The works of the roots of the vines, of the trees, must be destroyed to keep up the price, and this is the saddest, bitterest thing of all. Carloads of oranges dumped on the ground. The people came for miles to take the fruit, but this could not be. How would they buy oranges at twenty cents a dozen if they could drive out and pick them up? And men with hoses squirt kerosene on the oranges, and they are angry at the crime, angry at the people who have come to take the fruit. A million people hungry, needing the fruit—and kerosene sprayed over the golden mountains.
And the smell of rot fills the country.
Burn coffee for fuel in the ships. Burn corn to keep warm, it makes a hot fire. Dump potatoes in the rivers and place guards along the banks to keep the hungry people from fishing them out. Slaughter the pigs and bury them, and let the putrescence drip down into the earth.
There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize. There is a failure here that topples all our success. The fertile earth, the straight tree rows, the sturdy trunks, and the ripe fruit. And children dying of pellagra must die because a profit cannot be taken from an orange. And coroners must fill in the certificates—died of malnutrition—because the food must rot, must be forced to rot.
The people come with nets to fish for potatoes in the river, and the guards hold them back; they come in rattling cars to get the dumped oranges, but the kerosene is sprayed. And they stand still and watch the potatoes float by, listen to the screaming pigs being killed in a ditch and covered with quicklime, watch the mountains of oranges slop down to a putrefying ooze; and in the eyes of the people there is the failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.
one of the funniest (worst) analyses ive read of grapes of wrath was that despite it being extraordinary anti-capitalist, pro labor union, pro working class...this one analysis writer thought that a scene where someone chokes a baby turtle is a metaphor for "communism's chokehold". yeah good job genius. why would it not represent the chokehold of capitalism????????
I've never read the whole thing myself (I know, I know), but I do know it was banned in multiple parts of the country for being "communist propaganda", so it's probably worth reading.
Here's another good quote from the book:
The land fell into fewer hands, the number of dispossessed increased, and every effort of the great owners was directed at repression. The money was spent for arms, for gas to protect the great holdings, and spies were sent to catch the murmuring of revolt so that it might be stamped out. The changing economy was ignored; and only means to destroy revolt were considered, while the causes of revolt went on. The tractors which throw men out of work, the machines which produce, all were increased; and more and more families scampered on the highways, looking for crumbs from the great holdings, lusting after the land beside the roads. The great owners formed associations for protection and they met to discuss ways to intimidate, to kill, to gas. And always they were in fear of a principal – three hundred thousand – if they ever move under a leader – the end. Three hundred thousand, hungry and miserable; if they ever know themselves, the land will be theirs and all the gas, all the rifles in the world won’t stop them.
The movie was protested by the Catholic Church, if you ever have a chance to watch it, do so. It doesn't have nearly the same level of misery as the book, but seeing it depicted on film in black and white by actors who all like lived through that time period is its own level of immersion.
I've realized in retrospect that my English teacher was a comrade. The Grapes of Wrath, The Jungle, and a bunch of other stuff. He even said on the first day of class that he wanted us to "focus on the idea of the American Dream". Possibly the only thing we read that year that wasn't critical of capitalism was The Scarlet Letter.
21st century version of that paragraph from the Grapes of Wrath about destroying the piles of oranges in front of hungry people.
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one of the funniest (worst) analyses ive read of grapes of wrath was that despite it being extraordinary anti-capitalist, pro labor union, pro working class...this one analysis writer thought that a scene where someone chokes a baby turtle is a metaphor for "communism's chokehold". yeah good job genius. why would it not represent the chokehold of capitalism????????
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I've never read the whole thing myself (I know, I know), but I do know it was banned in multiple parts of the country for being "communist propaganda", so it's probably worth reading.
Here's another good quote from the book:
The movie was protested by the Catholic Church, if you ever have a chance to watch it, do so. It doesn't have nearly the same level of misery as the book, but seeing it depicted on film in black and white by actors who all like lived through that time period is its own level of immersion.
I've realized in retrospect that my English teacher was a comrade. The Grapes of Wrath, The Jungle, and a bunch of other stuff. He even said on the first day of class that he wanted us to "focus on the idea of the American Dream". Possibly the only thing we read that year that wasn't critical of capitalism was The Scarlet Letter.
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Thanks for posting it, I always love re-reading it.