Reader Response to In Dubious Battle

Throughout the first 150 pages of In Dubious Battle you learn much about Jim, the party, and what exactly they're fighting for. In the beginning Jim seems like a very mysterious man, you can't really tell if he's up to no good or not. We learn why he went to jail and how he grew up to be the person he is. His mother was hopeless and his father was a drunk who was always getting beat up. He had once had a sister, but she was kidnapped when they were teenagers and never seen again. From the first chapter you can really sympathize with Jim and understand why he's looking for somewhere to fit in. We also have no idea who The Party is, but Nilson seems like a nice guy so you don't presume that it's too bad. When Jim meets the other guys it really makes you wonder what The Party is, you have the leader of the house Mac, a crazy little man named Joy, and Dick who seems to be a real charmer. It's such an odd group you really wonder what it they are all striving for is. Although Mac seems like he could be a very intimidating man, he and Jim get off on a good foot and Mac tells him he is happy to have him be a part of the group. Soon Mac comes back one day and tells Jim that the two of them will be going out to farm to start picking some apples. They hope to lead a successful riot. It is then that you realize that the party wants rights for the pickers. It isn't stated what the party is, but at this point we can guess that they may be a part of a unions movement or if you know more about the history of strikes from the early 1900's, that it was the communist party. A few days later Jim and Mac head off to the town where the riot will take place. They travel by freight trains, heading out early in the morning. Jim mostly sleeps on the way there, but he is amazed at what he sees, he had never been out of town before. This is quite amazing for a man of his age! The two also learn a bit more about each other, Jim learns that Mac isn’t a prize fighter, which shocks him, but that Mac understands a lot about how a man thinks. Although much of Mac and Jim’s conversations so far in the novel are normally small talk, it gives you a lot to relate to and to understand why these people were attracted to join such a party. It also gives you time to attach to them and to sympathize for them. I think Steinbeck ha an amazing way in getting you to have a lot of feelings for a character, once you are drawn into the book. He often uses this to his advantage in many of his stories to get his point across and to touch you.