The Grapes of Wrath
...oranges, and the people who have come to take the fruit are angry at the crime, angry at the people who have come to take the fruit. A million people hungry, needing the fruit and the kerosene sprayed over the golden mountains. And the smell of rot fills the country. Burn coffee for fuel in ships. Burn corn to keep warm, it makes a hot fire. Dump potatoes in the river and place guards along the banks to keep hungry people from fishing them out. Slaughter the pigs and bury them, and let the putrescence drip down to the earth…” (pg.476-477) Americans, and humans in general, are selfish. Another example of man’s inhumanity to man is the way that the people who were not struggling drove the wages down so that those who were had it even worse. The land owners know that if people get hungry enough they will work for practically nothing. If there are one hundred starving families and only enough jobs for fifty the men will work for only a few cents an hour. “When there was work for a man, ten men fought for it – fought with a low wage. If that fella’ll work for thirty cents, I’ll work for twenty-five. If he’ll take twenty-five, I’ll do it for twenty. No, me, I’m hungry. I’ll work for fifteen. I’ll work for food. The kids. You ought to see them. Little boils, like, comin’ out, an’ they can’t run aroun’. Give ‘em some windfall fruit an’ they bloated up. Me. I’ll work for a little piece of meat. And this was good, for the wages went down and the prices stayed up. The great owners were glad and they sent out more handbills to bring more people in. And the wages went down and the prices stayed up.” (pg. 386-387) Some of this hatred was brought about from people being scared. Everyone was afraid of these hungry people who would do so much for so little. What will happen to all of the jobs. Will all of the foreigners get the jobs and run the Californians out of the state? “The clerk thought, I get fifteen dollars a week. S’pose a goddamn Okie would work for twelve?” (pg. 386) This kind of treatment cannot really be blamed on anyone. You could blame it on the natives of California but they were driven by fright. You could blame it on the farm owners in the mid-west but they did nothing wrong except buy tractors. You could blame it on the inventor of the tractor but all he wanted was a little money. There is really no blame to be put on anyone. It is just the way humans are. All we think about is ourselves. If it happens again, where the stock market crashes, and the United States goes into a depression, wi...