Money was tight as long as was the food families ate. All of these hardships are expressed in The Grapes of Wrath, sharing how one family endured the hardships of living in this time period. The Joad family, the family the novel is based around and through the book business is not expressed in a positive way. Although money was tight the Joads never received the better end of the bargain. People always took advantage over selling things or dropping the price when buying merchandise. The families were in such desperate need of the money that they would take anything they could get. At this time in history these problems people faced everyday and each day like the Joad family they fought to keep what they