Grapes of Wrath 3

This story shows that Steinbeck has a great understanding of human nature. The way people in the story act seems so real, and it really draws the reader in and makes it feel like you are right there with them. Just focusing on Tom you can see that is a prideful man. It is not mean, angry, or evil, but he has killed two men. It seems so reasonable why he killed them too. The first man he killed stabbed him, so he had no choice but to fight back. The other man was a cop. He came up and busted the preacher’s head open in front of Tom for no reason, so Tom killed him. I think if I was Tom I would have done exactly the same. Those men needed to die, and Tom was could not help but to make it happen.
As for themes the one that sticks out the most is a quote by Ma where she says that the poorer the people are the more helpful they are. She also says “If you’re in trouble or hurt or need—go to poor people. They’re the only ones that’ll help—the only ones” (Steinbeck, 376.) This seems like a very prevalent theme throughout the story. They will help, but only when they can. When Ma had food at the Hooverville many children gathered around. She was going to help them, but she had to help her family first. In the end there was not enough to feed all the kids. Then one child’s mother showed up, and took offense to the fact that Ma had food out. Ma was caught off guard by the way the woman took it, and it was kind of a misunderstanding. This whole event showed that the poor will help, but the can only help with their work. They can’t try to feed others because that does not work. The people see it as charity, and they are too proud for charity. When Al helped Floyd Knowles with his car things went alright. It worked out because he helped with manual labor, and people are glad to get that kind of help. It all shows that the poor are willing to help.

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.