icted in an intercalary chapter are exemplary members of those who abuse the system (Steinbeck 83). These malefactors, examples of limitless capitalism fueled by selfishness and greed, are able to prey on the vulnerable migrants because the mandating power set no restrictions against such unjust monopoly. Similarly, the violence that denigrates childhood in There Are No Children Here could be prevented if the government enforced laws against such brutality. Unfortunately, rash and illegal gang business is transacted with impunity in the Henry Horner Homes area daily because no one bothers to regulate illicit activity. Another illustration of abuse ignored by the ruling power is when “the bank told [the landowners] . . . ‘You’re paying thirty cents an hour. You’d better cut it down to twenty five’” immediately followed by “‘You going to need the usual amount for crop loan next year?’” (Steinbeck 402). No influential force intervenes because the manipulation is viewed as an application of a capitalist dogma, “the law of supply and demand.” Consequently, the banks continue to benefit from the forced maltreatment of the impecunious nomads. Because the capitalist regime advocates the benefit of the individual, not the common state, underprivileged people’s needs are often ignored. The authors allude to socialism when their desperate characters, enveloped in penury, congregate to ensure that all basic needs are met. When a newborn Oakie baby “got worms . . . an’ he died . . . from not getting’ good things to eat,” the compassion of the community shined despite the tragedy as “a little heap of silver grew” in front of the parents’ tent, thus providing a decent burial for the baby (Steinbeck 326). Likewise, when LaJoe’s welfare benefits are cut off, “one of her sisters gave her $65 worth of food st...
