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Theme Of Empathy In The Grapes Of Wrath

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By comparing two vastly different experiences, heard but not seen violence in a neighbor's apartment, to the trauma of displaced families during the era of the Great Depression seems disgruntled at best but singular in a micro causal fashion. The idea of helping others in their time of need is impacted by empathy. How people connect with their neighbors determines if a call to the police will be made for intervention. In the novel The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, the concept of empathy circulates throughout all of the character's experiences in this novel. The trauma of unemployment in the Dustbowl region is in full effect with thousands of people evicted from their land, causing many of them to search for jobs in California. The people from California and in the midwest, who are unaffected by the mass migration, sit back and observe while looking down upon the migrants who are unable to live in the pre-depression societal culture. The displaced migrants searching for a better life form a new community that they share amongst others in the same situation and show distaste for those located on the outside. Both sides do not understand where the others are coming from, which is expressed by John Steinbeck’s message about how a lack of empathy results in the deterioration in society, while its presence strengthens the emotional bond between people. The owner men, from the beginning of the novel, work in an environment without empathy and must embrace the new culture or

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