Grapes of wrath Market Structure

Grapes of wrath Market Structure

Grapes of wrath Market Structure

Introduction

John Steinbeck's novel “The Grapes of Wrath” tells the tale of a family of sharecroppers beset by economic hardships stemming from an industries shift from manual to mechanized labor. As this novel was published in 1939 during the United States Great Depression and predicted that the unyielding hand of capitalism would propagate an un-maintainable division of classes and would eventually lead to a revolution, many regarded it as a call to Socialism. In truth while this may not be a formal call to Socialism as many at the time claimed, it definitively illustrates the negative effects of every Capitalistic Model. Steinbecks' overview of Pure Competition, Monopolistic Capitalism, Oligopoly, Monopoly, and Monopsony articulately illustrate the inherent problems with each market and his concerns for the future of the world through the eyes of the common man.

Analysis

Although technology has become a standard in today's society, it was a major cause of the Great Depression. Before the advent of the tractor, may people made their living as farmers. As seen in The Grapes of Wrath, many of these people lost their occupations and their farms due to industrialization of farming. A tractor did the work of fifteen farming families, so more and more families were put out of business by the owners of these tractors(Cerny, 1994).

John Steinbeck lived with migrant workers such as the Joad family before he wrote The Grapes of Wrath. His fictionalization of a family forced out of the dust bowl accurately shows the effects of technology on the farming family. They were forced out of their home to make way for a large company, as was everyone else in the area. They got word of work in California, so they packed up the family into a big truck and headed West. Most of the work was already taken, and the demand for jobs was so high that it drove the wage down (John, 1992).

The Joads had to keep moving. “Big business” has always been the downfall of the family business. In the 1930s, the tractor allowed smaller groups to produce greater amounts of product, and this overproduction led to price fluctuation over that period. In the case of wheat, the size of bushels shrank and the price of a bushel grew (Scherer and David, 1990). The smaller producers who could not effort to industrialize had to cope with these lower prices, which drove them out of business. The same principle is in effect in present time; it's almost akin to survival of the fittest. The ones who can adapt to the changing times will survive.

The Grapes of Wrath entails a story of perseverance in dealing with oppressive labor conditions faced by migrant laborers during the Depression. Steinbeck's purpose contrived by the novel's tone, was to inform the public of the migrant's plight (Visser, 1994). Through analyzing the effective use of diction, comparison of man to animal, and organization of alternating ...