In searching for work, arguably the most significant loss is their home. They have to move from Oklahoma to California. There they have a steady place to stay, and along with the loss of their home, they have to sell most of their personal belongings. "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." (Steinbeck, 97). For basically selling everything you owned, they pretty got nothing in return. They did get eighteen dollars, but what they gave away was way more than that. They had to sell it because they could not carry it on the way. Along the way they lost family members. They lost granma and granpa Joad, Rose of Sharons' baby, the dog, Noah, and Connie. The first four were deaths and Noah and Connie just left, but if they had not of left, they would have been together longer, but it was something that they risked to go on this journey.
Compared to the losses, there was not as many gains. I am really trying to think of what they gained in coming all this way for here and there jobs. The two things that I think they gained were a new home and new friends. Could you really call what they lived in a home, but they got a fresh start. Relating this to baseball, when you are traded as a player, you go to a new city and get a fresh start. So many times players are rejuvinated by seeing new faces, and it makes them play better. The Joads got to travel and see the world and maybe for them that was good. The last thing was they go to meet new people. They traveled with families they had never met, and got to become friends with them. If you compare the losses to the gains, I believe there were more losses and they definitely weighed down the gains.
Bibliography
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.
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