Steinbeck notes a 'great fact' of history: when ______ accumulates in too few hands, it is taken away.

Steinbeck notes a 'great fact' of history: when ______ accumulates in too few hands, it is taken away.

• A. Labor
• B. Property
• C. Wealth
• D. Credit

Answer: (B)

The idea being tested is how ownership of productive resources shapes social order. Steinbeck highlights that when ownership—specifically property—is held by too few, the system becomes unstable and the property is ultimately redistributed or taken away. In the context of The Grapes of Wrath, this mirrors the Depression-era reality of farms and land falling into the hands of banks and large owners, leaving many smallholders dispossessed. The focus is on property as the means of production and the power that comes with owning land; when that power becomes concentrated, pressure builds toward reallocating it, sometimes through upheaval or policy. The other terms don’t fit as precisely because the sentence is about ownership and control of land and resources, not merely labor, general wealth, or debt.

The idea being tested is how ownership of productive resources shapes social order. Steinbeck highlights that when ownership—specifically property—is held by too few, the system becomes unstable and the property is ultimately redistributed or taken away. In the context of The Grapes of Wrath, this mirrors the Depression-era reality of farms and land falling into the hands of banks and large owners, leaving many smallholders dispossessed. The focus is on property as the means of production and the power that comes with owning land; when that power becomes concentrated, pressure builds toward reallocating it, sometimes through upheaval or policy. The other terms don’t fit as precisely because the sentence is about ownership and control of land and resources, not merely labor, general wealth, or debt.