The Grapes of Wrath So Far

So I've recently started The Grapes of Wrath because I know the due date will spring up on me and catch me by surprise. But not this time! I'm only on chapter 8 but I still have some ideas and questions so far.

I love how critical Steinbeck is. He uses some really cool similes and comparisons like referring to the banks as monsters and the people who work at the banks as slaves: "These last would take no responsibility for the banks or the companies because they were men and slaves, while the banks were machines and masters all at the same time" (Steinbeck 32). I can definitely see why Congress wanted to ban this book. Steinbeck makes it seem like the government/banks are taking over the world almost like a monster. I could relate to this, if I had lived on some land for a really long time and all of the sudden someone just kicked me off and there was no one for me to really blame. However, I can also see where the bank people are coming from. Without moving the people off the land, there would be no change and they would never make any profit. It's almost like a lose, lose situation. I can feel Steinbeck's frustration.

Steinbeck also, at one point, criticizes jails. When Joad, Willy, and Casy were cooking their meat, they asked Joad about his experience in jail. He replied with, "The thing that give me the mos' trouble was, it didn't make no sense... When a bunch of men take an' lock you up four years, it ought to have some meaning. Men is supposed to think things out. Here they put me in, an' keep me an' feed me four years. That ought to either make me so I won't do her again or else punish me so I'll be afraid to do her again. But if Herb or anybody else come for me, I'd do her again... That sort of senselessness kind a worries a man" (Steinbeck 55). It's almost as if Joad is basically saying that the jail system is worthless. Even though he has been there before, he thinks jails should be tuffer and make a person learn their lesson. I agree with him on that.

The part that I also thought was interesting was the chapter that specifically talked about selling cars. It was really hard to follow but it showed the transition from the people who farmed to people trying to buy cars to keep up with the generation. In the chapter, it seems like the car salesmen are having trouble selling the cars because not a lot of people have much money, so they are forced to sell the cars at incredibly low prices. This made me think of cars as a representation of movement. Since they are having trouble selling the cars, their is a lack of movement and that is what happening at this point in the story.

So far I really like the book. It's a little slow, but I can tell it has a lot of potential. I can't wait to find out what happens next and I hope Tom can find his family!