Grape blossoms shed their tiny petals and the hard little beads become green buttons, and the buttons grow heavy…The year is heavy with produce. And men are proud, for of their knowledge they can make the year heavy. They have transformed the world with their knowledge.
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 25. This chapter uses vivid imagery, including those of fertility, to describe how the land in California produces an abundant harvest. It is largely the result of advances made by clever agricultural scientists. This should sound a note of hope for migrant farmers like the Joads. One would think they would thrive and prosper in such an agricultural paradise. However, as we soon learn, everything is not as it appears. Food goes to waste and is destroyed for commercial reasons in this land of bounty and many people go hungry.