Analytical Essay

Mechanisms of Destruction and Advancement

Written for AP Language (11th grade)

It is impossible to avoid technology these days and everyday people use it for a multitude of purposes. Whether it is cell phones, televisions, or even kitchen appliances like microwaves, technological machines have been stitched into our lives, influencing our behavior and our relationships in both helpful and detrimental ways. In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck crafts a novel about farmers, their dream of California and the various struggles that plague their journey. The book revolves around the westward migration of the farmers during the Dust Bowl in which the farmers were forced to seek out a safe haven. Throughout the book, the author describes the double nature of machines. Steinbeck contrasts the nature of the farmers against the mechanical, destructive nature of the tractors in order to convey the negative effects of machinery on humans. In addition, he highlights the benefits of machinery by portraying the machines as emotional extensions of humans, as demonstrated through Al and the family car.
A machine refers to any device that uses energy to perform some activity. In the novel, tractors are used for agricultural purposes in which they plow the fields. These tractors can be helpful in assisting farmers with managing the land, but when the bankers rob the farmers of their land, the tractors are used in a harmful manner. Instead of considering the long-term effects of plowing the land, the bankers want to exploit the land and rob it of its resources and crops since the banks “breathe profits; they eat the interest on money” (32). Driven by money and fueled by profits, the bankers hire drivers to operate tractors that “rap[e] methodically, rap[e] without passion” (37), extracting all the crops and harvest out. The bankers don’t see the long-term consequences and don’t understand the concept of sustainability where they should be conserving the land and preventing soil erosion. Unlike the bankers, the farmers have a personal connection to the land, emotionally-rife with memories. The farmers don’t classify the land as a number of acres or based on the prices the crop produce, but as a land of meaning and breadbasket that provides for their needs. The farmers and their family “stared after the tractor” (39) in horror as the tractor cut a straight line on. “The tractors came over the roads and into the fields, great crawlers moving like insects, having the incredible strength of insects” (35). Using a simile to describe the tractors as insects, the author highlights the disgusting and demolishing nature of these machines that reap the land of all its nutrients and crops. These machines have the potential to ruin thousand of acres and cause deleterious ramifications for the future harvests. In fact, the “tractor does two things – it turns the land and turns us off the land. There is little difference between this tractor and a tank. The people are driven, intimidated, hurt by both” (151). By implying that little differs between the tractor used for agriculture and the tank used for military, the author is portraying the tractors as weapons that destruct the lives of many families living on the farms rather than machines that help with harvesting.

In addition, besides ravaging the land, the tractors influence the driver’s life by psychologically numbing them. The tractors are personified in which they overwhelm a driver’s body by entering “into the driver’s hands, into his brain and muscle… goggled his mind, muzzled his speech, goggled his perception, muzzled his protest” (35). Using the connotations of the words “goggled” and “muzzled” the author describes the suffocating and dehumanizing nature of these tractors. He creates a sympathetic image for the drivers who operate the machinery since they are “muzzled” and therefore can’t act out or control the machine. Steinbeck creates a dehumanized and stoic image of the driver who was “sitting in the iron seat [and] did not look like a man; gloved, goggled… he was a part of the monster, a robot in the seat” (35). The author is able to communicate the idea that the drivers are metaphorically connected to the machine and an extension of its cruel actions. The drivers are drained of any emotions and they “cannot not cheer or beat or curse or encourage the extension of his power” (35). The tractors transformed the humans into robots, demoralizing and desensitizing them.

Not all machines are destructive and dehumanizing and in the novel, Steinbeck conveys the strong bond between Al and cars to show the beneficial side of machinery. While driving the Wilson’s car, “Al grew tense over the wheel. A little rattle had developed in the engine” (165). When around cars, Al becomes more aware of his surroundings and his senses become more developed. He feels the vibrations of the cars, hears the crank of gears and pays attention to all the small, subtle details normally overlooked by most people. Al becomes emotionally connected to the car when it crashes down since he “don’t know what made her go out. I give her plenty of oil’” (166). In fact Al, a young, frisky teenager, takes responsibility for the car’s breakdown when he “knew that blame was on him. He felt his failure” (166). The machine in this case is represented as a beneficial mechanism since it humanizes Al, making him more sensitive and attentive. The car is both a vehicle for transportation and a machine that teaches a person about responsibility.

As technological machines are becoming more popular and apparent in today’s society, a person must be careful when using them. Machines can facilitate one’s life and ease the workload of another, but sometimes these machines can dehumanize people and render them dependent and defenseless. Some machines, however, if used properly can alleviate people from the labor that exists in this world.