Summary

Chapter 5. Men come on behalf of the land-owners to speak with the tenants who work the barren land. Some of the owner-men are kind, some are angry at what they had to do, some cold. They are part of something bigger, a machine that works without feeling. The land is poor and growing poorer; the soil blows away and the dust ruins crops. The tenants had to borrow money, and now the banks own the land; they care only for profit, and the tenants cannot gain any. The tenants ask for more time, but the owner-men say the banks cannot give it.

The owner-men tell the tenants they must leave. One man with a big tractor can replace many families, and it will save the banks money. The tenants have to leave. The land belongs to the banks now. The owners say the bank is...