Monopolies In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

782 Words4 Pages
Monopoly Betrayal and hardship are deeply rooted in the novel, “The Grapes of Wrath”. Common interest and togetherness is often referred to in the book, as the way to alleviate the pressures of the harsh living conditions that the Joads, as well as many other migrant workers, were enduring. The Joad family often had to fight through adversity and discrimination although they were white Americans just simply looking to make ends meet as were many others. It was the dustbowl weather conditions that led all of the migrant farmers to head west toward California in hopes of a better life. Their crops in the mid-west were unfertile and it was impossible for the farmers to keep their families healthy and safe from the horrors of poverty, only there…show more content…
This makes people come together to form an angry mob and turn against the government, often times giving up their lives for the cause. Monopolies are bad because they yield the process of production and keep the economy at a standstill. They make people angry and they make it impossible for others to become entrepreneurs. They overwhelm an industry and often leave it battered and bruised as a bully would leave their poor victim. It is companies such as the peach farm that force people’s insanity and revoke their sense of ownership and livelihood. At the end of the story there is a tragic scene where Rose of Sharon, one of the women of the group, gives birth to a stillborn child in the rain and Uncle John, a depressed drunk due to the death of his wife and mal living conditions, sends the dead baby downstream in hopes that the landowners of California receive the message that there are people dying due to their greed and self interests. Unfortunately the Joads and many others try to stay united but the horrors of poverty settle in as many people die due to the living conditions and there are many setbacks in their journey expressed as “livelihood,” was never met. The novel portrays an image of a world in which generosity and self-sacrifice are the greatest of virtues. It also portrays an image of the 1930’s and one of the causes of the Great

More about Monopolies In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

Open Document