Social Connections In Grapes Of Wrath

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John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath is a book set in the Depression era that gives insights to the emotions and overwhelming harsh conditions the migrating farmers experienced. By using this plot and setting, the book gives the profound opinions regarding the role of the US government and the sense of kinship within people of the society. The Grapes of Wrath presents the idea that the role of the government is to think and act for the good of the people, and that a community of different families should all come together and become one big family when dealing with harsh situations. Under all circumstances, the government should always think, act, and most importantly provide support for the bettering of the society. People obey laws and orders set by their government because they are subjected to do so under the Social Contract in order to protect themselves. In turn, the laws and orders the government pass should help to protect the people within the society. In this novel, the farmers face the cruel reality of losing their homes and jobs, forcing them to seek ways for them and their family to survive. In this case, the government has the very least responsibility of providing the citizens with basic needs of survival such as shelter. The government created camps in attempt to provide this basic support. The camps nonetheless did provide some senses of security, and the people were receiving better treatments. However, the despite the government’s effort to protect them, the farmers were still constantly in jeopardy due to the inability of finding rightful jobs to feed the family, and also being threatened by wealthy landowners trying to sabotage their unity, pushing them to their limit. In this battle between the rich and the poor, the government did not help the poor very much, because the government was passive and was incapable of solving the ultimate problem,
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