The clouds appeared and went away, and in a while they did not try anymore.
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 1. Here we have a description of the gray, cloudless skies over Oklahoma. The "Oakie" sharecroppers wonder when, if ever, the rains will come to provide life-giving water for their parched crops. The novel goes on to detail the powerful story of desperation and hopes, failures and hopelessness of those at the bottom of the socio-economic food chain, who face a system that dehumanizes and strips them of human dignity.