From GoW: "Five thousan’ of em jes’ marched through town with their rifles.
An’ they had their turkey shoot, an’ then they marched ive back. An’ that’s all they done.
Well, sir, they ain’t been no trouble sence then… They’re getting’ purty mean out here. Burned that
camp an’ beat up folks. I been thinkin’. All our folks got guns. I been thinkin’ maybe we ought to git up
a turkey shootin’ club an have meetin’s ever’ Sunday.’ The men looked up at him, and then down at
the ground, and their feet moved restlessly and they shifted their weight from one leg to the other." 471
Both passages make it clear that the group needs
to be unified in order to acheive its goals. In addition, the quotes describe the effect of the organized strike.
The passages seem to be biased towards the common worker (proletarian).
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From the Manifesto: "But does wage-labour
create any property for the labourer? Not a bit. It creates capital, i.e., that kind of property which exploits wage-labour,
and which cannot increase except upon coniditon of begetting a new supply of wage- labour for fresh exploitation." SECTION
I
From GoW: "Try an' tell 'em, Tom.
They'll get two an' a half, jus' the minute we're gone. You know what two an' a half is-that's one ton of peaches picked
an' carried for a dollar." He dropped his head. "No-you can;t do it. You can't get your food for that.
Can't eat for that." 523
These passages relate in the fact that they both
illustrate the scheme that the upper class is pulling on the lower class. Even if the people are working, they aren't
going to be able to own property because they need to feed their families, and they can only redeem their pay at the store,
which is owned by the farm. Both passages reveal how the proles are being cheated by the upper class.
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From the Manifesto: "The Communists
disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow
of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing
to lose but their chains. They have a world to win." SECTION IV
From GoW: "Well, one day they
give us some beans that was sour. One fella started yellin’, an’ nothin’ happened. He yelled his head off.
Trusty comes along an’ looked in an’ went on. Then another fella yelled. Well, sir, then we all got yellin’.
And we all got on the same tone, an I tell ya, it jus’ seemed like that tank bulged an’ give and swelled up. By
God! Then somepin happened! They come a-runnin’, and they give us some other stuff to eat – give it to us" 522
These two passages relate back to the theme: social
change will not come without unity and resolution to one single goal. The inmates in the cell gathered together and
collectively brought about change in their environment. This is the main point of the Communist Manifesto.
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From the Manifesto: "In this sense,
the theory of the communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property." SECTION II
From GoW: "Well, they was nice fellas,
ya see. What made 'em bad was they needed stuff. An' I begin to see, then. It's need that makes all the
trouble." 521
People in the novel turned towards
communism (not necessarily knowing it) in order to rid themselves of the troubles that can from striving for property.
The passage above is pro-communism in the eyes of Jim Casy.
