There always seem to be a large emphasis of food in this
novel. Food is directly related to the work that the entire family does on the
farms and affects their quality of life. The amount of food that the family
obtains will determine how much money they make and will directly affect their
quality of life. Also, if they do not work as well as the other workers, they
may find themselves without jobs. Their kind of work is also extremely
dangerous. Several of the workers get sick because of pesticides that are
sprayed on the fields and often get sprayed onto themselves if they are in the
field at the wrong times. There was also mention of children being born to
workers with severe birth defects due to the exposure of the dangerous
pesticides.
Although the families all live and work very closely with food,
food for their family to eat is often obsolete. Many of the families go hungry
and are in constant need of better food, and larger quantities of food. It is
really horrible that these families are working with the food that better off
families will end up eating while they go hungry themselves. It is not fair
that they have to go through so much torture for the comfort of other people. In
this way their line of work and their food struggles are ironic and disturbing.
Even though this is a novel, this kind of situation happens frequently even
today. What is it going to take for this kind of work torture to change?
I think its worth noting the lack of concern the people have for the crops they eat/steal right out of the fields. They know the pesticides are dangerous and many are gravely effected by the chemicals but they still eat the crops right from the trees or ground. I'm not sure if this is something the author did on purpose or it is a lack of concern by characters but I its worths some contemplation.
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