Humility in The Grapes of Grath by John Steinbeck

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In the 1930’s, there was many inconvenient catastrophes going on such as the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Many families migrated to California hoping to find better conditions. In the excerpt from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, we are introduced to a man going through the situation of moving to California. He is trying to purchase ten cents worth of bread for him and his family, but isn’t quite able to accomplish that due to the stubborn waitress named Mae. Humility is shown in the excerpt when the man constantly shows his humbleness towards Mae. The man’s “insistent” and “inflexible” humility changes Mae’s behavior into becoming more sympathetic and less stubborn by the way he continued to be humble and persistent making her realize the difficulty of his situation. In the beginning of the excerpt, the man, with curious humility, approaches the diner. This tells us that the man approached the diner with a peculiar humility. The man takes off his dark, stained hat and stands in front of the screen. He then says, “Could you see your way to sell us a loaf of bread, ma’am?...

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