The Grapes of Wrath - 13

In the novel, the reader is exposed to many different bosses and workers. We see the boss of the peach farm that is very nonchalant, but does not pay very well for such hard work. We see the boss of the cotton field, who is fast paced and does not care about the workers, but cares only about how quickly his cotton gets picked. We see the worker of the junk yard lot trash talk his boss and disrespect him, and we see the boss who cares about his employees, informs them of trouble, tells them the inside scoop on things, and wants to pay his workers fair wages for the work that they put in.

I know that Steinbeck puts in so many varieties of workers and bosses so that we can see how they differ and decide for ourselves which we think is the best circumstance. Many of the bosses simply do not care about their workers and care more about themselves and their own families. It is understandable to care for your own family, but when it gets to a point where providing for your own family means letting hundreds of other families die, I do not think that is right. And Steinbeck put that in there to show us that. Tom learned by the end of the book that caring for others is as of equal importance as taking care of his own family.

Another boss/worker relationship that we see is the attitude that the man in the junk yard has towards his boss. The man despises his boss and does not care if he screws over his business because he does not like his boss and actually would love to see his boss' business fail but he does not want to get himself into trouble and wants to keep a job. This paints a nasty picture for the reader and helps the reader see that they do not want to get into a boss/worker relationship like the junk yard worker has with his boss. It seems like they are in a vicious cycle of anger, deceit, and evil deeds.

The last boss left that was portrayed in the book was the kind, compassionate, and caring boss. This boss made sure that work got done and that the men were working hard, but he payed them wages that were equal to the hard work that they put into the job. This boss took care of his workers and told them of the troubles that he was having so that they would realize that the problem is bigger than their boss, it is a national problem of not paying workers enough money. This boss also tipped off the men that the police were going to rig a fight in the compound so that they could come in and shut it down. He did this not because he was a tattle tale, but because he cared about the well being of his workers and was telling them to protect them, their families, and their home.

Steinbeck had multiple pairs of workers and bosses to teach us what the valuable work situation is and what kind of boss we want and what kind of workers we need to be.

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.