The author displays two different examples in chapter eight of how hard times and ujust treatment can drive people to do things they never would dream they were evencapapble of. Hard times and mistreatment cause people to temporarily lose their senses or even permanently in extreme cases.
One example in the text of somethingl like this is when Ma tells the story about the boy who made on smalll infraction and was sent to prison. The people there tortured him and ruined him through unspeakable things until he went mildly crazy. Then he was let out and committed a slightly mor elevated crime to get rid of all that pent-up agression, adn the authorities sent him back to prison. There he was tortured more and eventually he went completely mad and committed heinous crimes, all because he was sent to prison and abused. It was unjust how he got a bad name and reputation although he was not the one who brought it upon himself, save for one minor infraction.
Another instance of this happening is when Ma confidentially hints to Joad that she has been entertaining the idea of gathering people together to lead a revolution against those who took everything from them. She is smart enough to realize that the many angry people who have been wronged byt eh businesses far outnumber those cowardly individuals who are in charge of everything. She drops a hint that if they were to fight back with all of their angrer and motivation then they would probably be successful. Joad aseems shocked by this suggestion coming from his mother and she tells him that so much suffering changes a person.
The harsh reality of both of these different stories is that when a person is p ut in a difficult situation, most of the time it breaks them. It pushes them beyond their normal boundaries and opens up a whole new realm of possibilities that their consciences would never have allowed were they not driven to their breaking point.
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