Grapes of Wrath

There are many causes, gains, and losses in the plot of Grapes of Wrath. First of all, the cause of the entire conflict was the bank and the people who ran it. Even though it is said that the people had nothing to do with it because the bank was a monster out of control, the big businessmen who started it are still at fault. They just did not want to take the blame. Because the dust, the heat, and the dry weather killed off all of the farmers crops, the farmers were not able to pay the people who own the land. The bank is described as a monster, and the monster makes the people use tractors and force the farmers and their families off the land. Because all of the families were moving to California, the work becomes scarce and many people suffer. Without the unforgiving bank or the mindless tractor, the farmers could have stayed on their land and not overcrowded California. I do no think there were many gains in the story of Grapes of Wrath. The only individuals who gained anything were the rich farm owners who lived in California. They could hire has much help as they wanted since all of the farmers, now migrants, were so desperate for work and money. The more that were hired, the less the owners could pay the migrants. Thus, they would receive more out of their profit because they spent less money on the help. In my opinion, the only thing the migrants gained was the knowledge of how big business worked, and knowing that the bank was unfeeling and uncaring towards their crisis. The losses of this novel greatly outnumber the gains. The farmers lost everything. The tractors destroyed their homes and their farms, which was their complete and only way of life. Losing their farms meant losing the only source of money, a source of food, and a place to live. Since the farmers were kicked off of their land, they were forced to move to California to search for work. In the golden state, they lost their jobs. Aside from losing physical things, the farmers also lost their dignity when the Californians called them "Okies" and treated them like animals.

Steinbeck, John, and Robert J. DeMott. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006.