Book Report: Grapes of Wrath

Well, movie report. I saw the Grapes of Wrath last night with Henry Fonda. I was in the retarded English class in high school so this was my first exposure to the story. Being set in the Great Depression, this one contrasts nicely with Lord of the Flies. It is similar in that it speculates on the nature of man, but is many orders of magnitude bolder in its approach - having the courage to propose our nature within a historical setting, which will inevitably be studied and understood with greater accuracy in the future. That shouldn't, however, distract from the desperate circumstances the Joads were exposed to, which, by all accounts, were understated by Steinbeck for the sake of clarity. What can we learn from the Grapes of Wrath story, and how do we interpret it today given the wealth of information available to us on the subject.

Tom Joad is released from prison on parole after four years (for manslaughter) and meets Jim Casy, a former preacher Tom remembers from his childhood. Unsure of himself and the circumstances Jim no longer feels qualified preach. Together they walk to Tom's childhood home a few miles away to discover it abandoned, so they continue to his uncle John's place a few miles away. Tom finds his family's farm has been ravaged by the dust bowl and repossessed. Forced off their land, the family has packed a truck with all their belongings. All of their hopes are staked on California, where they hear there is work for grape pickers.

Along the way they meet crowds of others forced of their land who are also seeking a better life in California, responding to the same advertisement. They hear the need for pickers is a myth - that too many adds were printed. Grandma and grandpa die on the way. Still, they have no choice but to continue.

Upon their arrival they find no work. Indeed, many others had seen similar adds and flooded California in desperation. With oversupply of labor, the corporate farmers are able to hire workers for pennies on the dollar. Conditions are terrible. When the workers form a union and strike, violence erupts causing Jim's death and Tom to kill again. Tom escapes, but is now an outlaw easily discernible by a scar on his face.

The family finds better conditions on a government resettlement camp, but it is underfunded and incapable of providing for all the needy. Being a fugitive, Tom is hunted by the law and must flee to protect the family. He promises to be a tireless advocate for the oppressed.

It the book, according to Wikipedia, Tom's pregnant sister breast feeds a starving man in the book's only non-futile act, showing hope in humanity. (This was not in the movie.)

Okay, so you get the jist. Fortunately, being a tireless advocate for the oppressed, many others have continued along Tom's path and we now know the cause of the Great Depression, and thus the main factors contributing to the oppression.

Whether you side with those giving the Monitarist explanation or the Austrian School's explanation, public debt and policies of the U.S. Government and Federal Reserve encouraged the recession to spiral into a depression. Roosevelt's New Deal prompted an increase in corporate taxes, which starved employers for cash, limiting employment and raising prices. Irresponsible borrowing followed by empty promises from well-intentioned but short-sighted (vote hungry) politicians turned a recession into massive economic turmoil. Of course, the result was an outcry from the people for help, followed by more action that had an even greater destructive effect.

It is possible that the Joad's were forced from their property from real "act of God" strife. A natural disaster such as the dust bowl can have serious consequences, and there is no doubt individuals suffered great hardships. But a nation-wide economic disaster was not a result of the dust bowl, nor was it a direct result of the stock market crash. It was the result of abuses of power, misguided economic meddling, and government involvement by individuals who couldn't have imagined the terrible consequences of their actions.

Regarding the Great Depression. You're right, we did it. We're very sorry. But thanks to you, we won't do it again.
-Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to Milton Friedman on Friedman's 90th birthday

Fortunately, we now have a historical textbook case to demonstrate how an economy is destroyed. We also know Grapes of Wrath is a part of the curriculum of many school districts. In High Schools across America, I sincerely hope the book is discussed within its historical context, as a cautionary tale to our young people in order to prevent the conditions that opened the door for such oppression. There is reason to suspect otherwise.

As for Steinbeck, ending the book with the woman breast feeding a starving man is a relief to me (as I really like Steinbeck). It demonstrates the amazing capacity for individuals to help one another when given a chance to do so - even under the most awful conditions. As the book says, the people will go on. I believe we will, despite the invisible powers that continue to bleed us of our prosperity. We will not fail because of our inexhaustible compassion for one another as individuals.