How can you frighten a man whose hunger is not only in his own cramped stomach but in the wretched bellies of his children? You can’t scare him – he has known a fear beyond every other.

– John Steinbeck

The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 19. There is growing fear of migrant workers among the landowners in the West. Their position is at risk from deperate people who cannot afford to buy food for themselves and their families. The owners realize that a man whose children are hungry cannot be frightened. The growing gap between the rich and poor, haves and have-nots, landowning and dispossessed classes, is highlighted here.