One quote that really stuck out to me that is found in Chapter 17 was, “In the evening a strange thing happened: the twenty families became one family, the children were the children of all. The loss of home became one loss, and the golden time in the West was one dream.” I thought this quote was very significant in the way that is reveals the reality of when disaster strikes, groups that are affected tend to come together. Individuals become groups and one person’s loss becomes everybody’s loss. The Dust Bowl, following The Great Depression, destroyed the lives of many, the majority of them being farmers. Food was scarce, water was a rare commodity and work was even rarer. Everyone was individuals at the start of the book, but by the end, everyone was one whole, unified in their struggles and inabilities to make a life for themselves because of the economic, and agricultural fails. The government left them for the dust (no pun intended), taking away everything they had. The concept of unity is most prominently seen when the Joads first arrive at the Hoovervilles. These shanty towns are full of people who nowhere else to go. It’s in human nature to want to find community, and this is were they all found each other. Children becoming children of all is shown when mom starts to feed the children who live in this community, she starts to provide not only for her own family, but also for the rest of the community. The people who were affected by this tragic historical event found oneness in a community of others who faced the same struggles as themselves. In other words, people share their happiness and sorrows, which give them relief from a disaster.
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Great American Novels 
One reply on “Individuals Unify”
Community tends to be a very strong symbol throughout The Grapes of Wrath and in other novels as well. The Joads found a greater community when they moved to the government camp; this strong sense of community is how the government camp was successful. Neighbors came together in the midst of tragedy to lean on on another to survive. The Joads also combined with another family when they moved into the box car camp to pick cotton. Without community and the support of others, whether it is too provide sugar to someones coffee or a helping hand when delivering a baby, the Joads would not have survived as long as they did. Correlating to real families during the depression, this is how they survived as well. An example of this is that many church congregations or neighborhoods would come together to have potluck dinners so that everyone could eat.
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