Essay Questions

How does the theme of employees' mistreatment manifest itself in The Harvest Gypsies: On the Road to the Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck?

Most of the plantation owners are using immigrants as employees on their farms because they provide cheap labor. However, the farm owners are treating the immigrant workers inhumanely and often lay them off when they are done with them. The workers are given miniature pay because the immigrants are not allowed to complain. The immigrant workers with families find it hard to cope because of the small pay and poor working conditions. Making matters worse, there is no association that is coming forward to fight for the rights of the immigrant workers leaving them to the mercy of the exploitative plantation owners.

What does the narrator mean when he says, “There is no toilet here, but there is a clump of willows nearby where human feces lie exposed to the flies—the same flies that are in the tent”?

The narrator is saying these words to paint a vibrant picture of what the immigrant workers are going through. From the statement, the reader can understand that the immigrant workers are living under deplorable and disgusting conditions. The absence of the toilet in the camp paints a sickening picture because this exposes the immigrant workers to diseases. The image also shows that the farm owners are only interested in making profits not the welfare of the immigrant workers.

How does the author depict the imagery of smell to the reader?

The imagery of smell is depicted to the reader in the second article where the author describes the living conditions of the immigrant workers in the camp. According to the author, the immigrants live in a dirty environment without a toilet. The human feces are exposed to the flies. From this description, the reader can sense the smell because in such an environment is not fit for human settlement.