Monopoly In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

Despite the flushed predictions of prosperity that had lured new settlers to the plains, the reality was more difficult. The farmers claimed that they did not have enough land, money, and transportation (Doc C). The farmers went into in a never ending cycle if they did not have a good harvest. As Booker Washington explains the farmers had no money so they had to borrow money from the banks which charged 12 to 30 percent interest. The interest the farmers were hit with was nearly impossible to repay so they had to mortgage everything and if the mortgage wasn’t paid the land was foreclosure which led the yeomen to become tenant farmers (Doc B). With periods of drought growing good crops was hard. Leading Economic Sectors shows how the farmers predicament of not being able to make a very

Many people are seen journeying to California because their homes were taken down. They all have hopes to make a living in the west while making good money and having a steady job. There are handbills all around, and Pa has one that says, “Pea Pickers Wanted in California. Good Wages All Season. 800 Pickers Wanted.” (147). Because of these claims, there are false hopes that arise. Wilson, a friend of the Joads, talks about how the journey to the west is worth it, for the jobs are easy and there are good wages, which means that with some luck, “a fella could have a place of his own” (147). The reality, however, is that with many people going to different farms, there are more workers, and therefore less wages distributed among those workers. Through these handbills, John Steinbeck shows how the maker of these – the upper class – makes sure that many people will be attracted to the falsified wages that will be earned, which manipulate everyone who is willing to work. Another instance of this deceit was shown when two cars drove into a camp where the Joads were staying. Men came out of the cars and asked if anyone wanted work, explaining that there were jobs in Tulare County and that they needed a lot of pickers. However, this was the only information given, and when asked about how much would be paid, the men would not give an answer because they did not want to pay the workers a lot of money. Steinbeck incorporates these secretive characters to show that the upper class tricks those of the lower by censoring important information that when found out, may stop the lower class from obeying the upper class’s commands, and an example of this rebelling is shown when the workers argued that “if [they] don’t know [how much they will pay], [they] got no right to hire men” (263). The upper class

The Joad’s is an excellent example of the human soul’s will to survive based on their small amount of hope. The Joad family starts off in a small farming community in Oklahoma. However, due to the dust bowl they are forced to move out and find a better opportunity somewhere else. They end up finding a bill claiming their is eight hundred jobs in California. This becomes the Joad’s center of hope for their entire journey west.

There is just a one person who sells products or services and there are no incentives which help to break this monopoly. There are many monopoly industries in the market. In monopoly, they use patents because they don’t like if someone’s copy their inventions.

Throughout Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck raises the issue of how the wealthy do not properly help the poor, and often treat them as invaders who should be left out on their own. He uses Grapes of Wrath to show how human nature causes people to ignore the plight of the poor when it is convenient for them. Throughout the novel, the “Okies” are often abused, and the wealthy commonly took advantage of their desperation to earn money to gain cheap labor. They were often paid unlivable wages, and forced away from any hospitable places solely because they were thought of as poor immigrants. This type of exploitation is a common occurrence throughout the novel. One example of this was when an employer set the wages for 20 cents an hour, which was far

After the coal companies began to move into the area, they set up camps. Many of the residents who were forced off their land then worked for the coal companies. C.J.’s family instead had decided to move to the Justice farm, which was owned by C.J.’s grandfather’s cousin, Ermel. Ermel had relinquished the rights to his land, and the coal companies had not yet come for it. The residents that worked for the coal company lived in camps, worked for very low pay in “scrip” (company dollars) in horrible conditions, and ultimately had no other choice.

Document B talks about how it was also hard for colored farmers to make a living especially after the Civil War. “They had to get the local merchant or someone else to supply the food for the family to eat while the first crop was being made.” (Document B) After the Civil War they didn’t have much land and many became homesteaders who were given 160 acres along with regulations they must follow. Only 40% of the applicants actually completed the process and were given the extra land promised for them completion of 160 acres. However many found it difficult to make profit off such little amount of land during that time, for that was the reason most failed to finish

Many of the migrant workers were on the brink of starvation and they would take whatever wages they could get even if it sounded o good to be true. The businesses would tout a generally high wage offer and this would give starving people incentive to work to ultimately feed their families. When the fields of the farm come close to running out of product they would dramatically lower wages, and increase the payment needed to buy food. The owners of the farms do not have to worry about moving the people on their land, for they are forced to leave to find another means to earn money and feed their

The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) restricted the production of crops. The AAA encouraged farmers to not only limit, but also to “destroy their crops” in an effort to help the economy (“Farm Relief”, 2002, p. 10). While the government attempted to support unsuccessful farmers, landlords took advantage of the opportunity to make a profit. The AAA’s scarcity program allowed for landlords in the cotton-growing regions of the South to force sharecroppers and tenant farmers off of the land (Watkins, 1970, p. 193). As some landowners were outraged at the thought of ruining their produce, others went through with the

Many farmers from western Massachusetts were desperate, and most tried in court and put in debtors’ prison, which are effects from the fact that they are not being

The owners who contract the cotton pickers appear to be resolved to ensuring that the pickers get less money then they worked for, and place them in debt by making them pay for cotton sacks before hand. The system is made to expand benefit, regardless of the expense to the workers. The only the arrangement the workers had was to stand up to them. They will confront the men who weigh the cotton to guarantee that they are paid appropriately and reasonably. The workers continue to work, because they know if they don't there is a chance that their families will go hungry.

The Grapes of Wrath was a depiction of life in the Great Depression, specifically in the areas the Dust Bowl affected. The Joad family represents the “Okies”, which were people who went west looking for jobs. They also showcase the unfortunate events that happened to millions of people during the Great Depression. The Joad’s land was taken away/plowed over by superintendent and the land agents. After the destruction of their home and land they head west, to California, in search of jobs. With the Californians only using the Okies for cheap labor and giving them poor living conditions, they didn’t receive the best reputation. The Californians were rude to the Okies and treating them how they did is because the Okies were taking their jobs and

Many mill villages started to pop up with the emergence of industrialization. A sense of community is established within the mill villages, “their identities had been formed in the mill village; they had cast their fate with the mill” (Hall, 113). Mill villages consisted of “…a three-story brick mill, a company store, and a superintendent’s house. Three- and four- room frame houses owned by the company… lots that offered individual garden spaces, often supplemented by communal pastures and hog pens. A church, a company store, and a modest schoolhouse completed the scene” (Hall, 106). Everything the families ever needed was available at the company store, and the workers could establish credit. Mill owners not only hired men, but also women and children (also known as a family labor system). Often times, the men would still work on the farm as well. Like in Weiner’s article, the majority of the cotton mill people that lived in mill villages were in severe debt by the company. They would rely on folk medicine instead of actual doctor practices to save money. “Workers rose early in the morning, still tired from the day before, and readied themselves for more of the same” (Hall, 110). Most never even received wages for the work they had done at the mill because the company kept the money to pay off their debt at the company

Grandpa Joad, who complains that he does not want to leave his land, dies on the road after the family?s departure. As the Joads near California, they hear warning rumors of a depleted job market. One migrant tells Pa that more than twice more people show up than needed for work and that his own children have starved to death. Soon after they reached their destination, they lose three members of the family. Grandma dies, Noah, the oldest of the Joad children, and Connie, the husband of pregnant Rose of Sharon, abandon the family. As Joads come to California, they observe overcrowded camps that are full of starving migrants. Work is almost impossible to find or pays such a small salary that the whole family cannot earn enough money for food. While staying in a camp known as a ?Hooverville,? Tom and several men get into an intense argument with a deputy sheriff over whether workers should organize into a union. After that, Tom knocks the sheriff unconscious, but Jim Casy is arrested. Police officers announce their intention to burn the Hooverville. A government-run camp proves much friendlier to the Joads, and the family soon finds many friends and some work. Although the life in that camp for the family is pleasant, they cannot survive without steady work, and they must move on. Joads starts to pick fruit, but soon find out that they are getting a decent pay only because they have been hired to break a worker?s strike. Tom meets Jim Casy, after being

What is a monopoly? According to Webster's dictionary, a monopoly is "the exclusive control of a commodity or service in a given market.” Such power in the hands of a few is harmful to the public and individuals because it minimizes, if not eliminates normal competition in a given market and creates undesirable price controls. This, in turn, undermines individual enterprise and causes markets to crumble. In this paper, we will present several aspects of monopolies, including unfair competition, price control, and horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate mergers.