The Grapes of Wrath, Human Affairs

19. I think that in this book, The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck was trying to draw attention to one thing. Steinbeck was calling attention to a justice in human affairs. In the book several times there are incidents where human beings are treated like animals by other humans. The first would be when the bankers were plowing all of the land into one big field. They did not care that farming was the only thing the Joad family, and many others, knew how to do. They did not care that this was the only land the families lived on. It was like they were herding animals off their land. Like cows being moved from one place to another. That is how the bankers viewed the people. The only thing they wanted was more money. Another incident would be at Hoovervill when the deputy treats all of the people like they were nothing. He talked down to them like they were less important. He treated them like dogs. When he told Floyd to get in the car it was like the deputy was Floyd’s master. I think this was the first time that the Joad family realized what they had gotten into. When the Joad family left Hoovervill they were stopped by a group of men that said they did not want any “Okies” in their town. It was like the “Okies” were just were just a name and not real people. They did not need food or shelter. “Okies” are not real people they were just animals. Once they had made it to the peach orchard, Tom went to look around. When he found Casy he was really surprised. Tom learned about the way the men were treated in jail. When they were being chased and caught by the men Casy was killed. The thing that is disheartening is that there was no respect for human life. They killed him like they would smash a bug.