The Harvest Gypsies: On the Road to the Grapes of Wrath

In this article, Steinbeck depicted the lack of adequate medical care and how it aggravated the migrants’ existing illnesses and malnutrition. Migrant workers were ineligible for subsidized medical care or unemployment welfare because these benefits were reserved for residents of a specific state county; because migrants traveled all over the nation in search of work, they were unable to establish residence and secure aid. Therefore, when a family member fell ill, the doctors’ bills would often deplete the family’s small reserve of savings.

Steinbeck told of one family, whose medical bills—a child in the family acquired the measles—along with car repairs, food, and other basic necessities left them with no money left over for any emergency funds. The father sprained his ankle, and his 15-year-old son became the sole provider for the family. The father applied for aid but was denied because he was not officially a resident of the county. The 15-year-old had stomach pain and was taken to the hospital, but the doctors dismissed the child’s concerns. The boy later died of a burst appendix. The father sold his car to pay for food and tried to work in the fields, but he was unable to make enough money due to his weak ankle. The father lost his job because he could not work quickly enough. His daughter contracted the flu, leading to additional medical bills.

Steinbeck said that California failed to take responsibility for the issues facing migrants because they were not residents. When migrant workers contracted hookworm because they lived on infected mud by a river, local officials simply moved out the squatters instead of trying to treat the victims. The writer also observed that the average migrant worker had to support his family on $300 a year. When times were good and the family was earning money, a typical dinner would consist of items like canned salmon, cornbread, and biscuits. The family could not afford dairy, and so most of their meals were made up of starch. When the family could not find work, the family would resort to eating dandelion greens to survive. On such diets, the family often suffered from malnutrition. Childbirth in the migrant camps was dangerous due to the unhygienic conditions and the shortage of doctors. Even if children survived the birth—many did not—the mother was often unable to produce breastmilk, leaving the child to survive on canned milk and contributing to improper development.