People losing their homes...
"Immigrants" desperate for a job (any job)...
Employers cutting wages, knowing desperate people will work for less money...
I'm actually not talking about our current economic situation. I'm talking about the John Steinbeck classic The Grapes of Wrath.
I somehow managed to make it through a Midwest adolescence without ever reading this book.
And I'm SO glad!
I know I wouldn't have appreciated it at that age.
And I doubt it would've been as powerful if I'd read it while we weren't going through a similar situation.
The book tells the story of the Joads - one family affected by the industrialization of the agriculture industry.
But really it tells the universal story of the disenfranchised - the struggle for survival, the resilience and resourcefulness, the quest for a home, the desire to retain their dignity, and hope.
Steinbeck's direct involvement with the plight of the Dust Bowl migrants created his obsession with telling their story honestly. "This must be a good book. It simply must. I haven't any choice."
He succeeded - it is a good book.
If you've never read it (or only read the Cliffs Notes!), now would be a great time to fix that.
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