And then one day a deputy sheriff: Well, what you think you’re doin’?
I ain’t doin’ no harm.
I had my eye on you. This ain’t your land. You’re trespassing.
The land ain’t plowed, an’ I ain’t hurtin’ it none.
You goddamned squatters. Pretty soon you’d think you owned it. You’d be sore as hell. Think you owned it. Get off now.
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 19. This dialogue depicts the conflict between a migrant farmer and a deputy sheriff, a conflict that occurs throughout the novel. It foreshadows events to come within the story. Like when the Joads learn in Chapter 20 about the harsh tactics of the police from Floyd Knowles. Later in Chapter 22 the Joads move to a government camp where migrants rule themselves and are able to avoid the abuse of corrupt police officers. In the quote above one line from the migrant-hating policeman, "This ain’t your land," is reminiscent of a title from the Woody Guthrie songbook. Except that it carries a polar opposite message. Woody Guthrie wrote his famous folk song and anthem for inclusion, "This Land Is Your Land," in 1940. Steinbeck’s classic novel about social exclusion came out a year earlier in 1939.