Before enduring the pain and desperation of their journey west, the migrants are forced to leave behind their only known lifestyle and start over, their only support being from their own families and the dreams that keep them striving to reach their destinies. Along with this sudden change came a sudden fear. "The fear of hunger and hunger itself changed them… and the hostility changed them, welded them

Upon reaching California, however, they were faced with hostility and rejection of the landowners, which was stemmed from their uneasiness and fear towards these outsiders. The Western property owners felt extremely threatened by the migrants. "Men who had never been hungry saw the eyes of the hungry. Men who had never wanted anything very much saw the flare of want in the eyes of the migrants." This quote indicates that these people subconsciously knew that the migrants desired their land and jobs more than they did, thus they completely shut these people out in fear that their desire to succeed could compete with their comfortable lifestyles. This idea of absolute power, which the landowners possess, presents a metaphor of Capitalism in American society. While the migrants hunger for an opportunity to fulfill their dreams, the landowners hunger for absolute power and control, therefore fearing the migrants. Parallel to the idea that the landowners represent Capitalism and reform, the migrants could be shown to symbolize more of the diversified Socialistic views of Steinbeck. This metaphor illustrates that the competitive, Capitalistic view of the landowners conflicts with the group-oriented, cooperative views of the migrants. Using the landowners' materialistic ways of life, Steinbeck reveals a timeless problem involving Capitalism. The continued desire for money and power blinds these people of their own humanity, causing them to lose their sense of self-being, making it impossible to truly understand the meaning of humanity as a whole.

, united them." This quote portrays how the migrant lifestyle molded these peop

Some topics in this essay:
Capitalism American, Capitalism Chapter, Dust Bowl, American Dream, , John Steinbeck, migrant society, family unit, property owners, joads migrant society, absolute power, towards migrants, power prejudice, throughout novel, comfortable lifestyles, joads migrant,