Week 10 Difficulty Paper

To be honest there was not too much that I struggled with in this novel. Steinbeck is one of my favorite authors ever and once his stories get going they are impossible to put down. This story to me, is riveting. It always seems as if Steinbeck is a minimalist. We get very few specific details about any one of the characters, most of it is told in flash-back stories. But despite that we still get a great picture of how each man thinks and feels. I suppose the most difficult part for me is to relate to the communist ideals. Not going to lie, I am as Republican as they come. I was taught that Communism was a dangerous idea and that only fools and power hungry men strove after its ideals. It is interesting to me, however, to see Jim Nolan join up because he is looking for purpose in his life. He thinks that if he fight alone then he will always lose, but if he is fighting with others for a common goal even if they lose the fight, he still has more than if he fought alone. Man is not perfect, nor are we always fair, always charitable, always agreeable. Communism seems to operate under the assumption that all those things are not true. I think it is interesting to see Mac manipulate a crowd the way he does. When there is something important to do then sure, everyone works together just fine. But what happens when thats over? When there is no cause to fight for? Mac knows that he has to keep the strikers busy otherwise they turn back into ordinary men.