Together with Chapters 21 and 23, this chapter presents historical background on the development of land ownership in California, tracing the American settlement of the land taken from the Mexicans. Fundamentally, the chapter explores the conflict between farming solely as a means of profit making and farming as a way of life. Steinbeck criticizes the industrialization of farming in which a love of the land is replaced by a capitalist mentality. With the advent of this industrialization came a shift toward commercial farming. With the focus only on the moneymaking aspects of growth, the corporate farmers increasingly exploit immigrant and migratory workers who are willing to work for a low wage. Like the machines that pushed the sharecroppers off their land, these great landowners had "become through their holdings both more and less than men." A key image of agrarian sympathy is found in the patch of jimson weed. Here Steinbeck effectively illustrates the crimes committed by the frightened owners with a picture of a hungry migrant stealthily clearing a jimson weed patch so that he might grow a few vegetables to feed his family, only to have it gleefully destroyed by a local sheriff.
A distinct contrast is also made here between existing immigrant workers (the Chinese, Mexican, and Filipinos) and the recently arrived "Okies" who feel strongly that they are Americans. Perceiving themselves as coming from a similar background as the rest of the inhabitants of the Golden State, the "Okies" insist on similar rights. This knowledge that they deserve the same decencies as any other American citizens gives strength and credence to their demands and makes them appear more dangerous to the California natives.
