P3+TAndrews

**__Grapes of Wrath Synthesis Essay__**
The question of what is right and what is wrong is an often question brought up in society. In the novel The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and the series of Civil Disobedience by Henry Thoreau, the role of the individual is instructed. According to the text it is the individual’s responsibility to decide for himself what is right and what is wrong according his morals values. It is the individual’s role to confront injustice when he is involved. It is also the individual’s role to protect himself, his family and his neighbors from injustice.

In the novel The Grapes of Wrath the farmers are being cheated by the government. I was the farmers’ role as an individual to confront the government about the injustice. "If you are cheated out of a single dollar by your neighbor… you take effectual steps at once to obtain the full amount, and see that you are never cheated again.” (Civil Disobedience Part 2) Thoreau in Civil Disobedience Part 2 is emphasizing the individual’s role if something is being done to him that he knows is wrong. The individual most take action and make sure the wrong is never put on to him again. The individual also has the role to stand up for himself at a time when he is being challenged or tested. "Fifty cents isn't enough to get for a good plow. That seeder cost 38 dollars. $2 isn't enough. Can't haul it back-- Well, take it, and bitterness with it."(Pg. 86 the Grapes of Wrath) The farmer in the novel is being cheated out of money that he disserves. He has the role to stand up for himself because he knows that he is being cheated out of his money and that is an injustice. The farmer knows that the act being played on him is wrong there for he should have done something. If something is bothering an individual it is the individual’s duty to fight against the action that is wrong and save himself. "…in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy..." (pg 363 The Grapes of Wrath) The farmers were being suppressed in the novel and the anger was just building up inside of them. If the farmers would have taken action against what was bothering them then they would be so mad and they could be thinking more clearly on what needed to be done to save their family and their farm. Finally, in a time of need a man needs to ask his neighbor for help. When one is have troubles if he can call upon his neighbor then things can be fixed and worked put a lot faster. “The granaries were full and the children of the poor grew up rachitic, and the pustules of pellagra swelled on their sides.” (Ch. 21 The Grapes of Wrath) If the farmers and the sick would ask for help from others the chance that something could have been done is great. The children were so sick and it was causing the trip for the family to be very difficult. The individual the individual has the duty to call upon his neighbor and ask for help in a time of need. The individuals in The Grapes of Wrath needed to unite to be a stronger group fight against what was being done against them.

The individual needs to decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong. The individual has the role to fight for what they believe is right and wrong. In Civil Disobedience Part 1, Thoreau states, “Some are petitioning the State to dissolve the Union, to disregard the requisitions of the President. Why do they not dissolve it themselves — the union between themselves and the State — and refuse to pay their quota into its treasury?” The writer is saying if you don’t agree with something you must stand up for yourself and what you believe in order to get your point across. In this case Thoreau is stating that he didn’t believe what the government was doing with tax money was right so he didn’t pay his taxes. This shows how it is the individual’s role to stand up for what he believes in. Although it is easier for one act in a large group so that his views are taken more seriously. The farmers needed to join together and fight against the government that was oppressing them. “For the quality of owning freezes you forever into ‘I,’ and cuts you off from the ‘we.’” (pg. 152The Grapes of Wrath) The farmers needed to form Unions in order to fulfill the role that they morally had. The farmers would have been much stronger as a large group then as an individual. The government had the role to not interfere with the farmers. If there was no interference then the problems would probably not have been too harsh and the farmers would not have been so suppressed. Thoreau states is Civil Disobedience Part 1, “That government is best which governs least.” This is a very good point because it shows that it is the government’s role to let the individual choose what is right and wrong, not to interfere. The government in The Grapes of Wrath thought, "...because the food must rot, must be forced to rot" (pg 363 The Grapes of Wrath.) The government felt that if the people were gong to do something then they were going to have to be forced to take this action. When really it is the individual’s duty to make decisions for himself, not do the action that was forced upon him by the government.

According to The Grapes of Wrath and the series of Civil Disobedience it is the individual’s responsibility to decide for himself what is right and what is wrong according his morals values. It is the individual’s role to confront injustice when he is involved. It is also the individual’s role to protect himself, his family and his neighbors from injustice. The individual ultimately has to make the decision for himself but the decision he makes will affect the outcome of his life.