Similarities Between The Grapes Of Wrath And Antigone

The economy has a steady up and down flow in the US and there are always some sort of social problems going on in the US. In both, “The Grapes of Wrath” and “Antigone,” you can see many of the social problems we see today. The main social issue you see in both of these books is man’s inhumanity to man. For instance, the main one seen between both books is discrimination. Both "Grapes of Wrath" and "Antigone" involve several tragedies. Antigone loses both her brothers, somehow forcing her to commit suicide. The Joad family is forced to move to California in search of jobs. Throughout the journey they endure the death of both grandparents, the loss of a friend, and several other problems the family had to persevere. Unfortunately, people in the

US still face this problem today.
The book, “Antigone,” by Sophocles takes place in 495-406 B.C. Antigone has two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, they got into a fight which ended with both of them being killed. The royal people felt that Eteocles deserved a proper burial, while they chose to abandon Polyneices’ body in town square for everyone to see. Antigone explains, “Eteocles, with just entreatment treat, as law provides he has hidden under earth to have full honor with the dead below. But, Polyneices’ corpse who died in pain, they say he has proclaimed to the whole town that none may bury him and none bewail, but leave him unswept, untombed, a rich sweet sight for the hungry birds beholding.” (p.2 Sophocles) By saying this she shows the discrimination and cruelty shown to Polyneices. No matter what crime you have committed you should be given a proper burial, not be thrown out and left to rot. Thereafter, Antigone finds out about this news she sneaks out through the night and buried Polyneices’ corpse. As a result, she was thrown into the dungeon.
In the book, “ The Grapes of Wrath,” the Joad family is forced to move to California due to the dust bowl ruining their land and crops.

The family had to find other means of creating income. Tom Joad and his family faced many tragedies throughout their journey to California, including several family deaths and cruelty from all of the California Natives. As the Joad family was nearing California they were in need of money. They came across a businessman, which they sold all of the belongings from the farm that they could spare. The Joads were not familiar with the way people did business in the west, the businessman knew that and took full advantage of it. The narrator explained, “and the men in the seat were tired and angry and sad, for they had got eighteen dollars for every movable thing from the farm: the horses, the wagon, the implements, and all the furniture from the house. Eighteen dollars. They had assailed the buyer, argued; but they were routed when his interest seemed to flag and he had told them he didn’t want the stuff at any price. Then they were beaten, believed him, and took two dollars less than he had first offered. And now they were weary and frightened because they had gone against a system they did not understand and it had beaten them.” The men knew that their belongings were worth more but had never seen business done like that, the businessman took full advantage of them and their money. Thereafter, the family is getting closer to California and

happen to be in need of gas and water. They stop at a small shack with two pumps outside. The owner of the shack and pumps asks, “You folks buying anything?”(Steinbeck) Al goes on to say, “sure, think we’re begging?”(Steinbeck) The owner then says, “Road is full a people, come in, use water, dirty up the toilet, and then, by god, they’ll steal stuff and don’t buy nothing. Got no money to come buy with.” (Steinbeck) The man just presumes that the family has no money and is going to mooch what he can off of the owner like most people that come through. Yet, the family actually has the money and is going to pay for everything they get. These examples easily show how discrimination and cruelty are linked to this book.
In today’s society there is discrimination everywhere.

For instance, in the workplace, in education, in sports, against women, gays, and several other areas. An example of discrimination in the workplace would be civilians with tattoos looking for jobs and being turned down because of their tattoos or piercings. According to Harris Interactive, 21 percent of American adults have a tattoo and 11 percent of American adults have a piercing not located in the ear (Williams). Subsequently, the Council on Social Work Education has drafted the 2015 Educational and Professional Accreditation Standards, wherein the first competency is identified as “ethical and professional behavior,” including the “professional demeanor in behavior and appearance.” These designations clearly imply that professional appearance remains an important issue in social work practice (Williams.) This is a widespread discrimination issue throughout the U.S. since there are a decent percentage of civilians with tattoos and

piercings.
Another looked over issue with discrimination in today’s society is discrimination of women. According to McKinsey research from 2011, over half entry-level positions are filled by women, 28 percent of vice president and senior managerial roles, and 14 percent of seats on executive committees are women. Also, only 5 percent of CEO’s are women. According to 10 percent of the American Public, the reasoning for women falling short is, “women are not tough enough” and “women don’t make good managers. Subsequently, 43 percent said that companies are not ready to hire women leaders (Wolper). This information is a prime example for the discrimination that can be seen in the U.S. today.
After seeing examples from both the books and from research done within the last few years it is quite easy to see how the discrimination in our society has carried over generation to generation. Although in “Antigone” and “The Grapes of Wrath” there are much different things being discriminated over it is easy to see how it links to the world we live in today.