The Grapes of Wrath
The Great Depression of the 1930’s in the United States is known as a dreadful time in history where millions of people were without work and barely able to survive. For the farmers in Oklahoma and Midwestern states conditions were even worse because of a drought that lasted so long and was so severe it became known as the Dust Bowl. The drought made it impossible for farmers to harvest their crops and make a living, which made them unable to pay their mortgage, and were soon forced off their land. In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck uses the theme of inhumanity and dehumanization to reveal the immense amount of pain and suffering the Joad family experienced at the hands of the banks, state police, rich landowners, and labor industries. With no help from the government or any prospects for the future the Joad family is at a loss of what to do and where to go. Their only option is to move to California where they’re told they will be able find work and hopefully be able to start a new life.
The Joads are being forced off the land they have spent their whole lives farming and home place they have ever known. When the bank send tractors out to plow down the Joad’s farm as well as all the surrounding farms, Steinbeck demonstrates how devastating and hurtful this is to the farmers as compared to how indifferent it is to the landowners. Steinbeck describes the ugliness of the scene, “The tractors came over the roads...great crawlers moving like insects...Snub nosed monsters sticking their snouts into it... across the country, through fences, through dooryards...The man sitting in the iron seat did not look like a man; gloved, goggled...part of the monster, a robot in the seat.” (Steinbeck 35) The Joads do not understand how the “monsters’ who are behind the person driving the tractor can be so insensitive and unconcerned in not realizing how much their land and home means to them.
One way in which the Joads and all of the families coming from Oklahoma are dehumanized is the demeaning way the inhabitants talk about them. When Tom and his family are leaving to cross the desert they stop at a service station and Tom is having a conversation with a man who works there. When Tom is no more than out the door the man exclaims, “Them goddamn Okies got no sense and no feeling. They ain’t human...A human being wouldn’t live like they do… couldn’t stand to be so dirty and miserable…ain’t a hell of a lot better than gorillas.” (Steinbeck 221 )
There are more examples of dehumanizing behavior that occur throughout the Joads’ journey to California. They face many hardships with the breakdown of their truck, and the constant worry if there will be enough water, food and money to reach their destination. If this isn’t enough, they are further discouraged when they meet two men on their way back from California. The men explain how the country is so beautiful, but the people there are not and refer to the migrant farmer coming to California as an “Okie.” When Tom asks what an Okie is the man exclaims, “Well, Okie use’ ta mean you was from Oklahoma. Now it means you’re a dirty son-of-a-bitch. Okie means you’re scum. Don’t mean nothing itself, it’s the way they say it.” (Steinbeck 205 - 206) This is only first instance where the Joads’ encounter the derogatory term. When the family finally arrives in California and stops to set up camp by the Colorado River, the men leave to go to clean up while Ma and Rosasharn are left by themselves. A sheriff approaches Ma and questions why they are there and where did they come from. Ma is very angry and advances towards him with her skillet. As the sheriff moves a couple steps back he exclaims, “Well, you ain’t in our country now. You’re in California, an’ we don’t want you goddamn Okies settlin’ down.” (Steinbeck 214) Ma is puzzled by the word “Okie” and as she repeats the word softly to herself she becomes painfully aware the people in California despise them and do not want them there. They have traveled all this way with hopes of finding work or maybe a piece of land to farm and eventually a home where they can settle down. Instead they are met with anger and hatred and little chance of finding any kind of work no matter how willing and eager they are to do so.
With the thousands of immigrant workers flooding into California the unscrupulous landowners see a great opportunity to hire workers for very low wages. The Joads have been driving for a long time, are weary and tired and decide to stop for the night alongside a camp where several families have already settled in. Tom says they might as well see what they can find out about where the work is at. Tom and Al meet a man named Floyd, who explains how crooked and underhanded the police are. Floyd explains they will put anyone in jail or even kill anyone who