Chapters 11 - 15 Blog D, THE BASIC HUMAN CONNECTION

"What do ya think a guy in business is? Like he says, he ain't in it for his health. That's what business is. What'd you think it was? Fella's got-See that sign 'longside the road there? Service Club. Luncheon Tuesday, Colmado Hotel? Welcome, brother. That's a Service Club. Fella had a story. Went to one of them meetings an' told the story to all them business men. Says, when I was a kid my ol' man give me a haltered heifer an' says take her down an' git her serviced. An' the fella says, I don't it, an' ever' time since then when I hear a business man talkin' about service, I wonder who's getting' screwed. Fell in business got to lie an' cheat, but he calls it somepin else. That's what's important. You go steal that tire an' you're a thief, but he tried to steal your four dollars for a busted tire. They call that sound business" (Steinbeck 81).

These business people have the same problems as these migrant farmers, but their approach is different. What impacted me so greatly was the similarities the two parties share, and yet how radically different their approaches to these problems, and thus their lives, are. Both migrant farmers and these so called business men live in a country in a depression. Money is tight, and each wonder about their future, unsure if they will be able to pay their bills in a week. Both share this problem, but to different degrees, and perhaps this is what causes the difference in the two, but how can such a small difference in parameters result in a completely different person?

There must be something said to the different forms taken by the business men. They aren't all the same kind of person. Some are nice and some are mean, but they all do the same thing. When the character of the businessman is shown to have no effect on their career and business choices, then it can be stated that a businessman doesn't make these choices because of who they are. This is what Steinbeck means when he talks about The Machine. There is no person making these choices. No one chooses to do this, but they are all subject to a reality that rewards this behavior. If they choose to steal and lie, they will be able to go about their life. Without this, they are at risk of having no money and no control. What they don't realize is that they had no control to begin with. They were forever under the control of The Machine, forever creating new traps so that it may perpetually exist. The existence of The Machine is fueled only by its mere existence. It offers no benefits to anything. It is allowed to exist in this society, because it exists. The fact that it is there makes it there, and thus it can be there some more. It is impossible to stop!

Well then why? Why is Steinbeck telling us about this Machine if it can't be stopped? Well, in his eyes it can be stopped. It can only be stopped by the many, the migrant farmers. This returns me back to my original question: What is the fundamental difference between a migrant worker and a businessman? When it is concluded that there is none, and the different actions between the two are caused by how The Machine will deal with them, and having little bearing in their characteristics.