Chapter+27

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=Chapter Summary=

Steinbeck, in this chapter, portrays to the reader a typical day for the migrants on the cotton farms.-one quite alive and full of movement. Hand pills on the road and signs advertise the need for cotton pickers. The cotton plants are ready now, for the heavy bolls of cotton are bursting like confetti. Cotton bags cost a dollar each, but this cost is taken out of workers pay. The owners are placing the hired cotton pickers in debt by making them pay for the bags beforehand. A cotton bag lasts all season and when it is worn out, the open end could be sewed up and the worn out end could be opened up. When both ends were worn away the cloth can be used to make clothes. The cloth had a seemingly limitless list of uses. The wages for picking cotton was fairly good, eighty cents a hundred for the first time over and ninety cents for the second time. The good pickers have seasons of experience and hardly have to look while picking. The pickers sometimes put rocks in their bags to make up for the fixed scales and maintain the records of the weight of each sack so as to avoid being cheated. Cotton picking is good work and the migrants hope that it lasts so that they can save some money for the winter when there will be no work in California. But the numbers of the pickers is going up fast so the work lasts only a short time. The workers still have hope for changes that will bring improvement to their lives.

The chapter points to the gloomy future that awaits the migrants. No matter how hard they work and however quickly they pick cotton, disappointment is in store for them. They can not seem to get ahead or make progress. It is easily seen that they will not be able to earn enough money for winter, and winter brings dark luck. The conflict and mistrust between the pickers and the employers come out as each tries to cheat the other. The stakes in the conflict between the rich and poor, landowners and migrant workers are manifested. It would seem that this issue will be pushed very far. The chapter also prepares the reader for the experiences of the Joads while picking cotton.

=Passages=

"If they was on'y fifty of us, we could stay awhile, but they's five hundred. She won't last hardly at all. I know a fella never did git his bag paid out. Ever' job he got a new bag, an' ever' fiel' was done 'fore he got his weight." (p.408)


 * Q:**What does this quote say about working in the cotton fields?


 * A:** It tells of how work there can be stressful. The one thing on a worker's mind would be to "quickly fill up the bag before the fields empty out." Having work like this brings on competitiveness among the workers, as things get more desperate for them. The jobs are getting overcrowded by the workers, causing some of them to suffer consequence. Everyday there's workers who end up losing big time.- they're being ripped off. The migrants are in a way gambling when they purchase the cotton bags and go work out in the fields. There's as much of a chance of losing money as there is in getting some decent wage.

"Side-meat tonight, by God! We got money for side-meat! Stick out a han' to the little fella, he's wore out. Run in ahead an' git us four poun' of side-meat. The ol' woman'll make some nice biscuits tonight, ef she ain't too tired." (p.408)


 * Q:**What can you say about the workers’ capacity to have things like food available to them?


 * A:** Judging by the tone, it would appear as though having the money to purchase food is not something the workers would get everyday. Being able to purchase food would be like a miracle. Generally, the workers do get somewhat decent wages and just enough money to be able to provide food for their family.

=Discussion Question=

What can you say about the migrants who work in the cotton fields regarding their relationship to the employers and just the work itself?


 * A:** First of all, there is conflict between migrant workers and the employers. The two cheat and are competing for who get the better of the other. The dislike the two groups have towards each other makes it look as if a rivalry taking place. You could guess that some of the migrant workers don’t even like working in the fields at all, but only worked there because it was the only available way they could make some money. The workers fight and argue with the employers because they don’t like the way the employers are running things. They hardly get paid enough to provide side-meat. The workers are even competing with each other as they all try hard to fill up their bags before the fields empty out because they are desperately trying to make some money. With these problems the workers are facing, they’re bound to bring out some resentment and push things with the employers until they are satisfied with the way things are run.

=Reading Question=

What is the effect of Steinbeck's use of intercalary chapters?


 * A:** Steinbeck uses intercalary chapters to give a big and broad picture of what is happening. In the other chapters the life of the Joad family is focused on, giving an indepth look to allow the reader to grasp the more emotional side of the story and how a single family can be affected in different aspects. The intercalary chapters are used to show how the people as a whole or as a community are affected, which involves a look at more broader situations. For instance, viewing the life of the people as a whole would involve more of different issues and problems than the ones that would face a single family like the Joads personally.

=Theme Song=

Tupac - Changes [|Tupac-Changes.mp3]

Come on come on I see no changes wake up in the morning and I ask myself is life worth living should I blast myself? I'm tired of bein' poor & even worse I'm black my stomach hurts so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch Cops give a damn about a negro pull the trigger kill a nigga he's a hero Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares one less ugly mouth on the welfare First ship 'em dope & let 'em deal the brothers give 'em guns step back watch 'em kill each other It's time to fight back that's what Huey said 2 shots in the dark now Huey's dead I got love for my brother but we can never go nowhere unless we share with each other We gotta start makin' changes learn to see me as a brother instead of 2 distant strangers and that's how it's supposed to be How can the Devil take a brother if he's close to me? I'd love to go back to when we played as kids but things change, and that's the way it is

Come on come on That's just the way it is Things'll never be the same That's just the way it is aww yeah

I see no changes all I see is racist faces misplaced hate makes disgrace to races We under I wonder what it takes to make this one better place, let's erase the wasted Take the evil out the people they'll be acting right 'cause both black and white is smokin' crack tonight and only time we chill is when we kill each other it takes skill to be real, time to heal each other And although it seems to be heaven sent We ain't ready, to see a black President, uhh It ain't a secret don't conceal the fact the penitentiary's packed, and it's filled with blacks But some things will never change try to show another way but you stayin' in the dope game Now tell me what's a mother to do bein' real don't appeal to the brother in you You gotta operate the easy way "I made a G today" But you made it in a sleazy way sellin' crack to the kid. " I gotta get paid," Well hey, well that's the way it is

(Bridge) x2

We gotta make a change... It's time for us as a people to start makin' some changes. Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live and let's change the way we treat each other. You see the old way wasn't working so it's on us to do what we gotta do, to survive.

And still I see no changes can't a brother get a little peace It's war on the streets & the war in the Middle East Instead of war on poverty they got a war on drugs so the police can bother me And I ain't never did a crime I ain't have to do But now I'm back with the blacks givin' it back to you Don't let 'em jack you up, back you up, crack you up and pimp slap you up You gotta learn to hold ya own they get jealous when they see ya with ya mobile phone But tell the cops they can't touch this I don't trust this when they try to rush I bust this That's the sound of my tool you say it ain't cool my mama didn't raise no fool And as long as I stay black I gotta stay strapped & I never get to lay back 'Cause I always got to worry 'bout the pay backs some buck that I roughed up way back comin' back after all these years rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat that's the way it is uhh


 * Analysis:** This song has various similarities to The Grapes of Wrath's chapter 27. The migrants are facing problems in their daily life as workers. They are living poor lives, and being discriminated on top of that. They work as cotton pickers to try and earn money so they can provide for themselves and their family, and are facing problems with the owners, who take advantage of them. The employers fix the cotton scales, as in cheating the workers, who fight back by arguing to the employers, without any care that sometimes it could be the workers themselves who might cheating a little. It's all like a big "game" that the workers and employers are playing. Additionally, this chapter foreshadows how the migrants might take this very far with the employers, meaning they want changes that will improve their living.