Chapters 1 - 10, Assignment G

     A major conflict that is developing in The Grapes of Wrath is man v. society.

     In this tumultuous time period of American history, people are forced to make choices and do things that are not socially accepted and are totally radical. A prime example of a person who demonstrates this very bravery is Jim Casy. He was a preacher that baptized a young Tom Joad but chose to give up his religious practice because he had a bad habit of taking the girls in the congregation "out in the grass". Jim has an epiphany about his sexual habits; he asserts that people are too concerned with Jesus and not enough with themselves, "I figgered about the Holy Sperit and the Jesus Road. I figgered, 'Why do we got to hand it on God or Jesus? Maybe, ' I figerred, 'maybe it's all men an' women we love; maybe that's the Holy Sperit - the human sperit - the whole shebang. Maybe all men got one big soul ever'body's a part of.'" (24). Casy's idea challenges his theocratic society's very fabric of order. He is creating a new philosophy for himself that will most like be thrown down by the scornful public. Especially since he was once a preacher, there would no way that he could fabricate such controversial ideas without backlash from his religious peers.

    Although the freedom of intellectual thinking and personal opinions is stricken, it is not the only thing that man must battle against society for. Farmers in this era like the Joads are forced to take the negative consequences of being extremely poor. The gap in wealth distribution is atrociously wide as the rich have more money than they could dream of and the working class does not have any at all. Farmers like the Joads have decided to become part of a mass exodus to California because of its many working opportunities. However, it is difficult to finance their trip so they have to sell all of their belongings to brokers, who are offering terribly low prices, "Fifty cents isn't enough to get for a good plow. That seeder cost thirty-eight dollars. Two dollars isn't enough." (86). The farmers have to face the broker's insensitivity and disrespect to their belongings. It is a struggle that they have to endure because they have no other choice. They have to sell some of their most prized possessions, weather they have monetary or emotional value or both, for pennies to people that are taking advantage of them only to make a profit. All of society is out for themselves and in this case, man is have a lot of trouble.