The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck Book Analysis

The 1930s marked the start of the dust bowl in the great plains of America. Farmers who once dreamed of riches from the fertile land now tried to escape the plight it caused them. However, many, including the Joad family, require one necessary item to complete their journey westward towards a new beginning: a car. Chapter seven of Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck takes place inside of a used car dealership filled to the brim with sleazy salesmen attempting to exploit unknowledgeable farmers wishing to escape their afflictions. Steinbeck illustrates the greed and exploitation in America by his portrayal of the car salesman, showing that even in the most desperate of times people will do anything to cash in on others’ anguish. 

Furthermore, the chapter portrays the salesman teaching their peers the key to exploiting the needy farmers. Steinbeck illustrates their desperation to make a quick buck off the struggles of others. “Get ‘em under obligation. Make ‘em take u your time. Do not let ‘em forget they’re takin’ your time. People are nice, mostly. They hate to put you out. Make ‘em put you out, an’ sock it to ‘em.” (Steinbeck 62) The salesmen do not care who they exploit for profit. In fact, they would rather capitalize on someone who they view as nice to manipulate them and pounce on their kindness for a profit. The salesmen teach their coworkers their secrets to selling more cars, increasing the rate of exploitation. 

Ironically, America throughout its history has been a country built upon ideas of greed and capitalism. Ideas such as manifest destiny have been a large part of the rapid growth and expansion of our nation. A large reason behind so many moving into the great plans was America wanting to feed its expansion westward. People wanted to own land and when they saw that the United States was offering large swaths of land for low prices, multitudes of people, eager to escape the rapidly growing cities, were willing to escape to the great plains. They hoped to have their own piece of the American dream, building their humble farms from the ground up, hoping one day to eventually find riches. However, this was not the case, the soil ended up being exploited to the point that in combination with a natural drought, the dust bowl occurred. Steinbeck illustrates his point of view on the greed present in the great plains with his portrayal of the used car salesmen, he creates a caricature of a money-hungry salesman with a lack of morals, one that does not care if he sells a car that breaks down within a month “Sure, we sold it. Guarantee? We guaranteed it to be an automobile. We did not guarantee to wet-nurse it.” (Steinbeck 65) Though Steinbeck’s portrayal of a salesman praying on the downfall of the helpless farmers might be a tad overdone, it illustrates a picture of the greed in America. 

The predatory salesmen, desperate to take advantage of the down on their luck farmers of the great plains are an example of a much bigger problem. The salesmen do not care that the farmers’ lives may be falling apart, they view the farmers’ plight as another sale. Similarly, in the novel, Steinbeck portrays bankers in a negative light, as money-hungry monsters. Furthermore, the farmers are the foil to this devilish portrayal of the car salesmen and bankers, they are helpless, made slaves to those higher than them by their bad luck. They have no choice but to be subject to the greed and selfishness of those above them in society. “God, if I could only get a hundred jalopies. I don’t care if they run or not.” (Steinbeck 63) Consequently, the farmers of the great plains do not have a choice when being upsold broken-down jalopies by a manipulative salesman, and those selling the cars to them do not care whether the cars being sold will be able to make the journey to California, they just care about profits. Though they may be helpless, they are not hopeless or stupid, they simply have no choice but to be subject to those who overpower them in society. 

The car salesmen play a significant role in showing how the farmers were taken advantage of even in the darkest of days, however, these salesmen with their predatory sales tactics and manipulative marketing represent a bigger issue, one that has plagued our nation for centuries. Greed has built up our nation, for instance, how greed for more land was the beginning of ideas such as manifest destiny and the westward movement. Manifest destiny may have led to the growth of our nation it also led to many people getting caught in the middle, for example, the native Americans who had their home and land ripped from their hands. Corruption has led to many people having their lives ruined and in Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, the farmers are those caught in the crosshairs. They had their livelihoods destroyed by a natural/manufactured disaster and now are having their lives further depleted by forces in their lives such as the car salesmen or the banks. Emphasizing how even in the worst of times the corrupt are still desperate to squeeze every dollar out of faltering farmers’ grasps.