P4+UKeenawinna

Injustice is termed as how society opposed what is known to be good. In John Steinbeck’s novel //Grapes of Wrath,// Steinbeck shows us how society conforms to what they are advised to do. When an individual is willing to change, society is willing to follow. Within society however, there are few individuals who move outside the norm and go against society’s ideals. //Grapes of Wrath// is a story of how society deals with the Great Depression and the hardships they are faced with. When the families are kicked off of their land, they do not expect to see an individual who was once a part of their society, kick them off the land (Chapter 6). Since that individual was willing to fight against the tide of hate, he ended up getting a job that would benefit him in the long run. He ran against society’s ideal thought of what normalcy would look like. In a way, the individual did not go by his own rules. “But where does it stop? Who can we shoot? (Ch. 6)” are questions that go through everyone minds during the Great Depression. People followed other people; the individual went outside his society’s norm, but he followed the society of the bank. In a way, the individual did not stand up for himself and the city he was raised in. In chapter nine of //Grapes of Wrath//, families are discussing their trip to the west. “Maybe we can start again, in the new rich land- in California, where the fruit grows. We’ll start over. (Ch. 9)” If one of the family members, or one of societies noted figures, take the plunge to move further into California, the entire group of people they are closely associated with will move with them. People are willing to start over in a chance to make their lives better. “And some day- the armies of bitterness will all be going the same way. And they’ll all walk together, and there’ll be a dead terror from it. (Ch. 9)” This shows the symbolism behind everybody following everybody. Once everyone has the same emotions and problems, they all follow the same path to redemption. It shows the difference between people and how as a society, people are afraid of breaking away from the pack and forming their own opinions and ideals. Chapter 12 is the beginning of the journey to California along Highway 66. Gas stations regale the travelers with stories of other travelers that pass by. “I seen forty-two cars a you fellas go by yesterday. Where you all come from? Where all of you goin’? Well, California’s a big State. (Ch. 12)” Everybody follows the wave of people, thinking that the idea of going to California is their own. They all have the same problems so they choose to follow the crowd towards salvation. Also the fact that everyone’s initial thought is that California is a big state and society can get everything that they want. “…here’s a story you can hardly believe… a family of twelve…were forced off the land,…no car… pulled…to the side of 66 and waited… a sedan picked them up…man who pulled them fed them…how can such courage be and such faith on their own species? Very few things would teach such faith. (Ch. 12)” The man that picked up the people on the side of the 66, showed society a side of humanity that most people do not get to see. The individual went outside society’s norm and forged his own path. The faith that the individual showed the family was almost unbelievable, because that is not acknowledged as much as other things. The families who moved and now thought of as migrants, in chapter twenty-one, are faced with all kinds of hardships; the struggle to get to California and the harsh realities of what the state really had to offer. “And then suddenly the machines pushed them out and they swarmed on the highways. The movement changed them; the highways, the camps along the road, the fear of hunger and the hunger itself changed them. (Ch. 21)” The movement was so radical that people expected change, but not as harsh as the change that they received. They were faced with bitterness with every passing of the mile on the 66. When one person left and affected something, everyone else in society followed and wanted to affect something in turn as well. “And the migrants streamed in on the highways and their hunger was in their eyes, and their need was in their eyes. (Ch. 21)” The individuals wanted everything that they needed and they needed everything they wanted. They were willing to change, as a society, to gain their needs which in turn caused a revolution of difference. In chapter seventeen, the stories of the families that began camps and went into camps, is told through the eyes of everyone affected by it. “In the evening, a strange thing happened: the twenty families became one family, the children were the children of all. The loss of home became one loss, and the golden time in the West was one dream…In the evening, sitting about the fires, the twenty were one. (Ch. 17)” People bonded through the time of poverty. Through that time, they showed that their spirit could not be disbanded and so they “unionized”. People linked together, because as a whole they could affect the people around them. “There grew up government in the worlds, with leaders, with elders. A man…found that his wisdom was needed in every camp ;( Ch. 17)” People ended up forming their own government because with the rules that they set forth, they would not be hindered. The form of government that society set up was more apt to follow what society want. It went into their problems and followed what the people had to follow. In Barbara Lazear Ascher “On Compassion”, Ascher talks about how people’s emotions play off on their acts of “compassion”. “ She finds what she’s looking for and passes a folded dollar…The mother grows impatient and pushes the stroller before her, bearing the dollar like a cross…Was it fear or compassion that motivated the gift?” The woman is an individual who is offering money to the man because it is what society expects of her. When a homeless individual comes up to a person, the person is expected to donate money to the homeless, because it is to be in God’s good graces. She may also do this because it is what she wants people to think of her as. She wants people to see her as a good citizen that wants to be part of high society. “Twice I have witnessed this, and twice I have wondered, what compels this woman to feed this man? Pity? Care? Compassion?... They chase the homeless from their midst with expletives and threats.” Again the woman is giving the homeless an offering because it is what is expected of her. If she chose not to give it to her, the patrons of her shop might see her as an offensive individual, rather than an owner pushing away bad business. In the end, she does it because it is what is needed, and she follows society during this entire time. She does not look away from society’s expectations of her. "Civil Disobedience 2" by Henry David Thoreau is an article in a series of articles that talk about the history of the U.S. and how events can interfere in the life of society. Individuals are to have the same rights as society, yet society always wins the upper hand. As in the text below, Thoreau talks about the government and how it belittles individuals and their ideals. “Why do they not dissolve it themselves — the union between themselves and the State — and refuse to pay their quota into its treasury? Do not they stand in the same relation to the State, that the State does to the Union?” In likelihood to Steinbeck’s //Grapes of Wrath,// Thoreau’s understanding of the human nature is that the individual is beaten down by the government and so is not allowed to follow his own ideals. Thoreau believes that once people have stood up and fought for themselves, they will be treated with the same respect that society, as a whole, is treated with. “…Abolitionists should…withdraw their support…if they have God on their side... Moreover, any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one already.” Thoreau believes that people who have faith in God are more likely to lead people into a revolution. They are the ones that are willing to risk all of their refinements in society, to get what they want. This is what Thoreau and Steinbeck all believe in.

I n "The Ways We Lie" by Stephanie Ericsson, the ways that society proves to be itself is self-evident in how people are perceived. When someone lies, all of society follows it; there is no reason as to why it should not be believed. “I once asked my five-year-old nephew, "Who broke the fence?" (I had seen him do it.) He answered, "The murderers." Who could argue?” Even at a young age, people are more likely to follow what society has portrayed for the younger crowd. With the lies that come so easily to the youth, individuals are no longer safe in what they want to say. They could just be deemed a liar by society. "When I put on a suit to go to see a client, I feel as though I am putting on another face, obeying the expectation that serious businesspeople wear suits rather than sweatpants." Society puts up another face when they are faced with individuals who look up to them. It happens to all of society; since they all follow the way each other move. They do not try to move away from the way society asks them to be. They do not veer away from the ideals of society. With the enthusiasm to commit change, an individual can modify society’s ideals to their own. Society is willing to change, if that is what is called for of them. Going against society’s ideals is how an individual confronts injustice.