The deputy staggered and Tom put out his foot for him to trip over. The deputy fell heavily and rolled, reaching for his gun. Floyd dodged in and out of sight down the line. The deputy fired from the ground. A woman in front of a tent screamed and then looked at a hand which had no knuckles. The fingers hung on strings against her palm, and the torn flesh was white and bloodless.
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 20. This passage graphically details the reckless maiming of an innocent woman by a deputy sheriff in the Hoverville migrant camp. Tom Joad comes to the defense of fellow-migrant Floyd Knowles and trips the deputy trying to arrest him. The unity and solidarity that binds the migrants together is highlighted here.