Logan's Reviews > The Grapes of Wrath

I really enjoy Steinbeck's writing, especially more than most other 20th century "literature" greats. But this definitely feels like an earlier work and leaves a lot to be desired.

My biggest complaint is that even if Steinbeck treated the Okies better than most Californians of the era, he still treated them as sub-humans. Think about it, do you have any kind of respect for these individuals? Or do you pity them, poor, dumb animals that they are? They mismanaged their land, have no skills to speak of (besides fixing their own run-down vehicles), they bumble their way through everything, shouting "praise Gawd!", don't understand anything about the world, but at least they have each other. It's like the Beverly Hillbillies but without the humor and lucky breaks each episode. No, I think Steinbeck was going for pity, not empathy, something he learned to do better in later books. Many of my ancestors were farmers and they tended to be innovative and surprisingly wise in certain areas, especially in bartering (something Steinbeck's farmers are spectacularly inept at). The best that can be said of them is that they look out (sort of) for one another, even to what would have be a most biologically impressive feat of breastfeeding what would be colostrum to a grown, starving man (my wife, mother of five, was quite incredulous when she heard that bit).

The economics in the book read like the whining of a petulant five-year-old. Okay, I understand underhanded tactics to flood the workforce and drive the cost of labor down, but in Steinbeck's world, nearly every business has unlimited resources and can sit on them until they get the extortionary price they want, every bank is evil for foreclosing on mortgages (note, it is NOT in the bank's best interest to foreclose, they actually lose money that way), and an employer needing only 30 workers at 30 cents an hour should be perfectly willing to pay 300 the same price, a family that can survive on no work for weeks, will refuse to work for 25 cents an hour instead of 30 because "no one can live off it" etc. etc. Oh, and farmers would rather let all their fruit go to rot instead of paying wages. Like, what? None of this even makes sense. It's make-believe economics pushing a socialist agenda. Even people acting in their own self-interest, being as greedy as possible, don't behave this way.

Then there is the historical exaggeration. I don't know why this doesn't come up more but the Joad family came from Sallisaw. That's far eastern Oklahoma, and not part of the dust bowl (descriptions in the book talk about dust settling everywhere like a cloud). And the gross exaggeration of the number of Okies going west, and the reasons why or even when they started. Here's an article that explains a good many of historical faults with the book.

So summary: bad portrayal of Okies meant to engender pity, bad economics (really really bad), and gross historical exaggeration.