How It Feels To Be an Okie

Something that stood out to me throughout the book “Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck is how similar the Okies are treated in comparison to African Americans at the time. There are so many similarities that stand out to me between them- how the Okies pick cotton as slaves used to do, how the threat of lynching applies to people who disobey the rules like lynching was often used as a punishment for slaves, especially escaped ones, and how the the Okies are hated by everyone. Even the word okie has become derogatory towards them like the derogatory names used towards African Americans. Steinbeck’s intention must have been to make this very evident, because by comparing the treatment of the Okies to the treatment of African Americans he truly emphasizes how badly they were treated. Going even further, we get a insight to how the Joad’s treatment affects them psychologically throughout the novel. The differences in the two camps, the Weedpatch with human treatment versus the non government camps with inhumane treatment affects Ma deeply, and she rejoices when she is finally treated with decency in the Weedpatch camp. She even then claims that “These folks is our folks – is our folks” (420). By doing all of these things, Steinbeck can truly make the audience feel how the Joads are feeling for the duration of the novel.