P3+JJohnston

  JJohnston 4/19/08  //The Grapes of Wrath // Synthesis Essay

In the novel, //The Grapes of Wrath// by John Steinbeck, farmers during the Great Depression are depicted trying to move West to survive. Throughout their journey, the farmers are met with many troubles and injustices. An individual should confront injustices that are done to them if the confrontation benefits the individual, but the individual should not confront injustices when confronting them makes things worse for the individual. Sometimes, the individual must do an injustice to survive.

An individual should confront an injustice when it provides benefit to the person instead of making the situation worse. In the beginning of //The Grapes of Wrath//, the farmers are being forced to move off of their land by the bank. The farmers had built their houses with their own two hands and took care of the land for years, and now they were being forced to move because the bank wanted the land to make money for itself. This is an example of an injustice the farmers should stand up for. One farmer stated, “But where does it stop? Who can we shoot? I don’t aim to starve to death before I kill the man that’s starving me.” (Ch. 5.) This farmer stood up for himself against the injustice that he felt was being done to him by the bank. He was willing to take another man’s life to keep his land. Standing up for his farm gives him a chance to keep it, but if he just obeyed orders, there would be no chance. Another example is when one of the migrants is cheated on his car repairs. He stood up for himself by saying, “You did see it, you son-of-a-bitch. You wanta charge us four bucks for a busted casing. I’d like to take a sock at you.” (Ch. 12.) By arguing to the mechanic that he lied, he got a price decrease for his auto repairs. When he confronted this injustice, he benefited by saving money when he was already broke. In the article, “Homeless: Expose the Myths” by Joseph Perkins, Perkins reveals the truth about homeless people. He reveals that most of them are mentally disabled or suffer from some sort of dysfunction. Perkins stands up for the homeless people by saying, “If we really wanted to help the homeless, we would pay far more attention to their mental health and substance abuse problems.” (“Homeless: Expose the Myths”.) Perkins stands up for the homeless because he thinks it is the right thing to do. Although this action wouldn’t benefit Perkins with material things, it would benefit him with the knowledge that he is doing something that will hopefully change some lives.

An individual should not confront injustices if it would get the individual into more trouble. At a car dealership, one of the salesmen stated, “I heard that Chevvy’s rear end. Sounds like bustin’ bottles. Squirt in a couple quarts of sawdust. Put some in the gears, too. We got to move that lemon for thirty-five dollars.” (Ch. 7.) Although the crooked salesman is doing a great injustice to his customers, the price is lower and many can’t afford anything nicer. If the customers confront the injustice, they might end up having no car to move West with. The car still works and it is cheaper, so the injustice should not be confronted. When the farmers were selling all of their possessions, they were also being cheated out of good prices for them. When one farmer was selling his belongings, the conversation went, “How much? Ten dollars? For both? And the wagon --- Oh, Jesus Christ! I’d shoot ‘em for dog feed first. Oh, take ‘em! Take ‘em quick mister.” (Ch. 9.) The farmer was in no position to confront this injustice because then he might not have received any money at all. He desperately needed the money and he didn’t know if he would get a better price. In the editorial, “The Ways We Lie” by Stephanie Ericsson, she stated, “I once tried going a whole week without telling a lie, and it was paralyzing. I discovered that telling the truth all the time is nearly impossible. It means living with some serious consequences.” (“The Ways We Lie”.) Ericsson explains that even though lying is an injustice to some people, they shouldn’t confront it because it could make things worse. The truth could create more problems and people could get hurt. Sometimes injustices are necessary to keep everybody happy.

Sometimes an individual must do an injustice to survive. During the Great Depression, many had to do whatever they could to get by, even if it meant breaking the law. “Huddled under shed, lying in wet hay, the hunger and the fear bred anger. Then boys went out, not to beg, but to steal; and men went out weakly, to try to steal.” (Ch. 29.) Some people had such a hard time during the Great Depression, they had to resort to stealing to get the necessities they needed to survive such as food and clothes. Performing an injustice in this case stealing, was necessary for survival. In the modern world, some individuals have to do injustices to get by at times. In the expose “On Dumpster Diving” by Lars Eighner, he explains how scavenging for food in dumpsters is necessary for homeless people to get food. The reason that going through dumpsters is an injustice is because, “Dumpsters contain bank statements, correspondence, and other documents.” (“On Dumpster Diving”.) In most cities, it is against the law. It is considered private property. People throw away some personal things that they don’t want other people to look at. Even so, the homeless need the food in the dumpster to survive, so they must do this injustice of looking at other people’s private things.

Overall, an individual should confront injustices if it is beneficial to them, but they shouldn’t have a confrontation if it makes matters worse. Sometimes people perform an injustice as a matter of survival. Sometimes these injustices are unfair, but it is survival of the fittest in this competitive world. Bibliography
 * · Steinbeck, John. __The Grapes of Wrath__. New York: Penguin Group, 2002.
 * · Perkins, Joseph. "Homeless: Expose the Myths." <[|http://aplangcalendar07-08.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/Homeless-Expose+the+Myths.pdf>.]
 * · Eighner, Lars. "On Dumpster Diving." <[|http://www1.broward.edu/~nplakcy/docs/dumpster_diving.htm>.
 * Ericsson, Stephanie. "The Ways We Lie." .
 * Ericsson, Stephanie. "The Ways We Lie." .

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