INTRODUCTION

The question that has been posed before us has three major components of urbanization,
migration and tragedies. The answer to this question, I believe, would be to the interlocking
in these concepts and to see how do they flow together.
The urban areas and their development is of prime importance in order to develop and
continue the run of the capitalist system into which I look with a little more depth later. The
urban spaces being a manifestation of the capitalist system also imbibes in itself the
characteristics of the system. Thus urban spaces also become the site of tragedies.
There has been considerable amount of work where academicians have opened up the
structures of the city and have shown it to us how the labourers who migrate from various
spaces interact with these structures and become the victims of tragedies. Apart from looking
at these works what intends to be done is to put it across the reader the impact of these
tragedies on people through the popular imagery that has been used in popular movies and
novels. The Grapes of Wrath that was written by John Steinbeck captures one such imagery
of the migration of a family of Okies from their native land in Sallisaw to California. The film
apart from having its own problems does a wonderful work in encapsulating the endeavor
that a migrant family takes in-order to reach California and the kind of tragedies that meet
them at their final destination as well as in the journey that they had to undertake. The film
does somewhere more than the work that have been done in the sense that it also takes a
look at the tragedy not only from the outside to the inside of the victim but also the transition
that happens within and becomes a tragedy or confrontation within the victim.
Another reason to choose a movie that has been primarily shot and thought about during the
period of Great Depression where a whole deal of people in the States were moving from one
place to another in the search for livelihood is the fact that imagery which has been used in
the movie still persists in today’s situation and needs to be seen in the present context. Also
when one tries to do some study upon a phenomenon and is not able to do the fieldwork
then perhaps movies and novels do become those mediums through which a holistic
understanding can be comprehended.

MIGRATION, URBANIZATION and TRAGEDIES

The world changes every day, whether for good or bad, but still changes every day. One of
the most significant changes that has occurred over the large timespan in which we look at
the history of the globe is regarding the mobility of capital and labour. In his well-known work
regarding the developments that were taking place in the 20 th century, Eric Hobsbawm also
notices the changes in the pattern of the mobility of these two things. One of the most
profound statements made by him in the work is how a paradigm shift has occurred where in
the earlier stages of our history capital was not as mobile as labour but them with all the
catastrophe that broke out at various stages of world history it changed other way round
where the mobility of the capital increased whereas the mobility of the labour decreased.
Now I don’t completely agree with Hobsbawm which by no means possible is same as saying
that Hobsbawm is wrong. He was mentioning majorly about the patterns that he was noticing
in the West and also mostly in the context of the international mobility or migration. The
point of contestation is on the point of the migration that is taking place in the East (here
would be talking primarily about India) and the migration that takes place within the
boundaries of the “nation”.
By saying the above fact one can clearly put forward the point that the migration of the labour
in the “nation” has been definitely on the rise. The forms of migration can be seen as the
permutation and combinations of the rural and urban spaces i.e. from rural to urban, from
urban to rural, from rural to rural and from urban to urban. A very large section of the
migration that takes place can be placed in the first category of the migration that takes place
from the rural setting to that of an urban setting. That is the one of the prime reason that I
feel the question also tries to look for the migration to the urban setting and another reason
that one can attach to raising particularly the point of urbanization is that until recently the
works of many people have actually missed the problems that arise in the urban spaces to the
labours that migrate.
A reason for this, I believe, is that we have started seeing these urban spaces as natural
constructs and what I feel needs to be done is to start seeing them as the site of tragedies.
The urban spaces have been always formed along the lines of “ours” and “theirs”. This kind
of formation can be seen as based on certain criteria like that of caste, class, religion, gender,
ethnicity and similar other things. It is only along these lines that neighbourhoods have been
created in the urban spaces (which does not mean that rural areas are free of such
tendencies). The difficulty of noticing these differences arises, as Harvey puts it, due to
defining the concept of similarity which is that one finds it difficult to determine whether
people are similar because they live close to each other or because they live close to each
other they are similar.1
Harvey points to the different approaches that have been used to see these spaces. One of
the methods is the functionalist which after dealing immensely with the harmonious
equilibrium fails to understand the complexity of the social relationship that exist in the
society. Another method that has been used is the Marxist method providing a much more
nuanced manner to look at the dynamics of the urban relationships.2 The Marxist approach
see the dual flow in the relationship that exist in the society between “the part” as well as
“the whole”.
The other important aspect when seeing the urban spaces lies in understanding the nature of
the space. A basic exploration of the urban space would reveal the capitalist tendencies that
are present in the city. The urban spaces that we look today are just for the reproduction of
the capitalist tendencies3. Therefore, one of the important aspects to study the urban spaces

1
Harvey, D. (1989). The Urban Experience. Basil Blackwell: Oxford. (pp- 109).
2
Ibid. (pp-110)
3
Lefebvre, H. (1976). The Survival of Capitalism. London.
today should also be to locate the mechanism of the reproduction of capitalism and also when
one does this then the experiences of the individuals can also be fully explored.
One can broadly point out to three forces that go on to create the social differentiation in the
urban spaces namely-:
1. Primary force arising out of the power relationship between capital and labour.
2. Secondary force that is coming out of the character of capitalism itself and is defined
by
a. Labour division and specialization function
b. Consumption patterns and life style
c. Authority relations
d. Projections of ideological and political consciousness
e. Barriers to mobility chances
3. Other forces that come out as a result of the social relations that were established
through the other subordinate mode of production.

Tragedy of Displacement and Grapes of Wrath

The movie is setup in USA and the initial scenes are from the state of Oklahoma. The
protagonist of the movie, Tom Joad, is shown to be roaming around on the streets after
having being released on parole from the state prison. In that very scene is the presence of
the red painted Oklahoma Transport Company truck. When Tom asks for lift from the driver
of the truck he is shown the sticker that has been put up by the owner of that company which
clearly indicated that the driver should not give lift to anyone nor should he have anyone
sitting with him in the truck. But the words of Tom that a good guy should not be paying head
to what has been done by a heel makes the driver think twice and he allows Tom to join him
till Tom’s destination. This perhaps is one of the best ways to open up the movie of this sort
because it shows the delicate interplay that is taking place between the capitalist structures
that had been put up then (which exist actually till today) and the human agency that strives
for something else and in its own subtle fashion is able to exercise that very agency. This
interplay between the structures of capitalism and the human agency is something that has
a perennial presence throughout the entire length of the movie at various scenes.
The protagonist of the movie then reaches his home and finding the home deserted is a little
bit surprised. He, after seeing the things that were lying here and there, immediately connects
with them and starts recollecting his old days. But the quest to know where his family
members have gone is only fulfilled when he is joined by his neighbour Muley.
Muley then narrated how Tom’s family has left for the uncle John’s home and from there
would be moving to California in search of livelihood there. The reason for this move was in
the losses that the family had incurred in the farming after the dusters had hit the corn and
maize plants. But apart from this side of story was another side of story which is narrated by
Muley.
He describes how the intervention of the big industrial capitalist had taken away from them
their homes and field. It was emphasized by these big capitalist that the tenancy farming that
was being practised had to go and the replacement of labourers by the machinery which
would reap more benefits for the capitalist. This kind of intervention shows that whenever a
structure like that of capitalism has its impact in the urban spaces an indirect impact of that
is also felt in the rural landscape and thus the while it gives rise to the tragedies in the urban
spaces it has some tragedies that strike in the rural spaces as well.
Once after Tom came to know about the location about his family he set out for meeting
them. The scene which initially puts light on his family is quite interesting to see the changes
that happen when the transition takes place of moving from a rural space to an urban one.
The scene shows that all the members of the family are gearing up for the movement. All the
very elderly people were talking about finding employment once they reach the city. The
ultimate motive behind finding the employment was to buy fruits and vegetables to eat. This
was a very ironical situation that has been raised about migration in the movie where a bunch
of farmers by occupation were actually going to the city and seeking employment in order to
buy food items. It also points to the fact how the de-skilling of the farm works and a push
towards doing capitalist work has been on a rampant rise when one talks about the migration
to urban spaces.
Once the protagonist Tom reaches the house and meets everyone they start their
proceedings regarding undertaking the journey and pack up their rickety van with all the
necessary stuff. The famous journey that has been symbolized in the entire movie takes place
on the Route 66 that connects Oklahoma to California. It is also shown that on the way they
are joined by many other families also undertaking that journey. It is a powerful imagery to
show the level of displacement that actually took place during the great depression.
During the entire journey the family makes their night halt at the camps that are on the
highway. The interaction that takes place between the family members and the other people
that were staying there is highlighted to a very great extent in the movie. One of the many
conversation was about the statement of a person who said that it was better to die of
starvation back at his place rather than die of the starvation at the city. This statement came
out the experiences that he faced in the city where, he told, how the massive number of
people seeking jobs made the conditions worse for all of them and better for the capitalist.
He said how for a job like collectors of fruits where 800 people were required the number of
applicants would be around 25000 and all that would lead to the depreciation in the wages
that one has to receive for doing that particular work. This reiterates the work that has been
done by Marx at first place and recently by Prabhat Patnaik and C P Chandrashekhar where
they mention about the impact on wages in relation to the migration that takes place. The
interaction that takes place between these various characters of the movie also tend to show
that the “truths” about migration are different for different people. To put this in other words
that generalization of any kind regarding the migration to urban spaces and the impacts that
happens post-migration can be very problematic. Therefore, different approaches need to be
adopted for different identities that we deal with when talking about migration.
Once the family reaches California it is sent on the outskirts of the city to the transient camp.
This place is very different from the city. The place is overcrowded and composed of certain
section of people who are barely managing to meet their subsistence level. It is here that the
capitalist sends their people in order to employ the workers. One such conversation that takes
place between the employer and the labourer is of particular interest. In that very
conversation the labourer asks for the license that the employer requires to hire the labourer
and also asks him to give it in writing the amount of salary that will be paid to them. The
employer denies all of this and instead asks the police that was travelling with him to take
care of the trouble maker. This pattern of work cannot be only attached to at the time of great
depression but even today when in the era of highly developed finance capitalism there has
been substantial rise in the casual employment and contractual labour. Another point of
importance is the relation that has been shown between the police and the employer where
the police has to protect the interest of the capitalist. This becomes a problem for the
labourers who are oppressed by every apparatus of the state.
The trouble that was caused by the people in the particular transient camp that was being
discussed above the police and the capitalist burnt it down. This made Tom and his family
move to another farm where they could earn their livelihood and settle down. Like all other
places this was also the same for the protagonist and family. They had to live on the meagre
subsistence and also work under very harsh conditions.
Apart from the tragedies on which light have been thrown upon in the above passages such
as that of alienation, residential differentiation, state oppression there were other tragedies
such as that related to gender. In the entire movie the discussion on migration and impacts
was being discussed by men and not necessarily the opinion of the women was taken into
consideration. Women were just the accomplice of men in the process of migration.
Another important aspect which the movie tries to put forward is regarding the moral tragedy
that takes place during the process of migration. In the beginning of the movie the grandad
of Tom is shown to resist the migration of the family from the rural area to urban. At the end
of the movie Tom himself is shown to believe that migration reduces the soul to a very small
entity. He wishes to expand himself from just being himself to being present in the smile of
many people, in the anger of many people, in the labour of many people and in the peace of
everyone.

CONCLUSION
Although the novel and movie, The Grapes of Wrath, can be an age old classic but still it gives
us the clear picture of the present tragedies that arise due to the migration that take place
even in today’s world. The points that were raised by Harvey about how the social
differentiation takes place can be seen in both the movie that has been talked about and the
present context. The plight of the Tom’s family to shift to California due to the power
relationship that come out of due to the interaction of capital and labour can be seen today
when the labours in India have no other options left back at villages and have to move to
metropolis like Mumbai, Delhi and Calcutta.
The movie also provides a part answer to the question of how does one get out of the vicious
cycle. One is through the measure of the state and the other one and perhaps of a greater
importance is to rediscover oneself in the endless quest for accumulation.

References
Harvey, D. (1989). Class Structure and the Theory of Resedential Differentiation. In D. Harvey, The
Urban Experience (pp. 109-124). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Patnaik, P. &. (1999). Notes on International Migration Suggested by Indian Experience. In D. Baker,
& G. Epstein, Globalization and Progressive Economic Policy (pp. 357-365). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.