Grapes of Wrath

17 Pages 4126 Words

ership. The property controls the man and he becomes the servant of the land.
For Tom Joad the behavior of the bank employees was largely excusable. They were "caught in something larger than themselves," controlled by the mathematics of bank operations and slaves to the company that fed their families. The situation that the bank poses for the farmers leaves them no options. They cannot defend the land, for they would be murdering men who are not responsible for their fate. They can only leave. The tractor drivers face a similar situation. Despite the consequences to others, they have to work somehow to feed their families. They are not responsible for what they do, for they are controlled by larger forces.


By the 1930's, thirteen million workers lost their jobs, about 25 percent of all workers. The blacks and unskilled workers were always the first to be fired. Farmers had no money and weren't capable of paying their mortgages. The banks and loan officers had no choice but to repossess the farmers land leaving them with virtuall...