The Grapes of Wrath and the 2008 Housing Market Crash

1. The Grapes of Wrath and the 2008 Housing Market Crash By Michelle Chyn, Caroline Hsiao, Edward Ma, and William Kim

2. Why do we still read The Grapes of Wrath? • It is relevant to modern events: the 2008 Housing Market Crisis http://www.anglonautes.com/voc_$/voc_$_house_1/voc_$_house_1.htm

3. 1929 v. 2008 • A similar situation to the Great Depression

4. Our Short Story Chapter 1 But the people were never fine. People bought houses they thought they could afford. They invested on TVs and computers and fancy appliances. They tried to put three kids through college. They forgot about the mortgage because the salesman said not to worry. Until it was too late. Until they had a son who couldn’t finish school and a daughter who couldn’t pay back her student loans. Because the banks came. And they needed their money.

5. This is the right way. Not like those cowards, running away from their problems. Come on in! Take a look around! We’ll pay the banks if you give us the money. Our managers and policemen are going around kicking in the doors of those sons-of-bitches. Try and solve their own problems when they aren’t even paying… They go around, sell their things, and hope for the best… They don’t give a damn about us property owners. We’re not the only ones being affected by their indolence. Bankers, businessmen, and landlords, we need money in this recession! Let’s kick down the residents’ doors; they took our time and money!

6. Chapter 4: The families began to run out of options. Some thought filing for bankruptcy would solve all the problems. They began to disregard the consequences. Desperation drove their decision to give up their homes. So our credit will suffer for ten years. So what? Yeah. It’s better than trying to pay off this debt. Me too, I think it’ll take at least twenty years to repay what we borrowed. Neighbors agreed and nodded in acknowledgement to each other. You’re leaving too? Uh huh. Let the banks take care of it. Who cares anymore? Chapter 5: Then she said to Bob, “I don’t understand why your Pa insisted that we file for bankruptcy. We could have paid off the debt slowly.” Bob shook his head, “It would’ve taken years to pay off the debt we accumulated. We have—had that house in Florida that nobody ever used. We had the mortgage on this house to pay off. They’re gonna foreclose our home soon, if we don’t show signs of being able to continue payments. Pa’s just speeding things up so that we won’t have to be tenants in our own home. You know, Ma, I don’t even know if I should go to college next year or not.” “Bob, no matter what, you are going to college,” Ma retorted sharply, “It’ll be a waste if you drop out. Next year you’ll be a senior.”

7. Will’s page

8. Bibliography • Becker, Jo; Stolberg, Sheryl Gay; Labaton, Stephen. “Bush drive for home ownership fueled housing bubble.” The New York Times. December 21, 2008. • Cagle, Daryl. “Housing Prices Fall…” MSNBC. <http://www.cagle.com/news/HousingPricesCrash/main.asp>. 2011. • Reister, Cami. “West Michigan unemployment rates drop in December, but not for good reason.” The Grand Rapids Press. Jaunuary 27, 2011. • “Top Ten Reasons People File for Bankruptcy.” Bankruptcy Home. <http://www.bankruptcyhome.com/top10reasons.htm>. 2004-2011. 2011. • Weiner, Eric. “Why Not Just Walk Away from a Home?” National Public Radio. February 13, 2008.