The Selfish Survive

In the beginning of the book, everyone we encounter is selfish. This selfishness stems from the fact that everyone needs to eat, and needs to survive. There is a lack of humanity. No one wants to help their brother. The landlord doesn’t want to kick the tenants out, but if he get more money by consolidating the farms, and using new technologies than he will evict his current tenant farmers. In addition, the employers looking for workers in California send out far too many flyers to bring labors out west. The farmers get a sense of hope that there is work out there. When the farmers get out to California, there is obviously not enough work to go around. I believe the employers do this intentionally to drive down the cost of wages. With some many people looking for work, and no place to sleep they will take some money opposed to none at all. The employers have no regard for this lost sense of hope, and the fact that these families can’t survive on these low wages. Is it really the weather causing these farmers to be so hungry, or is it the greed of others? The rich want to stay rich; they want to keep the poor down regardless of what it takes. They know they cannot be the very wealth without the poor. Andrew Carnegie and other very wealthy people knew this fact very well during the Gilded Age. In fact, Carnegie wrote a piece entitled The Gospel of Wealth where he tries to justify the concentration of wealth in America. He did not want to upset his workers. He knows that without the poor working class there could be no rich. Later in the book, Steinbeck writes an exception, one of generosity and compassion. He shows there is some hope. There are some people who do care for their staving bothers. The scene takes place in the coffee shop on route 66. A poor man his two sons enter the coffee shop asking the waitress, Mae for a loaf of bread. Mae does not want to sell a loaf of bread to a man for a reduced price. She has preconceived notion that hobos are thieves. So far, this has been consistent with the rest of the book. Al, another man working in the shop convinces Mae to sell the man some bread, and Mae gives in. She sees the children looking at some candy, and sells it too for a reduced price. Two truckers in the coffee shop witness this act of kindness, and give the Mae an extra big tip. Steinbeck is showing that there are still some people who are generous during these tough times. In the end, Mae was rewarded for her compassion. She got an extra big tip. The more you give, the more you get?