The Great Gatsby Essays

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The Grapes of Wrath “I’m learnin’ one thing good,” she said. “Learnin’ it all a time, ever’ day. If you’re in trouble or hurt or need—go to poor people. They’re the only ones that’ll help—the only ones.”* In John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, the Joads are a desperately poor family of tenant farmers that are driven from their Oklahoma home by drought and economic hardship. They set out to California to hopefully find jobs and a better future. During their journey, the Joads suffer through many difficulties. Through the help of others, however, many of their impediments are eased. Despite their own hardships, the Joads helped those they came into contact with. Throughout the book Steinbeck strongly portrays the idea that the less fortunate are the most generous. One of the greatest ways the poor people exemplified generosity was they gave away the little money that they had. In one of the interchapters, Mae, a somewhat cynical waitress at a roadside restaurant, gives a poor family a 15 cent loaf of bread for 10 cents. She also gives them two pieces of candy for a penny when initially they were a nickel each. Two truck drivers, witnessing this, leave a tip of two half dollars. Another example is while the Joad family is working at a peach farm they go to the store to buy food. The man at the store lends Ma Joad ten cents so she could buy sugar. Tom, a member of the Joad family, is wanted by the police after he kills a policeman. Ma gives Tom all the money the family made picking cotton so that he could at least have a chance of getting away. Even though they barely have any money of their own, the poor people still gave to those who were also in need. Another way generosity was shown through the poor people was their willingness to help. The Joads bring Jim Casy, a disillusioned preacher, along with them to California without asking for anything in return. Although they barely had enough room, the Joads were willing to help Casy because they felt compassion for him and respected his honesty. The Wilsons, a couple the Joads meet on their way to California, let the Joads use their tent when Grampa Joad was dying. The Joads then fix the Wilson’s car and travel with them to California, sharing their food and supplies with each other. When Tom knocks out a Policeman, Casy takes the blame so Tom can stay with his family and not go to jail. Tom had previously been in prison and would have been in more trouble than Casy. The poor people were always willing to help and put other peoples’ problems before
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