father in the corner, the boy informs them that his father is starving to death and cannot keep food down. He is desperate for milk and wonders if they had any money to spare in which to buy some. Upon hearing this Ma and Rosasharn exchange a knowing look. Ma takes the rest of the family out to a tool shed and leaves Rosasharn with the old man. Rosasharn proceeds to give the man the life-giving milk that he so desperately needs and her baby did not live to put use to. In doing this her baby unknowingly gave its life in return for saving that of another. Steinbeck uses this novel as a warning to large landowners as well as the government during the depression. There was a great injustice being done to these people and it wouldn’t be long before they did something about it. You cannot suppress a large group of society for an extended amount of time without there being an uprising against it. He states this in chapter nineteen, and for once doesn’t use Barror-6any sort of symbolism to mask the meanings behind his words. He comes right out and states the events that have led up to this point and says there will be a revolt eventually, the question is simply when. They were hungry, and they were fierce. And they had hoped to find a home, and they found only hatred. Okies—the owners hated them because the owners knew they were soft and the Okies strong, that they were fed and the Okies hungry; and perhaps they had heard from their grandfathers how easy it is to steal land from a soft man if you are fierce and hungry and armed. The owners hated them. And in the towns, the storekeepers hated them because they had no money to spend. There is no shorter path to a storekeeper’s contempt, and all his admirations are exactly opposite. The town men, little bankers, hated the Okies because there was nothing to gain from them. They had nothing. And the laboring people hated the Okies because a hungry man must w...
