But Joad is saying that before the Joads were forced to make their journey west they didn't have to obey anyone else and were their own bosses. Since they were forced to emigrate she has felt oppressed and mistreated, which has made her feel mean and ashamed. Steinbeck's point here is to show that migration not only created hardship for society, but also diminished and altered society as people. These social and political aspects (mistreatment of society by the police and government) describe the loss of sanity within the society and also the loss of morals by the society, two main themes of the novel. With the use of new historicism and the analysis of history through the use of social and political dimensions, the reader is able to better understand the impact of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl on society as a