming an "Okie" and they have to look for work. But because there are so many people looking for work, wages are ridiculously low. So if the farmers do find work, they are not making enough money to buy food for their starving family. So because of the bank's greed, people are starving and dieing. If the banks and corporations would have gotten together and worked out some sort of system so wages went up, food prices went down, and everyone had jobs (or something better than the current system) instead of just worrying about making a profit for themselves, then everything would have been fine. But noooo. They were to selfish.

Chapter 23, another little historical story, was a happy little chapter. People who taught themselves how to play the guitar, the fiddle, and the harmonica were entertaining other people in their camp. By spreading the good feeling that comes with music, the morale went up. Young men danced with young women and everyone was happy. I excepted something bad to happen like police coming in and killing someone, or to burn the camp down. But nothing bad happened! Yay for the migrant Okies for catching a break! Unless they found work, these former farmers had been down on their luck ever since the banks repossessed their land.

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