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Chapters 16-19

f. Tom Joad has a few strong beliefs that he carries with him throughout the story so far. The first belief that he sets himself up with is his belief that every traveler during this time of hardship has the responsibility to help others out. He starts this when he exclaims this belief to the truck driver, who he then uses to get a ride back to his home town. While he does not act on his belief, later in the ride, he does show his earnestness about being truthful with the truck driver about his past sins. All throughout the journey to California, he expresses concern for other's well being over his own. He opts to bring Jim Casey along with his family to California. This in itself is a clear indicator of his supposed responsibility to others during this time. The other time that he shows that he believes he has a moral responsibility to others in times of duress is when the man is being shot by the sheriff without proper cause. Without thinking about his parole and for his own safety, he trips the police officer, effectively incapacitating him. The other value that Tom Joad holds on to, is his belief that there are instances when a man should be allowed to violate the law, or some supreme authority. The previous example also works to show this moral value. He decides to attack the policeman while others simply watched him shoot at an innocent man. Earlier in the story, even before we meet him, he murders a man to protect his honor and to protect himself physically. This disregard for authority is apparent in every interaction he has with authoritative figures, which are far and few. Another instance of Joad rejecting the established laws of the land is when he first sees the state of despair the land has been put into by tractors from the bank which destroy his neighbor's homes. He sympathizes with the farmers and eventually is forced to move out in the same way that they do, resentful and sad. All of these instances show Joad's top beliefs in this book: his moral decision to help others as everyone should, and the second being his unreliance on the established law to be fair and protect him in his home country. 

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Chapters 16-19

e. My point of view is that of an observer who is observing this great migration from Oklahoma and the greater Dust Bowl to California from the side of Route 66. My poems explores the fear that these migrants carried with them, the fear of the unknown, of California, and fear for the future.

Thousands, millions driving
bumbling, cruising, walking

Fear coursing through
their weak veins

Stuck to the road like glue
struggling against invisible reins

Hoping for a new life
in a land filled with strife

Dreams filled with fear
of the unknown and queer

Chapters 11-15

g. Selflessness is one of the major themes in the Grapes of Wrath. Throughout the Joads' journey to California and starting right in their home in Oklahoma. In Tom's home in Oklahoma, after being evicted from his land, Tom and his family decide to move to California to look for work as manual laborers. However, on his travels back from the state jail for murder, he meets up with his old preacher. The preacher, John Casey, is also out of work. Casey is out of work because he does not believe in the Bible anymore and has developed his own brand of religion. The first instance of this selflessness in when the Joad family is about to leave and Casey is helping them pack and sell their unnecessary belongings. The family says that they would like to help Casey, their former religious leader, by taking him to California so that he will not starve and may find a job and work in California. The senior Joad says that they that may not be able to support another man on the road, however, the Joad comes to the consensus that their morals should come before their material desires. Mama Joad says that they will be able to overcome this hurdle with unity and willingness. Steinbeck is trying to show the sense of community between the migrants who are traveling to California. But he is also showing the sense of community between those in the religious community which included most of the farmers and other laborers in the Dust Bowl. Steinbeck also attempts to convey the sense of karma in Chapter 15. This is when the waiter, who has no connection to the travelers, sells a poor, starving family a cheap meal to keep their kids alive and healthy. Some truckers, who see what she is doing, give her large tips in return. This conveys the sense that with one good deed, you will be repaid by another kind spirit in return. Both of these examples show what kind of responsibility we have to other people during times of crisis. There are two types that have been shown in the story so far. One type is the type of selflessness with no return, such as the Joads taking Casey along with them to California. The other type deals with good karma, when the waiter helps the poor family feed itself, and the truckers help the waiter by giving massive tips when she serves them. 

Chapters 11-15

b. Route 66 was one of the first highways created in the United States. Route 66 became one of the most traveled roads in US during the 1930s when the Great Depression hit. People flocked from the Dust Bowl to California and to the North. Route 66 ran from Chicago to Santa Monica, California. Route 66 was not built like modern highways as part of the Interstate Highway System. The highway was built in 1926, but it was torn down to make way for modern highways in 1985. Route 66 allowed millions of people to access to California or vice-versa. Route 66 was not only a road going through the middle of the United States, but hundreds of towns also sprung up along the side of the road. these towns were built around the travelers that came across the road. There were thousands of gas stations to service the cars, and there were thousands more mechanics that worked along the road to fix cars that broke down away from home. To support these businesses, more restaurants popped up, and whole towns were created around the cars. Route 66 was almost newly built when the Joad family decided to move to California just as many others decided to. With the highway being so heavily used and providing jobs for thousands of others, people came to know Route 66 as the Mother Road.

Chapters 1-10
d. As early as the 1850s, Ford ruled supreme in the automotive manufacturing race and easily out-sold any other competitor at a ten-to-one ratio. This dominance lasted for a while, and kept Ford in the Big Three for many years to come, and they remain today as the second largest American car manufacturer in the world. They are trumped by General Motors, who was also born during the late 1800s. The Big Three(Ford, GM, and Chrysler) led the country as the leaders of all manufacturing and contributed to the booming economy in the 1920s as vehicle sales rose to an all time high of 5 million vehicles in the US alone. However, during the 1930s, huge changes were underway. For the first time, GM started to sell more cars than Ford, who had previously reigned king with the Model-T and the later Model-A. Starting in 1931, GM used its new technological advancement and unique design process to garner public support, and from 1931-2007, for 77 years straight, GM globally sold more vehicles than any other car manufacturer. During the early 1930s, labor unions also started to gain traction in factories. Using the new power given to them from progressive legislation and with under the wing of president Roosevelt, they threatened the Big Three into submission. However, before they were able to achieve their goals, the Big Three fired or laid-off thousands of workers. The Big Three were also against change and spent millions trying to stop their workers from revolting. However, as WWII approached, the Big Three led America once again into a time of prosperity as they built more vehicles then ever before, but also shifted focus and started to employ thousands of others to undertake the massive mobilization process necessary for war and the production of planes, tanks, and munitions.  Ford Model-A

Encyclopedia.com

Chapters 1-10
a. I studied the migrants from the Great Plains and the 'Oakies' who moved to California in the 1930's from the Dust Bowl. Contrary to popular belief, these migrants were not just poor farms evicted from their arid and useless land. As the census shows, only about half were farmers. Because of the collapse in the economy, white-collar workers were also moving out of the central states to California and to the East. Thousands who attempted the journey were also killed by malnutrition and pneumonia caused by the massive amounts of dust that they inhaled every minute of every day. About one million farmers left the Dust Bowl just like Joad and his family. About 250 thousand of those landed in California to work in the Central Valley to grow crops like the garlic of Gilroy, orchards of Sunnyvale, and grapes of Napa. Dust Bowl Wiki