Saturday, August 21, 2010

New Hope in Grapes of Wrath

Finally the Joads catch a break when they find the Weedpatch government camp. It is a clean, well-run facility that bases on cleanliness and is sponsored by the government as a safe place for immigrants to go and does not allow police fraternization, so there can be no corrupt police to come in and cause trouble for the immigrants. Soon Tom meets some men who help him to find a job with a man who tells him all about a plot to break the peace of the camp. Allegedly, on the night of the camp dance some men are hired to cause a riot. When the riot ensues, the police will be allowed to enter the camp in order to "break it up." However, the men know about it beforehand and therefore are prepared and ready when it happens.

Another wonderful thing happens in the camp, and that is that the camp manager talks to Ma Joad so kindly and respectfully that they make her feel human again. Before when she was confronted by the police and treated like a bunch of dirt just because she was poor and looking for a better life and from Oklahoma where all the poor immigrants were coming in from, she felt as though she was worthless. But then, as the camp owner treats her much better, all the sudden she feels more hope coming alive as this quote shows: "That police. He done sompin to me, made me feel mean.. ashamed. An' now I ain't ashamed...why, I feel like people again."

On the night of the dance the men keep watch on any troublemakers and when a man attempts to start a riot they successfully break it up and get him to confess what he was trying to do. By the end of the chapter it looks like things are maybe going to really turn around for the Joads finally.

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