Grapes of Wrath Travel Journal Chapters 11-15(G)*

Motif of selflessness:
1. "It was in Mr. Wilson's tent.... He loaned his tent."(139)
2. "Oh-them. Well, no-them's two for a penny." (160)

In the first quote, a man who the Joad family had recently met at the campsite let Grandpa lay in his tent, where he ended up dying. Mr. Wilson who had never talked to or met Grandpa, was willing to give up his tent for the old man to rest. The fact that Mr. Wilson was willing to loan his tent to a stranger illustrates the theme of selflessness. Rather than Mr. Wilson allowing Grandpa to come into the tent, he could have ignored the Joads or claimed that his tent was personal and therefore did not want anyone in his tent. Mr. Wilson without any benefit or reward was willing to give up his tent for the wellbeing of the old man. In return, the Joads, including Al and Tom, offered to fix the Wilsons' broken car. The Joad family would not want the Wilson's to do such a big favor for them in no return. These actions of the Joad family also illustrate the idea of selflessness. The 2nd quote took place in a diner, with a server named Mae. A man came in with his two children whose clothes were torn up and ragged. Before they leave with the bread they had came looking for, the man sees his two kids looking at candies on the dinner, when he asks Mae how much the candies were. Mae, aware of the fact that the family did not have a lot of money claimed that the candies were two for a penny when in fact the candies were a nickel each. Rather than Mae telling the man that the candies were a nickel each Mae was willing to lower the price in order to see the poor children get their desires. This quote shows how Mae was more concerned about the family and the desires of the family rather than the income she could be making. The fact that Mae also did this good deed for a family she had just met also shows the theme of selflessness. These two quotes illustrate that humans are able to perform these good deeds for strangers that they have never met. We are able to see the good in people. Even though some individuals are not in the best place,  financially or physically, rather than making another being suffer they are willing to give them a hand and help them. This motif of selflessness is brought up in order to throw across the message that sometimes you cannot achieve your dreams unless you get some help from others. Just like in quote 1, if the Wilson's hadn't offered their tent they would not have their car fixed and they would not be able to continue their journey west.