Quotes from Steinbeck’s ‘The Grapes of Wrath’

The recent murder of the CEO of United Healthcare and the corresponding discourse on the internet harkens directly back to the words of Steinbeck.

I am in no way promoting nor celebrating violence, as Steinbeck quite clearly discusses how meaningless and futile such action is against large organizations.

It's just impressive how true the words Steinbeck wrote were and perhaps will forever be. Here are some quotes from chapter 5 that I'm sure most on this sub are quite familiar with.

…..

We're sorry. It's not us. It's the monster. The bank isn't like a man.

Yes, but the bank is made of men.

No, you're wrong there — quite wrong there. The bank is something else than men. It happens that every man in a bank hates what the bank does, and yet the bank does it. The bank is something more than men, I tell you. It's the monster. Men made it, but they can't control it.

……….

"You're wrong. He got orders from the bank. The bank told him, 'clear those people out or it's your job.'"

"Well, there's a president of the bank. There's a board of directors. I'll fill up the magazine of the rifle and go into the bank."

The driver said, "Fellow was telling me the bank gets orders from the East. The orders were, 'Make the land show profit or we'll close you up."

"But where does it stop? Who can we shoot? I don't aim to starve to death before I kill the man that's starving me."

"I don't know. Maybe there's nobody to shoot. Maybe the thing isn't men at all. Maybe, like you said, the porerty's doing it. Anyway I told you my orders."