In the time period that the Grapes of Wrath is set a man's pride is still a huge part of him and all of the men are full of pride. No matter what happens to them they are going to hold onto that pride no matter what, even if it means they are setting themselves up for failure they will stubbornly hold onto that silly pride until the bitter end.
Muley Graves, the old friend young Tom Joad came across in chapter six, is oen such example of a man so full of his idea of pride and honor that no matter what happens he will hold onto it. Although this seems foolish, at least he is standing up for what he believes in regardless of whether or not he is going to win. It is more honorable to die fighting for a cause that really means something to you then live a long happy life always following orders and doing whatever it is you were told to do by someone whose selfish interests are only about themselves and their money and what is good for them and has nothing to do with what is good for you.
Muley Graves informs Tom Joad that he will stay on his land to the bitter end no matter what happens to him as a result. He talks about how he is willing to shoot people or do whatever he needs to in order to insure that he gets to stay there. He says even if they get angry with his defiance and want to shoot him, he does not care. He will just make sure he takes some of them down with him. Also he talks about how if the people had not told him he had to leave he would be in California by now living a good life. The only reason he is not is because they told him he has to leave and his pride tells him never to follow orders from anybody. All because of his silly pride he will probably end up dying when he could be living a long, perfectly happy life elsewhere. Still, there is a certain amount of admiration to be found in so single-mindedly working to protect what his ancestors worked for generations to amass.
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