Singla 1

Chetanya Singla

Dr. Iris Jamahl Dunkle

ENL 003

8 June 2022

UNITY IS STRENGTH

         “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall” -Confucius

(sometime in 510 BC) tells us about the journey we all go through in life to succeed. It

explains how even though there would be several severe hardships in life that will pin you

down every second, it’s all about coming back up stronger. “They would rise and fall and, in

their falling, rise again.” -Sanora Babb, (Whose Names Are Unknown) is a similar quote in

the book that tells us that even though life is hard right now and people may feel

overwhelmed and scared, it is all about sticking together until the end, no matter what, and

conquering the path to success. Whose Names are Unknown is a fictional tale written by

Sanora Babb, an American novelist, poet, and literary editor; born in 1907, Oklahoma, and

passed on in 2005, in Los Angeles. She wrote this book in the late 1930s while working with

refugee farmers in FSA camps in California, though the book wasn’t published until 2004

since John Steinbeck stole Babb’s notes and was able to release his book The Grapes Of

Wrath before her, causing the publisher to refuse to launch it as they were both based on the

Dust Bowl. Sanora Babb’s Whose Names Are Unknown portrays the stubborn reality of

sticking together by presenting a chain of events of the farmers finally unifying to overcome

all the loss, hunger, and injustices in life, to eventually teach us to cherish what the

community as one has to offer.

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Despite the presence of characters with different traits and conflicting viewpoints,

Babb explains the formation of unions and strikes as a community-wide ordeal. She presents

Old Man Gaylord as that flat character who introduced the idea of forming unions and

working together with the government to ease out their current situation but didn’t quite do

anything about it. Long, however, did agree with Gaylord to improve their situation but goes

about it with a different approach that is by striking against the authorities like the milk

farmers (page 101 last paragraph). This causes everyone to lean towards seeing protests as

the only way out. But since neither of these characters ends up going to California, they don’t

change the story. Hull, another farmer in the community, though never showed any progress

throughout the book as he never partook in the protest, consistently opposed the idea of

striking against the authorities as he believed it was pointless blaming them for a natural

disaster like the dust storm. His thinking and acting maturely make him a round character

because of his mindset but otherwise he’s static. The dynamic characters of the book were the

Dunnes and Starwoods. They started by nearly coping with expenses and food, got somewhat

better, and then moved to California seeking better opportunities. Though they were skeptical

about actually going against the authorities to claim their rights, they eventually protested and

ended up losing their jobs and were left with no money to even get food.

Babb alludes to the idea that the struggles faced now would lead up to the unification

of the farmers as one which will help them stand together to help each other out and

emphasize the importance of unity in communities. To stand out this particular motif, Babb

focuses on a very important aspect in the lives of the farmers, that is oneness and working

together. Babb relays the unification of farmers by foreshadowing certain events throughout

the book like the initial discussion of fighting for the chance to have better living conditions

that began at the funeral of Starwood who died during one of the dusters. A majority of

farmers were for the idea of improving their lives as Old Man Gaylord initiated the fire.
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Although some farmers, predominantly Hull, were against this idea because of the wrongs it

could do instead of any good. But then, it was only an idea. Things took a sharp turn when

The Dunnes, The Starwood’s and some others moved to California, where their situations got

worse and they had to strike against the government because of the constant disappointments.

They became desperate to protest “we’ve got to do something sometime, People are getting

desperate. If we don’t stand up for ourselves, now, it’ll be worse.” but since only very few

were willing to as it wasn’t very convincing then, they lost that battle and understood the

importance of fighting together than going one-man army. They soon realized how eagerly

they needed to form a union, with everyone’s opinions and support aligned, to come at par

with those in power. This shows how unity is an essential aspect in the lives of people which

if taken seriously, can serve as an important ally. The title of the book truly explains Babb’s

intention behind the unions, that even though people that get and work together stay

unnoticed, it’s the change they bring about which matters most.

Initially, the discussion of fighting for the chance to have better living conditions

began at the funeral of Starwood. Then, everyone was going through a series of mixed

emotions, anger at the dust bowl for taking a fellow farmer’s life, pain from losing a friend

but mainly a new spirit from Old Man Gaylord’s spark to the fire, when he rants about how

the farmers need to fight to earn back their rights, ““Reckon we ought to git together when

we want something. A herd of hungry cattle bawling shore can be heard plainer’n one here

and one there.” They all laughed and wagged their heads in agreement.” (Page 98). Although

some of the farmers, predominantly Hull, were against the idea of a union mostly out of fear

of doing something that could be seen as wrong. Hull makes his thoughts clear in the lines

following stating that “I ain’t wanting to do anything that ain’t right,” (page 98). Through all

the farmers within Dunne’s community, it presents the notion that in the future a union is

most likely going to be formed. To form a union and go against the government, the farmers
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had to think about their basic needs and demands which needed to be fulfilled. Max starts the

talk by demanding better farming conditions and everyone starts to agree and put in their

demands. Max states: "We have to fight the past; that is, we must fight against the past

overtaking us again. If we don't watch out, the big ones will plow us under, and we'll just be

farmhands for them, maybe worse." (Page 102) showing his need to start a union and raise

their demands soon to have a better future. All of the farmers brought up their demands

which needed to be fixed except for Hull. This shows us how much interest the farmers had

and were on the verge to start a union and striking against the government. However, no one

did strike since it began to fall apart with the Dunnes, the Starwood, and more moving to

California. Now, California doesn’t serve the people any better either. The land isn’t theirs,

they are working low wages, even to the point that they ran out of food. All these

disappointing events add up to the pent-up anger from Oklahoma and finally, people decide

to strike. Though it was a total failure as they not only lost their jobs, if they had joined a

present union or got together and made another one, they would have still had a chance. “This

was one of the easiest strikes the company won because the workers did not have sense

enough to join the union before they struck and to lay a plan.” (page 204 last paragraph).

After all the more hardships faced, in the end, Babb phrases, “One thing was left, as clear and

perfect as a drop of rain- the desperate need to stand together as one man” which proves that

no matter what they think or do, it is never going to work as long as they are alone.

Tone plays an important role in expressing the mood of the writer and Babb uses

many emotions to express the true meaning of unity in the farmer’s life. The idea of fighting

for improved living circumstances was first discussed at the funeral of Starwood, who died

during one of the dusters. Though everyone was mourning for the Starwood family’s loss, the

setting and tone that Babb presents to us are very morbid and gloomy, which creates a strong

feeling of intensity when the talk of union was brought about. Most of the farmers agreed to
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this at the time, although Hull had differing opinions about it. His perception of undermining

all the other farmers and not striking against the government titles him the Devil’s Advocate

and sets a rather striking tone right when there was some new hope. When events advance to

moving to California, Babb introduces a rather depressing yet playful tone. All the events

happening there after all lead up to a very clear message. Like going up against the

government in a small group that has no chance of success, losing their jobs and all the

money, stealing food, and more. They all strictly say one thing: unify now or lose everything.

In summary, based on the tone, setting, and theme of the book, it is clear that unified,

all the farmers are stronger together. They start good thinking about striking together after

forming a union, which would have probably worked but like a smoldering fire, that emotion

burnt out. Soon after moving to California though, things get more out of hand when they are

working very low wages, the land isn’t their own, and more adversities follow up. This

finally triggers them to strike against the government but without any planning. This ends up

creating more problems for them than ever and they finally realize the importance of sticking

together as one and then dealing with situations. And just like every ending is a new

beginning, they too will rise back stronger than ever, together.