P4+RArgueta


 * The Power of Unity**

The human individual will always chose what satisfies its hunger needs as well as its mental thirst. When placed in situations where knowledge is vital, the influences around the individual will help quench its thirst, but ultimately the individual, like always, will innately know how to respond to its obstacles. In the Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck hints out to his audience that unity has the power to create change; however society always tends to neglect this empowering truth and ultimately is subject to live in the shadows of others.

In chapter one of the //Grapes of Wrath//, Steinbeck presents the reader with a sense of unity as the people of Oklahoma lived through horrific conditions during the Dust Bowl. “All day the dust sifted down from the sky, and the next day it sifted down. An even blanket covered earth. It settled on the corn, piled up on the tops of the fence posts, piled up on the wires; it settled on roofs, blanketed the weeds and trees” (Ch. 1). As men, women and children watched the dust ruin their cornfields, which were like a golden treasure because of its major source of food, and rise like a wave about to create destruction, they knew that everything would be alright as long as their men remained “whole.” “Women and children knew deep in themselves that no misfortune was too great to bear if their men were whole” (Ch. 1). Long ago it was a custom in society that the man was the leader or head of his family. Here Steinbeck indirectly states that unity is powerful and can withstand any obstacle thrown in its way. In most cases individuals are afraid to go against something they know is wrong, and, here, Steinbeck makes the “man” a leader and becomes a sense of conformity for his family; a leader that would create a unionization of scared individuals in order to be heard. The refusal of ignorant individuals to unite and fight for the right, for what satisfies them, can lead these individuals to unpleasant lives living under the control of others.

As tenant farmers from Oklahoma begin to be kicked off their land by the rich and also by their own people they realized that they needed to migrate westward towards California, the “land of opportunity” according to them. In chapter twelve Steinbeck demonstrates the difficulties the farmers faced in their journey towards the west and how they were subject to live in the shadows of others. As migrants made their way to California on Highway 66, they worried about their vehicles and the dangers of the journey. When the farmers stopped to buy parts for their cars, salesmen tried to cheat them. “We got to get a tire, but, Jesus, they want a lot for a ol’ tire, they look a fella over. They know he got to go on. They know he can’t wait. And the price goes up” (Ch. 12). Steinbeck clearly demonstrates how individuals who were not willing to think about what they were doing and were cheated by the salesmen, therefore lived in the shadows of others, in this case the knowledgeable salesmen. These poor people had no other choice to buy the expensive parts because of their ignorance; their mindset was unchangeable and they were determined to get to their destination even if it costs them their lives. Individuals may try to unite to fight for what’s right, however in order for a unionization to be heard and make an impact the unity has to be amongst a mass of people such as: race, culture, or religion.

Steinbeck’s message that’s implied throughout his whole novel is provided in two different situations in chapter nineteen. First, Steinbeck describes how California once belonged to Mexico but was taken way by hungry American squatters who believed that they owned the land because they farmed it. The second situation is how the descendants of the squatters, who are wealthy farmers, resented the droves of “Okies” flooding into the state because they knew that hungry and impoverished people were a danger to the stability of land ownership. “The town men, little bankers, hated Okies because there was nothing to gain from them. They had nothing. And the laboring people hated Okies because a hungry man must work, and if he must work, if he has to work, the wage payer automatically gives him less for his work; and then no one can get more” (Ch. 19). What would have happened if the Mexicans or the Okies would have decided to unite and fight against the wealthy farmers for the land? There’s only one answer to this issue; Mexicans and Okies, if they would’ve united amongst their people, would’ve been owners of the land or if not been working on them, but being paid with higher wages. A mere voice in a crowd will never be heard, however a voice of a crowd as a whole will be heard by many.

Very similar to chapter nineteen, chapter twenty-five mentions how like the migrants, many small local farmers stood to be ruined by large landowners, who monopolize the industry. Unable to compete with the magnates, small farmers watched their crops wither and their debts rise. “The little farmers watched debt creep up on them like the tide…Only the great owners can survive…” (Ch. 25). Once again Steinbeck implies that people that are not willing to unite will never prosper and live damned and being taken advantage of for the rest of their lives, like many of these people lived. Individuals should be knowledgeable enough to recognize that the only safe and correct way to fight through calamities existent in this world is by support and unionization.

Sometimes individuals live in very difficult circumstances because of disasters mother nature has created and it’s times like these, when it’s no one’s fault, that people must comprehend that unionization, to lift each other’s spirits, is the only way out to safety. In chapter twenty-nine mother nature takes over and rain lashes the land and people are unable to work during the deluge. Rivers overflow, and cars are washed away in the coursing mood. The men are forced to beg and steal food. The women watched the men in apprehension, worried that they might finally see them break. Instead, however, they saw how the men’s fear turned to anger. The women believed that their men would remain strong as long as they would maintain their rage. “They splashed out through the water, to the towns, to the country stores, to the relief offices, to beg for food, to cringe and beg for food, to beg for relief, to try to steal, to lie. And under the begging, and under the cringing, a hopeless anger began to smolder” (Ch. 29). The people must notice, like mentioned before, that it’s during hard times like these that they must unite to be morally strong and to live through such a discouraging stage in one’s life. At times the individual must not only think for himself, but for others as well; this comes into play when uniting to fight for and benefit not oneself, but others in need.

In “Homeless: Expose the Myths,” the author Joseph Perkins presents to his audience on why people go homeless. Perkins believes that people go homeless not because of poverty and that they’re lazy and don’t want to work, but because of mental illness and substance abuse such people live through. Perkins mentions that it’s not economic reform in which people must push for, but for medical rehabilitation in order to help these “lost cases.” “Create jobs program for them. Give them income assistance, offer them day care and health care” (Perkins). Two other editorials that resemble that of Perkins’ are “Homeless” by Anna Quindlen and “On Dumpster Diving” by Lars Eighner. In “Homeless,” Quindlen states that homeless aren’t necessarily homeless because just because “They are people who have no homes. No drawer that holds the spoons. No window to look out upon the world” (Quindlen), doesn’t mean they don’t have a sense of security. Quindlen mentions that a home could be anywhere where the person feels secured and can be themselves such as: a shelter, bench park, street corner, subway station, etc. Eighner, in “On Dumpster Diving,” going on with the subject of homelessness, states how most of his life he lived scavenging in dumpsters in order to survive. He mentions that dumpsters aren’t very bad after all and that they contain many useful objects such as: “Boom boxes, candles, bedding, toilet paper, a virgin male love doll, medicine, books, a typewriter, dishes, furnishing, and change, sometimes amounting to many dollars- I acquired many things from the Dumpsters” (Eighner). Society views homeless as dirty and lazy people when seen searching in dumpsters and begging for money. How is it possible to help these people in need? Day by day individuals see and feel sorry for homeless suffering out in the streets and give them a coin, maybe a dollar to help themselves. Individuals, however, don’t really know if a minimal monetary aid will be positively beneficiary for the homeless or if they’ll just waist it on alcohol or drugs. Many don’t care about these lost and solitary people and instead stereotype the “hobos” as lazy human beings who don’t want to do anything. What individuals should do is stop the nonsense and unite to achieve, of what should be one of the world’s major goal, to help out the ones in need, the homeless, its people.

In conclusion, Steinbeck hints out to his audience that unity has the power to procreate change; however society always tends to neglect this empowering truth and ultimately is subject to live in the shadows of others. The texts included clearly demonstrate how individuals will, most of the time, fail when fighting against the “wrong” for “right” if they lack unionization amongst each other. Individuals must learn to unite in times of trouble and need not only for attaining self benefit, but a benefit for all.

RArgueta Per. 4