Symbolism of the dog to the farmers

I agree with Booth's analysis of direct commentary. When used in the right way and at the right time, direct commentary can be extremely helpful to the novel. The direct commentary in Chapter 13 when the Joad's dog is brutally murdered by a car is a perfect example. The two symbols in this paragraph are the dog and the car.

The dog represents all of the small farmers across the country.They are carefree people who work hard for a living and are minding their own business. The car represents the "man" and the machines that are taking away the farmers livelihood.

The dog's innocence represents to the innocence of the farmers as they continued on with their lives. The cold, mechanical car that is speeding down Route 66 represent the emotionless acts of the "man."  When the car initially hits the dog, is equivalent to when the family is originally told that they will have to leave their homes and no longer have a job. The slow death of the poor animal is equivalent to when the families have to leave and are forced to find jobs somewhere where none exist. The lack of jobs leads to slow deaths of the farmer and his family. During this time, many of people were dying from starvation, a very slow and painful death. The dog did not die on contact with the machine, the animal suffered greatly before his death, just like the farmer does as he watches his children and wife go hungry. The suffering of the dog is mirrored twice in the suffering of the family and in the farmer.The final death of the dog is inevitable and it is hopeless. That is how the farmer feels, hopeless.

This commentary of comparing the suffering dog to the suffering families helps you feel more for the families. A lot of people have had at least one dog that they have liked, or they see dogs as helpless and in need of protection. By making the dog the symbol of the farmers, Steinbeck helps to transfer those feelings of love or protect to the families that are suffering as much as the dog was.