Difficulty

In Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck is a tale about the struggles of farmers and the working class. It was written in the 30s, and therefore I found it hard to relate to it because I could not grasp the woes and the difficulties the working class had to face. Although I did not find the book to hard of a read, there were some instances where I had re-read to fully grasp what the characters were saying and what he or she had meant. Because the slangs that were used in the book are hardly used today, I did not know what the characters were referring to. He also showed that these people had a very little education through their language. The character that was most hard to grasp was Mac. Some of his phrases, such as “I’ll admit she’s got an eighteen-year-old can, but I’m doing no fifty years (80),” left me wondering what he was trying to say. I came to the conclusion that he was talking about a girl’s beauty but was not willing to go to the jail or her or marry her. To move past this difficulty, I re-read the section that I was having problems with until I comprehended it. I also searched some of the words to see their meaning. Steinbeck did a good job at using some certain phrases to show the personalities and the class of the characters. Another thing that I had a hard time with was the way the people were used for the cause. Mac was willing to use anything to push the strike forward. He even stated to Jim, the protagonist, that, “Course it was nice to help the girl, but hell, even if it killed her—we’ve got to use anything” (66.) I do not know whether this was the reality for many people back then, or whether Steinbeck was using it to appeal to his reader’s pathos. I also had difficulty with the subject matter.  Even though I sympathize with the farmers ‘struggles and understand that they were treated like machines then human beings, I still cannot find this book interesting.  It was hard for me to imagine that the farmers were willing to break their backs all day just for few cents. I do not understand why somebody was not watching over the bosses, who not only made the farmers work from the dawn to dusk, but they also did not provide then with sanitary lodging or quality food. But then again, when it comes to making money, even some people with morals get seduced by the greed. Because In Dubious Battle was written in a different time frame and about a subject that was not appealing to me, I found this book at bit hard to read/ However, I moved past the difficulties by re-reading, searching some of the words that are not common today, and visiting the UFW website for further knowledge.