In Dubious Battle Essay Research Paper In

In Dubious Battle Essay, Research Paper

In Dubious Battle

Most people.s first impression when reading In Dubious Battle, by John

Steinbeck, is that it is meant to act as communist propaganda. Some even believed that

Steinbeck himself was an advocate of the resurgence of the communist party in the first

half of the twentieth century. Whether he was or not is a moot point; the fact is that In

Dubious Battle is not communist propaganda. Several themes are present that relate to

the American people then and even today, but communism isn.t one of them. Steinbeck

uses the position of some communist radicals during the thirties as a springboard for

other themes. These themes include but are not limited to: it is nessicary for men to work

together and be part of a group, everyone must know who they are and know where they

are headed, struggles must be conquered step by step, some things just keep changing,

and that some things really don.t have a definitive ending.

In Dubious Battle takes place in the apple orchards of California during the

1920.s. It revolves around the actions of two communist radicals, Mac and Jim. The

story opens at Jim.s decision to join .the party.. He meets Mac and is taken under his

wing. Initially Jim.s only duties are typing letters and other various petty odd-jobs. This

soon changes. Mac learns of frustration over wage cuts of some apple pickers in the

Torgas Valley and sees a chance to .get a good ruckus going. and Jim.s first real

communist activity.

Once they arrive in the Valley, Mac and Jim get a bit of luck by coming across

one of the pickers daughters going into labor. By helping the girl, they earn the trust of

the other pickers and are taken into the group. They then proceed to go to the orchards

with the other men in hopes to promote a strike. They eventually get into some of the

men.s heads and the idea of a strike starts to circulate and they get close to some of the

natural leaders of the group, London and Darkin. The strike finally breaks and Mac does

a lot to get the workers organized and working together.

There are various incidents involving the strikers and the orchard owners. All

through this Jim is getting increasingly antsy and wants to do more than follow Mac

around. Little by little Mac gets Jim more embroiled in the strike. Mac even starts to

realize that Jim.s mind might be more vital to the party then his own. Another member of

the party, Joy, comes in order to try and win some of the scabs, temporary workers, over

to the side of the strikers but is immediately shot. Mac then uses him as a symbol for the

pickers to follow. But every thing that they try is only a temporary fix and things start to

unravel. Because of the increasing annoyance of the owners and the escalating confusion

of the workers, tension begins to mount. Then in a rapid fire, abruptly-ending scene, Jim

is shot and Mac procedes to try to use him as motivation.

Despite the abundance of communism in the book, it is not the central theme.

The first theme that does arise is that of the need to belong to a group. Jim.s joining of

the party is the initial example. When he is introduced he is alone and claims that his

.whole family has been ruined by the system... His father was a .sticker in a slaughter

house. and .had a reputation for being the toughest mug in the country.. He fought the

system by himself and was eventually killed by a riot gun. After Jim.s father died, his

mother withdrew from the family and eventually died because she .she just didn.t want

to live. and wouldn.t talk to Jim. He then turned to the party to be part of a group and to

.work towards something..

The idea of needing to belong doesn.t end with Jim.s joining of the party. One of

the best examples is during the birth scene. Mac starts delegating tasks which makes the

whole camp feel they are involved in the delivery. This involvement created a .current

of excitement. that brought the entire camp together. Mac realizes the importance of this

feeling of belonging and uses this knowledge when dealing with the strikers. After the

delivery is made Mac had all the cloth, used and unused, burned. He stated:

.Every man that gave part of his clothes felt that the work was his own. They all

feel responsible for that baby. It.s their.s, because something from them went to

it. To give back the cloth would have cut them out. There.s no better way to

make men part of a movement than to have them give something to it..

By using all that every man had to contribute, Mac made them feel like they were part of

a cause.

As the book progresses it starts to be apparent that Mac isn.t excessively

concerned in whether or not the strike succeeds. He feels that just buy striking he has

perverted the minds of the workers with self confidence, defined their identity, and has

given them a common enemy- the capitalist. Mac comprehends the fact

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