Contrasting the Rich and the Poor in The Grapes of WrathOne of the ironies of Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath was that, as As Ma Joad said, “If you are in trouble, hurt or need – go to the poor. They are the only ones who will help you – the only ones.” (p. 335) The irony is that if you need something , you have to address people who have nothing Many examples in the book The first example of this is at the trucking station in chapter 15 when the restaurant owner and the waitress give the family some bread. discounted rate, and two-for-a-cent candy when it's actually nickel candy The truck drivers then leave big tips for the waitress Neither the truck driver nor the restaurant owner nor the waitress. are very rich but they are still generous. In chapter seventeen, the person at the auto junkyard gives Tom and Al things at very discounted rates. Ma Joad is also an example. The Joads are poor and yet they give what little they have to children who need it. They also stay and help the Wilsons when it only slows them down. Another example is when the small landowner with whom Tom first finds work warns them of the Farmers' Association's plot to attack the government camp. The company store clerk in chapter twenty-four is also generous, lending Ma ten cents so she can buy sugar for the coffee shop. These acts of generosity contrast with the way the rich try to scam migrants. Chapter Seven shows how the car dealer scams people by selling them junk at high prices. They use tricks such as pouring sawdust into the gears or transmission to reduce car noise and mask problems. They take advantage of farmers' ignorance about cars and interest rates to make profits. Chapter nine shows how second-hand dealers bought all things from farmers at a very low price. Farmers have to leave and can't take their produce with them, so they take advantage of the fact that they have no choice but to sell it at the price they set. Chapters nineteen, twenty-one and twenty-five are general chapters that show how big landowners cheat migrants and small landowners to make a bigger profit..