Grapes of Wrath Chapters 27, 28, and 29

The cotton weighing dilemma of Chapter 27 is a very hard one to solve without trust and faith in people. The scale man fixes his scale, but the worker puts rocks in his bag. Both are trying to gain something for themselves, but really cancel each other out in the long run. If the scale men and the workers had faith in each other to do the right thing and and be truthful and honest about their jobs, then the accusations and the anger will stop and everyone can be happy and enjoy their jobs. I know that will never happen, but it is a nice thought to have.

In the next chapter a bad thing happens. It was only a matter of time too, but regardless it happened. Tom was ratted out by his youngest sister. Ruthie didn't to it intentionally and I believe that, but she still told. Now Tom has to separate from the family (58% of the original party remaining now) in order to protect them. When Ma asked what was he going to do, Tom replied, "What Casy done." (Steinbeck 419) So I guess Tom is going to try his hand at being a rebellious priest. Then a decision set the scene for a bad event. Rose of Sharon is very pregnant and wants to pick cotton, which is hard labor. That has to mess up the baby, especially when she won't have a doctor at the delivery. After they come back from cotton picking Rosasharn develops a chill with "violent shivers" (Steinbeck 430) which proves that she should have listen to her mother and stayed at home and rested.

The last little bit of Chapter 29 when the women sigh in relief when the men haven't broke because their "fear could always turn to wrath" (Steinbeck 435) was a very nice homage to the title. The little grapes that continue growing in the mens' souls are fed by wrath, and fuel the fire that keeps them going. Without someone to direct the fury at, the men would have gone crazy, but the banks and corporations aren't going anywhere. The men will never break as long as someone exists to have anger directed at.

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