Final Essay In Dubious Battle

Sheila Scharff

Mrs. Knapp

English 1B

In Dubious Battle

Battle for Justice

A Reader-Response on In Dubious Battle

As ironic as it might sound weakness dictates greatness. The apple pickers were seen as the weaker group in the battle of owners against pickers, but in Torgas Valley they unite against the growers association as they stand their ground to fight for justice. In his novel, In Dubious Battle, John Steinbeck tries to show how a strike was common in the 1930s. The Great Depression continued and working men found themselves either without a job, or desperate for work they did. It did not matter if their pay was low. The men could not support their families with low wages, but what could they do? Steinbeck’s story follows two main characters through an apple pickers’ strike. The Communist Party sends Mac McLeod, a veteran Communist Party worker, to start up a revolt against the proprietors in order to gain justice for the working class. As Mac heads to Torgas Valley, California, He brings a new recruit, Jim Nolan. Nolan’s father was killed in a riot, his mother had died, and his sister disappeared one day. Jim wanted to do something with his life that gave it some meaning. He decided to be part of the Communist Party; it might have helped him in finding his purpose in life. Together with Mac they worked to rival up the pickers and lead them to strike against the growers association. These two men faced events that helped lay down the foundation towards the cause. They helped workers fight against unsafe equipment, low wages and horrid conditions, and the power struggle between workers and owners.

              Finding a way to lay down the foundation towards the cause was not easy for these two men. When Mac and Jim arrived in Torgas Valley, Mac seeks opportunities to gain the worker’s trust. Mac was able to take that first step by helping a young woman, Lisa, give birth to her child. Together Mac and Jim were able to unite the men in a common cause, the child. For example Mac says to Jim, “Every man who gave part of his clothes felt that the work was his own. They all feel responsible for that baby” (95). This is a very important scene in the book. This was the first action taken in laying the foundation towards the strike. The men felt as if they were a part of the birth. They learned how to work as a team and unite as a group toward a common cause. This helped Mac and Jim gain their respect and trust by the men and most importantly the men’s leader London, the pregnant girl’s father-in-law.

Laying the foundation for these two labor leaders did start with London’s daughter-in-law but that was only one event. Shortly after another opportunity came forth. Mac and Jim worked in the apple orchard with the other pickers. Jim met Old Dan, a veteran picker. As Mac and Jim kept their eyes and ears open for anything that can get the strike going. Jim starts talking to Old Dan. Mac tells Jim that Old Dan is a waste of time and worthless. The next day Old Dan falls off a faulty ladder and breaks his hip. This caused a man to say, “The ladder, an old ladder!” (106). Mac quickly sees again another opportunity and tells the men that they deserve better equipment. As fear grows within the men, they realize that they need to take action to avoid ending up like the old picker with a broken hip. Mac says to Jim, “The old buzzard was worth something after all” (107). For someone who has been forgotten and was said to be a waste of time he was able to become a symbol to the pickers and the first to be sacrificed to the cause.

In the article, In Dubious Battle, by James D. Hart and Phillip W. Leininger, they say that when the strike begins, Mac advises London concerning methods and finds a camping place for the 1000 strikers on the farm of Anderson's father, Al, a small farm owner who is very proud of his dogs. Mac summons Dick, a “pretty boy” party member in charge of soliciting party sympathizers for donations and who provides supplies. Dr. Burton, a “fellow traveler,” was brought into the camp to take charge of sanitation. There were many people who put in their share to help and participate towards justice for the workers, but it was a loss of a fellow party member that was their first misfortune.

With the strike in full force there were many times in the book that you would think that the strike was doomed and the cause looked like a failed mission. There were distractions that caused the men to continuously reunite such as when the men were being stood off at the train station by the cops. Joy, another party member, was shot by a vigilante. Joy’s death was used by Mac to help get the men to feel hunger and anger towards what they are trying to achieve. With this, Joy’s death was used to fuel the fire. Mac says, “For every man they kill ten new ones come over to us” (333). Mac explains that it is necessary that they use Joy’s corpse, for it can create a sense of sympathy in the strikers. This clearly is another way to get the men riled up. Throughout this novel Mac emphasized constantly that the end justifies whatever means necessary, no matter the cost to individuals. Though, I personally felt disgusted that he had little compassion for his friend’s death. Taking advantage of a person after they are dead obviously for Mac was proving the words he preached.

Mac uses his skills at anything that helped the strike continue during many events in this book by taking advantage of certain situations. Mac used these advantages to help Lisa give birth to her child, old Dan’s tragic fall off a ladder, and the death of his party member Joy. All these events were used to both gain the trust and respect or to put life back into the group by giving them the desire for revenge.

As conditions grew worse and doubt was seen in the men’s faces they were almost ready to turn on Mac. With money running low and the camp was dealing with a food shortage, Dick, who provides supplies, finally managed to scrape up some food for the men. Doc Burton disappears and his absence in attending and caring for the sick and sanitation of the camp grew worse. One night Anderson’s barn burned and ruined his crops that were stored inside. This caused Anderson to call the sheriff to evict the strikers. The following night a boy told Mac and Jim that Doc Burton was wounded in the field. As Mac and Jim rushed to help the Doctor they soon realized it was a trap. Jim was shot and killed running through the fields looking for Doc. Like Joy, Mac once again stood over the body of his comrade. Mac giving a speech to commemorate the death of Jim and as he gathers strength through his loss and pain he speaks of Jim in the abstract. Mac preaches to the men by saying, “This guy didn’t want nothing for himself” (269). This was another example of using any means necessary, even the body of a friend to keep the fight in motion. Jim’s body becomes yet another symbol for the revolution to strike for justice.

Though Torgas Valley was in the grasp of the Growers Association and the workers were at their mercy, there was a struggle for power between the owners and the workers. The owners were known to effectively use communism. It was not easy to live a life as a working man. If you were not at the top of the ladder you were at the bottom looking up as you worked through harsh condition, low pay and crappy equipment. During the 1950’s, an American economics professor Clark Kerr observed and said, “organized labor and management are primarily engaged in sharing between themselves what is, at any one moment of time, a largely given amount of income and power.” In today’s society we see managers and supervisors represent business owners and think that they are the ones that should have the power to fire and hire anyone for any or no reason. These business owners and the workers themselves who represent them try to control the hours we work, and slave us to work at their maximum standards. These big headed power trip bullies give us no choice but to suck it up or tell us if we don’t like it we can look for another job. As we see the power struggle between the workers and owners in this novel we can’t help but to admit that this conflict has shaped our labor history. Till this day neither side has proven or given into who should rule in the workplace.

My personal opinion is that no matter what system is in place we will always be robbed one way or another. Injustice should be fought against. I have family members and know of friends that have participated in a strike. Sometimes in order to be heard drastic actions need to be taken to make a point. The logistics of a strike was captured very well by Steinbeck such as the manipulation by the media against the strikers, and gathering support by soliciting party members. The power between the owners and the workers whom both stood their ground which neither wanted to give in due to it would be a sign of weakness. Taking a risk to give the workers what they wanted would cause the Owners to lose money. If the workers gave in to the owners it would defeat the purpose.  Today we witness these logistics. Steinbeck’s view life as a working stiff and the sacrifices that were made showed how teamwork and self-discipline can help towards achieving a common goal. Till this day we still witness the battle of power in the workplace.

Work Cited:

1.      Steinbeck, John, and Warren G. French. In Dubious Battle. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.

2.    Hard, James D., and Phillip W. Leininger. "In Dubious Battle." The Oxford Companion to American Literature, 1936. Web, 27 Nov. 2011. <http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-InDubiousBattle.html>.

3.     Morine, Nocolas. "John Steinbeck's In Dubious Battle: Book / Literature Review | Suite101.com." Nicholas Morine | Suite101.com. 13 Sept. 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2011. <http://nicholas-morine.suite101.com/john-steinbecks-in-dubious-battle-book--literature-review-a285270>.

HELP MOODLE IS GIVING ME ERROR MESSAGES

MRS. KNAPP MOODLE HAS BEEN GIVING ME ERROR MESSAGES ALL DAY WHEN UPLOADING I AM ATTACHING MY FINAL ESSAY TO MY NEXT POSTING

What I learned this semester..

I really enjoyed this class, not only was the teacher wonderful, but I love how she designed her teaching ways through having us work on our own personal blog, the assignments she had in class and who can forget our group performance. Working on a blog rather than having a personal journal that we would have to bring to class each Friday I think in my opinion would be a hassle. I like to know not only were we able to create our journal online, but that we can easily edit, access and create our thoughts in class, at home, and during any free time. We did not have to worry about writing on paper, crossing out any mistakes or erasing and re-writing. It was so much easier to just open your laptop, get on your computer, or work on them before class in the computer lab. I wish we had more opportunities like this when it comes to taking an English course. I think it was a great idea and more teachers should take this into consideration for their students.

I learned that journal writing may it be on a blog, paper, or a diary really helps bring out our skills. I learned some extra skills in writing process and critical theory. I am still stuck on how to create a thesis and I hope I did it in my final paper. Other things we were able to learn in this class was how to employ critical theory. We also learned how to construct a unified, coherent, and developed essay that defends a position.

My favorite book that I read in this class was In Dubious Battle. I enjoyed the story line and it was so interesting that I think I finished it within two days. Persopolis was ok, I think because it was more similar to reading a comic book. I also did not have that my education in the history from the events that they were speaking of. I did learn a few things from the books we learned and I do not regret getting involved in them. Everyday we learn something new, if its threw a book, reading a peers paper, or just coming to class every Friday. There is always room in our brain to soak up new knowledge.

I also liked how Mrs. Knapp gave us more than enough time to work on any major assignments. I have had previous english teachers that are not even close to how Mrs. Knapp gets involved with the students and how she has an understanding that we too, her students, have a life outside of school. I am sure that other peers in the class have kids, work, or have other things besides school, and homework to juggle in their lives. I was hoping to get Mrs. Knapp for my English 1c Class but hopefully if i do pass and continue on to the next level of english my next teacher can meet up to our teachers standards.

Peer Review Feedback

In regards to the peer review feedback I did not have a good experience. I was only able to get one person to read my paper for their input and since that person did not even start on their paper it seemed like they were more getting ideas from mine on what to write. The only thing I got back from that was that they said that I needed to put it in order and I should move paragraphs around. Even though I was able to learn from my peer in class that my paper needed to be more organized and my paragraphs were jumped from scene to scene, I still wish that I had others read my paper. I tried finding other students but they already were working on another students paper, so I just started examining mine and figuring it out by moving things around, adding stuff, re-writing stuff, tighting it up as best as I could.

It took a while to fix it and then I realized that I practically wrote a whole new paper. It seems that I wanted to get more into detail about some characters I mentioned and so by just saying their name did not give my readers enough information about who they were reading about. I added, and deleted, and moved everything around. I even created a whole new introduction, but now I am thinking my introduction is too long. Ugh the stress and struggles of hoping everything is right. I noticed that if I put to much effort into a paper my grade is poor and if I just write it with little to no effort my grade is excellent. I emailed Mrs. Knapp after I finished fixing everything hoping that I could email her my paper to get some feedback, since I was only able to get one student who did not pay to close attention when reading , I hope she returns my email soon because I really want to send it to her for some last minute opinions.

My essay seems finished to me now, but I keep re-reading and re-reading it. I am sure most of us do that knowing that this is our final paper and our grade on this paper is the deciding factor if we pass or not. Its a do or die paper and the only thing that I feel stumped on is the thesis, ugh the thesis. Its such a difficult thing for me to do and I hate working on it so much because its hard. I am sure everyone in class had positive and negative feedback from their peers and that this final paper is going to be do or die. I hope that the feed back I got and that anyone else got was correct and helps us towards making each and everyone of us have an outstanding essay. Good luck to everyone I enjoyed the class and the other students I worked with throughout the semester hope to see you in the next step of English, English 1c.

Rough Draft Second Formal Paper

Sheila Scharff

Mrs. Knapp

English 1B

In Dubious Battle

Rough Draft

In his novel in Dubious Battle, John Steinbeck tries to show how a strike was common in the 1930s as the Great Depression continued and working men found themselves either without a job, or was so desperate for a job they did not care if the pay was low. Men and their families would travel from place to place if they heard there was a good job available. When they got there they soon found out that the farm owners reduced the pay. Due to low wages the men could not support their families, but what could they do? Steinbeck’s story follows two main characters, depicted by Steinbeck as labor leaders, through an apple pickers’ strike. The Communist Party sends Mac McLeod, a veteran Communist Party worker, to start up a revolt against the proprietors in order to gain a higher wage and justice for the working class. Mac heads to Torgas Valley, California, along with him he brings Jim Nolan. Nolan who had a father killed in a riot, a mother who died, and a sister that was missing is a new recruit in the Communist Party. He wants to do something that will give his life meaning and being included in the Communist Party just might help him in finding his purpose in life. Together with Mac, a "red", they work together to rival up the pickers and lead them to strike against the Growers Association. Mac shows Jim some tricks and how to use things to benefit them in gathering the men together to form a strike. They are able to use their power and influence towards the other characters throughout this novel. There were events that occurred to help lay the foundation for the men towards the cause, the picker’s death with unsafe equipment, low wages, and horrid conditions, and the power struggle between the owners and workers.

                When Mac and Jim arrive in Torgas Valley, Mac seeks opportunities to gain the worker’s trust and at the same time teaches Jim how to do so. Mac was able to take that first step in gaining trust by helping a young woman, Lisa, give birth to her child. Together Mac and Jim were able to unite the men in a common cause, the birth of a child. For example Mac says “Every man who gave part of his clothes felt that the work was his own. They all feel responsible for that baby.” (95).  This is a very important scene in the book. This was the first action taken in laying the foundation for their plan to strike and gain justice. The men feeling as if they were a part of the birth, learned how to work as a team. This helped Mac and Jim gain their respect and trust by the men and most importantly the men’s leader London, the pregnant girl’s father-in-law.

Laying the foundation for these two labor leaders did start with London’s daughter-in-law but that was only one event. Shortly after another opportunity came forth. As Mac and Jim worked in the apple orchard with the other pickers Jim met Old Dan, a veteran picker. As Mac and Jim kept their eyes and ears open for anything that can get the strike going. Jim starts talking to Old Dan. Mac tells Jim that Old Dan is a waste of time and worthless towards the cause. The next day Old Dan falls of a faulty ladder and breaks his hip. This caused a man to say, “The ladder, and old ladder!” (106). Mac quickly sees again another opportunity and tells the men that they deserve better equipment. As fear grows within the men, they realize that they need to take action to avoid ending up like the old picker with a broken hip. Mac soon realized by saying “The old buzzard was worth something after all.” (107) Old Dan became the symbol for the strikers when he fell. This was the beginning of the strike and when Old Dan became a symbol to the other men.

Though Torgas Valley was in the grasp of the Growers Association and the workers were at their mercy there was a struggle for power between the owners and the workers. The owners were known to effectively use communism. It was not easy for the pickers to organize and strike for higher wages and better living conditions, but they could no longer live like they were. In the article, In Dubious Battle, by James D. Hart and Phillip W. Leininger, they say that when the strike begins, Mac advises London concerning methods and finds a camping place for the 1000 strikers on the farm of Anderson's father, Al, a small farm owner who is very proud of his dogs. Mac summons Dick, a “pretty boy” party member in charge of soliciting party sympathizers for donations and who provides supplies. Dr. Burton, a “fellow traveler,” was brought into the camp to take charge of sanitation. The orchardists unsuccessfully attempts to bribe and intimidate London and his fellow chairman and leader of the pickers at the Hunter place, Dakin, but the morale of the strikers is maintained.

With the strike in full force there were many times in the book that you would think that the strike was doomed and the cause looked like a failed mission. There were distractions that caused the men to continuously reunite such as when the men were being stood off at the train station by the cops, Joy, another party member, was shot by a vigilante. Joy’s death was used by Mac to help get the men to feel hunger and anger towards what they are trying to achieve. With this, Joy’s death was used to fuel the fire. Mac says, “For every man they kill ten new ones come over to us.”  (p. 333). Mac explains that it is necessary that they use the Joy’s corpse, for it can create a sense of sympathy in the strikers. With sympathy comes a call for revenge that will lead to the desirable tool to put life back into the group which will bring the men together. This clearly is another way to get the men riled up for the cause. Throughout this novel Mac and Jim emphasize constantly that the end justifies whatever means necessary, no matter the cost to individuals.

Mac uses his skills during many events in this book to persuade or take advantage of a situation to help the strike continue. Mac used these advantages during the birth of London’s daughter-in-law’s child, old Dan’s tragic fall of a ladder, and his companion through it all, the death of his party member Joy. All these events were used to both gain the trust and respect to rally the men further into action or to put life back into the group by giving them the desire for revenge.

As conditions grew worse and doubt was seen in the men’s faces they were almost ready to turn on Mac. With no money or any food for the strikers Dick finally managed to scrape up some food for the men. Doc Burton disappears and his absence in attending and caring for the sick and sanitation of the camp grew worse. One night Anderson’s barn burned and ruined his crops that were stored inside. This caused Anderson to call the sheriff to evict the strikers. The following night a boy told Mac and Jim that Doc Burton was wounded in the field. As they rushed to help the Doctor they soon realized it was a trap. Jim was shot and killed. Like Joy, Mac once again stood over the body of his comrade and friend. Mac giving a speech to commemorate the death of Jim, he gathers strength through his loss and pain and speaks of Jim in the abstract. Mac preaches to the men by saying, “This guy didn’t want nothing for himself.” (269). This was another example of using any means necessary, even the body of a friend to keep forth in a common cause. Jim’s body becomes yet another symbol for the revolution as he did with old Dan and Joy by using them as a symbol to strike for justice.

My own feelings, no matter what system is in place we will always be robbed one way or another. Injustice should be fought against. I have family members and know of friends that have participated in a strike. Sometimes in order to be heard drastic actions need to be taken to make a point. The logistics of a strike was captured very well by Steinbeck such as the manipulation by the media against the strikers, and gathering support by soliciting party members. The power between the owners and the workers both stood their ground. Neither wanted to give in to the other due to it would be a sign of weakness. Taking a risk to give the workers what they wanted would cause the Owners to lose money. If the workers gave in to the owners it would defeat the purpose.  Today we still hear or witness these logistics in a strike. Steinbeck’s view of the life of a working stiff and the sacrifices that were made showed how teamwork and self discipline can achieve a common goal which till this day is still being utilized.

Gender, In Dubious Battle

Throughout the book in my opinion women were portrayed more as a behind the scene woman. Nobody knew exactly what women were thinking in the book. Steinbeck emphasized the male gender more than the woman’s role throughout his novel.

Take for instance the woman who gives birth to a child with the assistance of Mac, a party member who uses any means necessary to achieve a goal towards justice for the workers. It seemed that the female was scene as nothing more as a child bearer and nothing more. Or Dankins wife

In Dubious Battle, Steinbeck obviously gave male genders a bigger role in this story, even knowing that women to striked to gain justic. Steinbeck mostly used the women characters he created to have only been given a role of a weak person lingering in the shadows. Throughout the novel, there has only been one female character that has been mentioned more than once—Lisa. Lisa did not have that much of a role in Steinbecks novel, but the little that she had showed her as somewhat a innocent young lady just waiting to be saved. She was though seen as a helper to the men and to Jim in particular along with some decision making. Although Steinbeck depicts the women in his novel and weak individuals in reality women are stronger than they appear and can achieve just as much as any man can.

Gender play in this novel obviously made this more about the male gender in almost every important event. As little parts here and there were tossed in with a paragraph or two when a woman was finally portrayed in the story, they were no more as just a mere image of a woman standing behind the husband taking orders by a glance he gives her. A woman who sits and listens in silence but her images she makes can only be expressed in silence in hopes that you can unravel her mystery.

Womens view and accounts to a strike obviously was not that engaging to where it was critical for Steinbeck to put in his novel, but I think he should of took the time to visually show us an image of women in that era and time. I am sure if the women Steinbeck created in his story were able to speak the truth throught he words of Steinbeck's mouth we would definitely be just as interested to read and know what the women experienced during the times of a strike.

All in all my feelings about how the women were pertrieved and had little to none significance in this story only made me wish that there was more insight to the female characters throughout the book. At least one character had some significance but little to none more than that, Lisa, London's daugher-n-law. She in a blinding and helpless way was the first person to actually help lay the foundation for Mac and Jim to help get the men to accept them, trust them, and learned by them how to work as a team.

Difficulty Paper (In Dubious Battle)

The book, In Dubious Battle, by John Steinbeck was slow at first and was not a real attention getter but after little bumps on the boring bus I started to get a little more interested. I was confused at first about the time period and how the people were back then. I noticed in the book that there were certain kind of character's that had a way of speaking by certain slang words they used or incomplete sentences, but I soon was able to make sense of it all and sometimes caught myself laughing after I figured out what the heck they were talking about.

I found some characters a little confusing to understand and their real expectations and goals were a bit iffy to me when I was reading, especially with one of the main characters, Mac McLeod. Like I said once before in a previous blog my thoughts of Mac McLeod is a character with a chip on his shoulder, there were times throughout the story I felt like wow, this guy just might have a heart. I noticed that when he speaks to Jim, his companion and new recruit to the Party, his words seem to be expressing a bond, closeness, a protector towards his student. I did believe that he actually cared for Jim and that he looked out for him though out the book. My thoughts of Mac McLeod being a true friend, a person who really cared more about the people and not taking revenge on the farm owners was soon crushed. When Jim dies towards the end of the story I did not expect Mac out of all people to once again, for the cause, use his so called friends body as a symbol to, like Joy’s body, unite the men and regain the strength, anger, and trust back into the cause.

Another thing about this book was how were they able to feed, shelter, and tend to so many workers striking. I could just imagine how much food they had to bring in; I mean these men were also bringing their wife’s and children into the situation. I think a little bit more detail would help, it might be stupid, but it is something that crossed my mind.

Jim was another character that only made me wonder if he knew how much potential he really had. Sometimes I hoped to read that he took control and stepped on Mac’s toes. I think Jim had more of a heart and personal relationship with other characters in the book unlike Mac who used people to gain benefits towards the cause. It seems like the cause was more for him and not the workers. Like I said before I think there is more to Mac than what was shared with us. He obviously has no heart, it is ice cold most of the time, and if it melts he just might melt with it.

Two characters, Mac and Jim, They remind me of the tin man and the cowardly lion in the Wizard of Oz. The camp is the golden brick road and the winning the strike was winning the chance to see Oz and get their wish which is higher pay, better equipment provided for them, and living conditions.