The Rich In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

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“Rich fellas come up an they die, an their kids are no good an they die out.” The sentence caught him off guard, so much so the he had to re-read it to ensure he hadn’t left something out. It was painful. Amid the blur of dialogue written in the same melodramatic tone of John Steinbeck, the sentence stuck out from the rushes of Grapes of Wrath like a thorn from a rose. He hadn’t expected to be caught off guard by a book (let alone a book he was only meant to read as homework over the summer) yet there he was, gaping at his copy like some dumb ox. It was one of the first assignments where he learned something, not about the class, but about himself. He was alone in his room on his plush, king sized bed. But that didn’t keep him from being …show more content…
But he owed it to them to do something more...because being rich should not mean you are irresponsible. It should pertain to someone who is cultured, mature, noble, thoughtful, and hardworking. It should imply you’re ready to risk raising the standard of living for the rest of the world because you can afford to risk it. The thought made his eyes light up. He had great ideas, this boy. But he knew that the only way to make them a reality was to find the perfect place to share them. A place where people say “yes” when others would say “no.” If he could find this place, all the privilege in the world would not be enough to sway him from sacrificing for it.
Therefore, whenever I see Grapes of Wrath, I’m reminded of the boy on that summer evening who promised to make his existence matter. And as I get older, a part of him still remains with me. Though time has taken its toll, we are still united. United under the same name, the same eyes, the same family, same mind. But most importantly, under the same goal. A goal to do more than score high marks on a piece of paper, but to live on in the hearts of the people we’ve touched long after we ultimately “die

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