Eighth Discussion Question for Grapes of Wrath

The novel reflects upon events in history very well. Steinbeck visited migrant camps in California (Naylor) which riled him up him up to write this novel. I feel like it was an accomplishment, as I would imagine the other owners of the 15 million other copies of Grapes of Wrath also felt (Steinbeck xi). Also The Grapes of Wrath ranks seven spots ahead of The Old Man and the Sea in the top 50 bestselling classic British and American novels (Steinbeck xi). Anyways... Steinbeck put in the time and in return his novel was a bestselling book and the source of much controversy, which should be the goal for a book. If there isn't any controversy that means either not very many people know about the book, or no one cares enough to argue about it. The more discussion about a book, the more people care enough to put for the effort to argue points of a book and analyze it to the point of double and implied meanings and all sorts of crazy stuff that critics talk about.

The responsibility of respect and kindness from one man to another is and the responsibility between the rich and the poor are two of the groups in society that Steinbeck addresses. At the diner on Route 66 Mae helps out a poor father by selling him candy for his children two for a penny, when really they should be one for a nickel (Steinbeck 160-161). She is kind to her fellow man. She has steady work and makes enough money to buy herself food and I assume she has some kind of house that she lives in. The man and his family are living in their truck and whatever camps they find as they look for work. Mae is a great example of helping out her fellow man. But in the book, the relationship between poor and rich men is not the same happy and kind one as Mae and the family. The corporations and the land owners are cheating the migrants out of pay (Steinbeck 384) and lowering and raising the prices at their whim. Instead of aiding the starving people and helping them find their footing, the rich are allowing the poor to die when they could have been helped.

Naylor, Brian. "The Grapes of Wrath." National Public Radio. NPR, 25 Feb. 2002. Web. 05 Aug. 2011.

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