The Joads have reached a camp were they are able to meet all sorts of people in the same predicament. All share the same collective beliefs, work as hard as you can and take what you need. That is the collectivist slogan, and anyone who isn't in that frame of mind is the bad guy. At least according to Steinbeck it is. There are, however, people who disagree.
             What I've found is that throughout a lot of these chapters, Steinbeck is saying, "Collectivism good, capitalism bad". He plays with your heart by having Ma Joad give starving children some food even though she has little to begin with. The author plays more with your emotions by having capitalistic pig dogs (otherwise known as police officers) coming to the camp and shooting wildly at someone and taking away Casy for striking a police officer. It seems everyone is out to get the "Okies". Another word for "Okies" would be collectivists, and the "everyone" would be the capitalists with money. It seems everywhere the Joads turn there are more hardships. Granma and Granpa are dead, but it's because of the move, and they had to move because of the capitalists. Connie has run off and left his pregnant wife behind because he thinks he can make money on his own, capitalistic thinking.
             There have been difficulties that the Joads have gone through, but not everything can be blamed on capitalism. That would be thinking AIDS is just for homosexuals (which the author might be). It has, however, given us some foreshadowing. For example, after gramna's death, the Joads are told about the mayor who has gone crazy because of the police, then the police show up, shot a woman in the hand and take away Casy. The being told about how cruel the police are foreshadows the policeman's arrival to the camp. Also Steinbeck throws in some symbolism into the mix. The "Okies" symbolism has already been mentioned, but there is also ...