The Grapes of Wrath as a Communist ManifestoSteinbeck's political views are quite evident in The Grapes of Wrath. The subject of much controversy, The Grapes of Wrath serves as a social protest and commentary. Steinbeck's views expressed through the novel are directly linked to Marxist ideals on communism. Perhaps the first thing Steinbeck does in The Grapes of Wrath is establish the status quo. It sets up farmers and banks as two main opposing forces. “Lord and serf... in a word, oppressor and oppressed” (Marx, 1). Steinbeck immediately creates the same situation that Marx established in The Communist Manifesto, with the proletarian (farmers) and bourgeois (bankers) classes. the other farmers clearly represent Marx's proletariat. The entire struggle they face is that of finding work or dying at the most basic level. Yet they are victims of the conditions of the Great Depression, which still leaves them unable to secure such employment. Migrants appear strongly as "the proletariat, the modern working class... who only lives long enough to find work... who must sell themselves piecemeal... and are therefore exposed to all the vicissitudes of competition, to all the fluctuations of competition. the market” (Marx, 4). Steinbeck and Marx find obvious agreement on the situation and classification of the Okies, the proletarian workers. One must also consider the role of capitalist bankers and upper-class landlords in the novel. Banks serve several objectives. First, in the novel, they drive rural farmers off their land. Natural proletarians, they must take the road to find work. The upper class, too, distributes...... middle of paper ......hing for reform of the current system. Keep in mind, however, that there is no way to reform a system and have it run by a “monster.” Steinbeck's complaints about capitalism spring from its very foundations and allow for no reform without revolution. The old ways are dead, violence is taking hold and, as Marx would agree, revolution is imminent. The bourgeoisie and the proletariat exist exactly as Marx says, and all the conditions are ripe for a proletarian uprising. The revolution approaches as Steinbeck's characters learn the principles and values ​​on which Marx founded communism. The Marxist revolution in The Grapes of Wrath is near, especially as workers unite. Works cited by Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: books about penguins, 1998.