Two Questions to Ponder

Casy’s death and the final chapter with Rose of Sharon epitomize the entire theme of the novel: mankind should help one-another for the interest of the common good. Casy gives his life while trying to get higher wages for workers on strike, and Rose of Sharon breast feeds the starving boy in the barn. These are powerful symbols. They show that self-sacrifice benefits the common-wealth.

I believe one of the most important facts I have learned about people in this book deals with discrimination. Everyone discriminates (not only in a racial sense, but also in a geographical sense). In the book, this is most prevalent in the Californian’s treatment of the migrants. They call them slang names such as “Okies” and treat them with bias and hostility. At one point, a gas station attendant even makes the claim that “Okies” aren’t humans.

The sad truth is though, everyone discriminates. Like the Californians presented in The Grapes of Wrath, when we hear someone with a foreign accent or see a homeless man on the street, we have preconceived notions about those people.