Grapes of Wrath

17 Pages 4126 Words

e crops and farm products than could be sold at reasonable prices. As a result they made a very little profit from their only way of livelihood. With very little profit, farmers could not afford to buy expensive machinery that would allow them to produce higher quantities for lower prices.

As an attempt to stimulate the economy, banks implemented an installment plan that enabled Americans with little money to buy goods or services that were needed. The installment enabled people to buy products on credit and make monthly payments. The one major problem with this idea was that people soon found out that they couldn't afford to make the monthly payment. Banks began to seize property and drive people from their homes. As in the Joads case they were driven from the land that they lived and died on for 70 years. In 1929 the stock market crashed. People sold their stocks at a fast pace, they were no longer confident in the American economy. Almost all stock prices dropped to fraction of their value. Banks lost money from the stock market and from Americans that couldn't pay back loans. Many factories lost money and went out of business because of this great tragedy.

The arrival of the bankers was a menacing event for the Joad family. Steinbeck believed that the banks had no redeeming value. They are completely devoid of human characteristics they were monstrosities that "breathe profits" and can never be satiated. Steinbeck explicitly states that bank is inhuman, and the bank owner with fifty thousand acres is a "monster”. The conversation between the tenant farmer and the tractor driver illustrates how dispersed the controlling corporate system was. If a farmer wanted to stop the bank, he could not target one individual or even a small group; even if a farmer murdered the bank president, it would not stop the process of evictions. The people were helpless. It is a personal connection to the land, which determines own...