John Steinbeck's acclaimed novel, The Grapes of Wrath, embodies the horrific tragedy of his generation. The writings of John Steinbeck provide insight into the devastating effects of the Dust Bowl on thousands of families and those who helped them. Although Steinbeck's novel focuses on Joad's family journey, it also includes writing about the general struggle of many families at the time. In John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath, the use of the term "Okies" degrades the workers, while the personification of cars helps describe the struggle of the journey, to illustrate the adaptation that migrant workers had to do to survive the new situation. Throughout the novel, Steinbeck separates the population of people with stable employment and income from migrant workers by having other characters call the latter "Okies." For example, when the Joads were in California, a fellow migrant worker explained to the Joad men that the connotation of the term Okie had changed from being born in Oklahoma to living a mediocre life. The migrant worker exclaimed of the harsh reality: “[Okie] means you are a dirty son of a bitch. Okie means you’re scum” (Steinbeck 205-06). The term Okie categorizes the group of migrant workers from different backgrounds under one stereotype. With all workers under one mandate, the masses were stripped of their individuality, their identity. This humiliating term forces all workers to the lowest level of society. Additionally, as the story progresses, the connotation of Okie gets worse as the workers become dirty and overcrowded like rats scurrying from one area to another. As a California farm owner, offering work, confronts his help, the dismayed owner exclaims, "These damn Okies have no sense and no feeling." They are not hu... middle of paper ...... the setbacks the families faced in describing their last struggling property and being the backbone of the Okies. John Steinbeck's novel, The Grapes of Wrath, uses dehumanized "Okies" and personified cars to help explain the difficulties of succeeding in a new society and how in order to survive, change must take place. Steinbeck's novel depicts a family as they struggle in a heartless world. The use of dehumanized workers and personified cars helps depict the deep fear and uncertainty that migrant workers began to face. Using figurative language, Steinbeck captures the general effort of all Okies who have been unintentionally labeled as one class: scum. Ultimately, each willing family threw their past aside, abandoning themselves to their new life abroad. Works Cited Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin Classics, 2006. Print.