I think your question is somewhat confused. Chapter Nine
forms one of many intercalary chapters where the focus shifts from the Joad family in
particular to tenant farmers in general, exploring how they prepared for the exodus to
California. By assuming the voice of the typical tenant farmer, Steinbeck reveals the
way that they have to pawn their possessions to raise money and because they are unable
to take everything with them. This of course means that these farmers are open to the
exploitation and abuse of the brokers, who know that the farmers must sell quickly and
are not able to bargain in order to get a fair price. They are then forced to return to
their wives with the paltry amount of money that they were able to raise from their
belongings, leaving their wives to mourn the loss of treasured
possessions.
This chapter, although it does not focus on
the Joad family, can be used to understand them better. The way in which the pawnbrokers
and the crooked car salesmen are presented introduces a central theme of man's
inhumanity to man, which is of course something that the Joads are shown to fight
against for the entire narrative. Unfortunately, the rather depressing message of the
text is that those who have power over others below them will take any opportunity to
exploit and abuse that power to enrich themselves and improve their own position. This
general trend of course contradicts the belief of Jim Casy that men must act for the
good of all men. In his rather bleak presentation of humanity, Steinbeck suggests that
an inability to act based on charity and selflessness leaves us lacking hope and a
future. Note what one farmer says to the pawnbroker who cheats
him:
You cut
us down, and soon you will be cut down and there’ll be none of us to save
you.
Thus, although this
chapter does not focus on the Joads, it does explore the theme of moral justice and
injustice, that helps us to understand the forces against with the Joads battle and
their keen commitment to charity and love.
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