Selfishness and selflessness are in constant competition in The Grapes of Wrath. The Joads are mostly on the latter of this, but each individual shows much of the former. The family Joad as a whole is mostly helpful to the fellow man, but each member of the family is mostly thinking about themselves. They all have their own plans for the future, and they do not involve each other. Al wants to work with cars, get married, and leave his family. Rose of Sharon mostly wanted to live with Connie while he studied radios, and eventually get ice. Connie appears to be the most selfish when he completely abandons the Joads and never shows up again. The preacher is the least selfish because he actually wants to help others. He organizes a strike, and wants to help fight the poverty that has hit the country. The rest of the Joad family just simply appears to want to work the farms and live the way they used to back in Sallisaw. Selflessness appears as a big theme in chapter fifteen. Mae, the gas station worker, really does a nice deed and helps a family in need that is heading west. Al also helps Floyd Knowles with his car, and in return he tells him where to find work. This showed that selflessness does not go unrewarded. The biggest act of selflessness is definitely the in the ending. Rose of Sharon fails to bring new life into the world, so she ends up saving an old life. She goes above and beyond what even someone who is very giving would do. Selfishness shows up a lot actually in the migrants. It is not entirely because of them that the wages keep lowering, but it is partially their fault. If they did not keep coming and accepting it then the wages would go down. They simply have no restraint to keep away from a job that pays anything. They have to feed their family, but if they hold off for a while the payout could be much better. Selfishness is in a large-scale battle with selflessness throughout the entire story.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
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